Savour the flavours of fall with this Fennel Apple Chicken Salad. Made with pre-cooked or rotisserie chicken, baby spinach, mixed greens, shaved fennel, apple slices, cucumber, and pumpkin spice pecans, it makes a healthy salad for two for lunch or a light dinner.
Are you ready to dive into the flavours of Fall? I am! I made this Fennel Apple Chicken Salad with a base of baby spinach and mixed greens and topped it with shaved fennel, sweet apple slices, crispy cucumber, pumpkin spice pecans, and best of all, a leftover cooked chicken breast!
It's an easy-peasy beautiful salad that makes a nutritious light dinner or lunch.
My kitchen motto is "Cook once, eat twice." If I can double a recipe and repurpose it the following day, I consider that a win. In this case, I had a cooked chicken breast in the freezer left over from a family dinner.
Having that pre-cooked chicken on hand made this a fast dinner to put together. Using rotisserie chicken would be just as convenient.
To make this Fennel Apple Chicken Salad, you will need:
- fresh baby greens. Use baby spinach, or a mix of baby kale, chard, and spinach, or your favourite salad mixture.
- one large or two small cooked chicken breasts
- half a sweet apple
- half a fennel bulb
- half a cucumber
- ¼ cup of my Low-Carb Roasted Pumpkin Spice Pecans
We loved all the fall touches in this salad. I used a sweet Gala apple (and picked one with a bright red peel to make this salad pretty), crisp, crunchy, anise-flavoured fennel, dark nutrient-rich leafy greens and the best part--Pumpkin Spice Pecans! I used a few of the fennel fronds for garnish and extra flavour.
I kept this salad dairy-free, but a few shavings of Parmesan cheese on top wouldn't be a bad idea . . .
I dressed it with a simple lemon vinaigrette, but if you prefer a creamy dressing (which would also be dreamy with this salad), add ½ cup of thick Greek yogurt to the dressing ingredients and whisk until well incorporated. I used this dressing in my Blue Cheese, Apple and Walnut Slaw, another recipe that is perfect for these crisp fall days!
How to cut a fennel bulb
Tackling a head of fennel can be confusing, but this video does a great job of showing how easy it can be! Once you have the fennel bulb prepared, use a vegetable peeler to shave thin slices from the bulb for this Fennel Apple Chicken Salad.
Dinner Salads: Quick and Nutritious
Some of our other favourite chicken salads are:
- 30-Minute Chimichurri Chicken Dinner Salad
- Caribbean Shredded Jerk Chicken Salad
- Marinated Lemon Chicken Greek Salad
- Blackberry Balsamic Grilled Chicken Salad
- Skinny Chopped Chicken Taco Salad
Fennel Apple Chicken Salad with Pumpkin Spice Pecans
Ingredients
- 4 cups baby spinach or mixed baby greens (chard, kale, spinach)
- 1 large cooked chicken breast boneless, skinless
- ½ medium apple unpeeled *substitute raspberries for keto diet
- 1 small fennel bulb shaved
- ½ medium cucumber sliced
- ¼ cup Pumpkin Spice Pecans
- fennel fronds for garnish
Lemon Vinaigrette
- 2 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp 0-calorie sweetener for Keto, (like Erythritol or Swerve) or 2 tsp honey, maple syrup or sugar
- ⅓ cup olive oil extra virgin
Instructions
- Arrange washed and dried baby spinach leaves on a platter or in a shallow bowl.
- Thinly slice chicken breast, or shred it finely. Thinly slice cucumber and apple. Shave a fennel bulb using a vegetable peeler. Arrange chicken, cucumber, apple and fennel on the bed of spinach. Garnish with fennel fronds and Pumpkin Spice Pecans.
- Whisk lemon juice, sweetener and Dijon mustard until smooth. Gradually add olive oil, whisking until emulsified. Drizzle over salad, toss and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
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Kristen says
This is my kind of salad, I love love love fennel in almost anything. Can't wait to try it.
Flavour & Savour says
Thanks Kristen! Hope you love it too!
Flavour & Savour says
Leanne | Crumb Top Baking says
This is my kind of salad Elaine! Love the crunchy apple slices and pumpkin spice pecans! Pinning this one to make soon!
Flavour & Savour says
Thanks so much, Leanne!
Terri says
Cook once, eat twice is my motto too! I love how easy, fresh and delicious this salad is!
Flavour & Savour says
It's a great motto to adopt! Thanks, Terri!
Dierdre says
This is so pretty! I love that it uses rotisserie chicken too. So easy. Pinning!