30-Minute Chimichurri Chicken Dinner Salad

This Chimichurri Chicken Dinner Salad features bold flavours from easy-to-make Chimichurri dressing. Boneless chicken, avocado and mixed greens make this a quick dinner.  A low carb, keto, paleo and Whole30-friendly recipe. 

Chimichurri Chicken Dinner Salad! A quick and easy meal that's welcome at any time of year.

This chicken dinner salad is full of the incredible flavours of Chimichurri sauce! It's bold, its beautiful and best of all it's a 30-minute meal. And . . . it's paleo, keto and Whole30-friendly, too!

The first time Denis and I had Chimichurri sauce was at an Argentinian restaurant. Typically, it was served on copious amounts of steak which the servers presented to our table on swords! All I could think of was, "Chimichurri, where have you been all my life?" Made with fresh herbs, garlic and oil, it adds a bright, slightly spicy flavour to meat or vegetables.

Since then, I've discovered it's very easy to make at home. I've also found that it's a great way to kick up flavours on many other dishes besides beef!  We love it on roasted root vegetables and on these 10-minute Chimichurri Shrimp Skewers. Today, however, that flavourful sauce dressed up chicken breasts in this chicken dinner salad.

Who doesn't love two for one? This Chimichurri sauce doubles as a marinade AND a dressing. So easy. Are you convinced yet that you need to make this salad?

Let's make Chimichurri Chicken Dinner Salad

Ingredients you'll need:

• chicken breasts:  boneless, skinless. Thighs will work too.
• fresh herbs:  parsley, basil, cilantro
• aromatics:  a shallot, garlic and red onion
• bell peppers: 2 red bell peppers, one for the Chimichurri, one for the salad
• olive oil: extra virgin
• greens: your favourite mixed greens
• other salad veggies: cucumber, red pepper, red cabbage, or substitute other colourful in-season veggies
• avocado: a must!

Tips for making Chimichurri Chicken Dinner Salad

• Making Chimichurri sauce is a snap in a food processor. Roughly chop the sauce ingredients before adding them to the bowl of your food processor, then pulse to chop. Leave it a little chunky.
• When cooking the chicken, keep the heat on medium. If your pan is too hot, the herbs in the sauce may scorch. You can prevent scorching by making sure you start with enough oil in the skillet.
• Serve this salad with warm chicken or with cold, your choice!
• Double the recipe and portion out the extras for lunch for the following day.

Possible Variations

• Use boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts.
• Substitute fresh tomatoes for red pepper.
• Add red onion for extra zing.

Enjoy, everyone!

If you love dinner salads as much as I do, try these too:

• 6 Dinner Salads that will Fill You Up.
• Blackberry Balsamic Grilled Chicken Salad
• Caribbean Shredded Jerk Chicken Salad
• Marinated Lemon Chicken Greek Salad
• Fennel Apple Chicken Salad with Pumpkin Spice Pecans
• Skinny Chopped Chicken Taco Salad

Chimichurri Chicken Dinner Salad

This Chimichurri Chicken Dinner Salad has bold flavours from easy-to-make Chimichurri dressing. Boneless chicken, avocado and mixed greens make this a quick dinner. 

Print Pin Rate

Course: Entrée/Main / Salad

Cuisine: American, Argentina, Canadian

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Marinating time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 2

Calories: 583kcal

Author: Elaine

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Ingredients

Chimichurri Marinade and Dressing

• ▢ 3 cloves garlic chopped
• ▢ 1 medium shallot chopped
• ▢ 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• ▢ 1 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
• ▢ ½ cup fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley packed
• ▢ ½ cup fresh basil leaves packed
• ▢ ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves packed
• ▢ 1 medium red bell pepper chopped
• ▢ ¼ cup olive oil extra virgin
• ▢ ½ tsp ground coriander
• ▢ ½ tsp sea salt

Chicken Dinner Salad

• ▢ 2 chicken breasts boneless, skinless
• ▢ 1.5 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
• ▢ 5 to 6 cups mixed fresh greens washed and dried
• ▢ 1 medium red bell pepper diced
• ▢ ½ Long English cucumber sliced
• ▢ ½ cup red cabbage thinly sliced
• ▢ 1 avocado seeded, peeled and sliced

Instructions

• Roughly chop garlic and shallot. Combine with red wine vinegar and lemon juice and set aside.
  
• Add parsley, basil, cilantro, red bell pepper, coriander and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to roughly chop. Add garlic and shallot mixture.
  
• With machine running on low, slowly add olive oil in a thin stream until well-incorporated. Take care not to chop too finely. The Chimichurri sauce should be slightly chunky. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
  
• Put chicken breasts in a shallow dish and brush 1 to 2 tablespoons Chimichurri sauce on each. Save the remaining Chimichurri sauce to use as dressing. Let the chicken marinate for 20 - 30 minutes.
  
• Wash and dry salad greens, dice red pepper, slice cucumber and cabbage. Arrange in salad bowl or on individual plates or shallow bowls.
• Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot, add chicken breasts. Cook on each side for 5 minutes, watching carefully and adjusting the heat if necessary to prevent scorching the herbs in the Chimichurri sauce. Cook until no longer pink inside or until chicken has reached an internal temperature of at least 165°F.
• Remove to a cutting board and let rest for a few minutes before slicing on the diagonal. 
• Slice avocado, add to salad along with the sliced chicken. Drizzle with reserved Chimichurri dressing and serve.
  

Notes

Store any leftover Chimichurri sauce tightly covered in the fridge for up to a week.

Nutrition

Calories: 583kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 42g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 72mg | Sodium: 745mg | Potassium: 1481mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 5975IU | Vitamin C: 206.5mg | Calcium: 79mg | Iron: 3.1mg

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This recipe was adapted from cafedelites Grilled Chimichurri Chicken Avocado Salad.

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