chicken harvest salad made with pears, apples and blue cheese

This chicken harvest salad with crisp apples and pears, creamy blue cheese crumbles, tossed in a homemade apple cider vinaigrette.

This past weekend, we went out to celebrate Jason’s bar results with a handful of friends. We started out at The Pub for happy hour drinks, and then a local sports bar for grub. That’s my guy; celebrating his new attorney status, with a plate of chicken wings 😉

I opted for a salad with autumn fruits, and grilled chicken. The menu boasted an apple cider vinaigrette that got me excited to try. Sadly, when my salad arrived, the dressing was way too sweet. It was not good at all. I should have ate Jason’s chicken wings, instead.

All weekend, I have craved a salad with the dressing I had already imagined, so obviously I had to make my own. This Grilled Chicken Salad with pears, apples and blue cheese is packed with seasonal fruit, blue cheese crumbles, and walnut pieces. It was light, but filling, and the vinaigrette is SO good.

This is a great salad for weekday lunches, and will get you through four days this week. If you’re prepping ahead, I’d make these using mason jars to ensure freshness. I used a mix of butter lettuce, and romaine. Any salad green you like will work for this salad! You could also use kale, if you’d like.

If you’re dairy-free, you could forgo the blue cheese crumbles, to keep this Pear, Apple, and Blue Cheese Chicken Salad compliant. If you don’t like blue cheese (I’m sorry), gorgonzola, or feta would be just as tasty. I grilled chicken breast in a grillpan, but you make a batch of air-fryer chicken thighs, or slow-cook it and shred, or even use a rotisserie chicken – keep it simple, friends.

more salad recipes to make

• shaved Brussels sprouts caesar salad
• chopped chicken antipasto salad
• grilled chicken salad with bacon

chicken harvest salad made with pears, apples and blue cheese

This chicken harvest salad with crisp apples and pears, creamy blue cheese crumbles, tossed in a homemade apple cider vinaigrette.

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course, Salad

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

rest time (chicken): 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 600kcal

Author: Nichole Crews

Ingredients

Salad

• 10 ounces greens of choice - romaine, butter lettuce, kale, etc
• 1 lb chicken breast, grilled and chopped - leftover chicken or rotisserie will also work for this
• 2 medium pears, sliced thin
• 2 medium apples, cubed
• ½ cup crumbled blue cheese - or gorgonzola or feta
• ½ cup walnut pieces - or pecans or slivered almonds
• apple cider vinaigrette dressing

Apple Cider Vinaigrette Dressing

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons honey - or maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• ½ tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Salad

• To a large mixing bowl, add lettuce, diced pears, chopped apples, chopped chicken, walnut pieces and blue cheese crumbles. Toss to combine and mix with apple cider vinaigrette.

Apple Cider Vinaigrette Dressing

• To a mason jar, or small bowl whisk together all ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to toss over salads.

Notes

nutrition info is for one serving, using 4oz of grilled chicken breast, and approximately 2 TBSP of blue cheese and walnut pieces, per salad.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 600kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 41g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Fiber: 7g

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Post originally published on 9/25/2017 – updated 9/25/23 with new images.