A fully loaded Grilled Chicken Salad! this beautiful salad includes a tikka masala marinated grilled chicken breast, tender kale+ romaine lettuce, micro greens, toasty almonds, charred grilled corn, vibrant fresh tomatoes, creamy avocado and bought together with a verdant cilantro-cumin dressing. It’s truly an ideal summer salad.

The Grilled Chicken Tikka

We will use a little over a pound of boneless skinless chicken breast. Marinate in tikka masala and grilled to perfection. Then either chop into cubes or stripes and add to the salad. The grilled chicken along with the salad dressing and crisp vegetables is not only super delicious but also light and nutritious.

Salad Ingredients- Crisp and Verdant

Romaine lettuce+Kale – I used a combination of romaine and curly kale for textural contrast. You want about 8-10 cups, lightly packed. It’s flexible! The recipe has plenty of dressing to coat a few extra leaves!
Tomatoes – choose really good summer tomatoes for maximum flavor, a large handful of baby/ cherry tomatoes (8oz cherry tomatoes), halved or couple of medium heirlooms cut into chunks.
Roasted Corn- fresh is best frozen sis good and convenient.
Avocados – Two medium ripe avocados.
Nuts or Cheese- we went with toasted almonds, other suggestions that work well are crumbled paneer, feta or toasted pecans, walnuts.
Micro greens or herbs – This is an optional garnish. Finely chop then sprinkled on at the end.

Salad Dressing – Herbaceous and Sharp

Another thing worth mentioning is that the Salad Dressing is a little sharper than standard dressings, with a combination of oil, lemon juice, cumin and cilantro. The slightly tangier dressing works really well here because it offsets the rich spices of the chicken, with the added benefit of lower calories!

Swaps and Pro Tips

Greens: Use different lettuces such as a spring lettuce blend, spinach, arugula or mix of leafy greens.
Vegetables: Thinly slice red bell peppers, cucumbers, julienned carrots or red onion.
Fruits: Replace corn and tomatoes with diced mango, strawberries or blueberries for a fruity grilled tikka chicken salad.

Can I Use Chicken Thighs?

Yes absolutely! Boneless skinless chicken thighs will work just as well as chicken breasts for a grilled chicken salad. Adjust the grill time as needed to reach that proper internal temperature of 165 F°(with thighs I like to even go a bit over for those crispy charred edges).

How To Cook Chicken without a Grill?

Cook marinated chicken breasts in a lightly greased cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, it will take about 6 minutes to cook per side depending on the thickness of the chicken breast. Or cook it in a grill pan or on an electric grill.

Grilled Chicken Tikka Salad

Meera

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Marinating Time at least 20

Course Main Course, Salad

Cuisine American, Indian

Servings

Equipment

Grill Oven or Skillet
Baking sheet
Bowl for marinating

Ingredients

Salad Dressing

½ cup light olive oil/ avocado oil or any light neutral oil
1 cup packed chopped cilantro
juice of one lemon
1 clove garlic
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp each sea salt and black pepper
2-3 tbsp plain yogurt or water to thin out

Chicken Tikka

1-1¼ lbs boneless skinless chicken breast lightly pounded for even thickness
⅓ cup plain unsweetened yogurt
1-2 tbsp mustard oil or regular oil you use daily
1 tsp garlic minced
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tbsp sweet paprika or Kashmiri chili powder
1 tsp hot chili powder, or use to your heat tolerance
1 tsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp crushed dried kasuri methi(fenugreek leaves)
1 tsp Garam Masala home made or store bought
sea salt and black pepper as needed

Salad Ingredients

1½ cups cherry or baby tomatoes sliced if large
1 cup roasted corn from about 2 corns frozen is fine
1 large head romaine lettuce, cleaned and chopped
1 small bunch curly kale about 5-6 leaves, cleaned, ribs removed and chopped
½ cup roasted sliced almonds or other nuts or crumbled cheese like paneer, ricotta salata or feta
small handful micro greens
2 small avocados diced

Instructions

Dressing

In a small food processor blend together oil, lemon juice, cilantro, garlic, honey, cumin salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. If the dressing is thick add a little water or yogurt to thin out. This salad dressing will stay in the fridge for up to a week.

Tikka Chicken

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade and marinate to chicken pieces for at least 4 hours or better still overnight refrigerated.
Preheat the oven to 375 ℉. When ready to cook, take the chicken out of the fridge one hour before cooking.
Heat a grill pan or oven.
For BBQ or Grill Place the chicken directly on the hot grill allowing some room between the pieces. Once placed don’t disturb for 3-4 minutes. Once they naturally release flip and continue to grill for another 2-3 minutes till the chicken is full cooked or until internal temperature of chicken registers 165°F on an instant read food thermometer.
For Oven Place the chicken on a wire rack stacked on a baking tray. Place the tray in a preheated oven and grill on the middle rack. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until fully cooked or until the internal temperature of chicken registers 165°F on an instant read food thermometer.
Cooking time varies due to the thickness of the chicken and type of oven so make sure the chicken is fully cooked by using an instant thermometer.
Also grill corn about 10 minutes until lightly charred, turning occasionally if using fresh corn.
Let chicken cool 20 minutes before slicing into bite size pieces.
Cut corn kernels from cobs.

Assembly

To a large salad bowl or individual serving plates, layer together Romaine-kale, grilled chicken, corn, baby tomatoes, diced avocado, micro greens and almonds.
Shake dressing then pour over salad as needed and gently toss. Serve right away.

Tried this recipe?Please Click & Share @nourish_deliciously or tag #nourishdeliciously!

Discover more from Nourish Deliciously

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.