Creamy Lemon Pepper Chicken Salad

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This Creamy Lemon Pepper Chicken Salad is a fantastic and hearty Salad to chow down on. It packs a serious punch of flavor, with a big hit of Lemon and spice that is balanced out perfectly by the Creamy Mayonnaise Dressing. Simply put, it’s a robust salad that’s easy to make and tastes phenomenal. Ticks all of the boxes for a great dinner if you ask me!

This Creamy Lemon Pepper Chicken Salad is sharp, with a lovely acid-forward flavor

Naturally when you’re making a Lemon Pepper Chicken Salad you are expecting to have that Lemon flavor at the front and center of flavor. This recipe surely does deliver that Lemon flavor, with Lemon used in the seasoning, and in the creamy dressing

Additionally, you get a lovely sharp acidic hit of flavor from the use of Green Apples. They are one of our favorite fruits to add into a Salad as it adds such a beautiful freshness and tang. Green Apples are much tarter and sharper than other varieties of apples

Sometimes they can be a bit overwhelming in salads, but it’s completely the opposite in this Dish. The Green Apple adds even more beautiful acid to the Salad. It complements the Lemon Pepper seasoning, but also helps to balance out the Creaminess and richness of the Mayonnaise

To keep this recipe simple, use a Lemon and Pepper Spice Blend

You can replicate a lot of spice blends at home, however for this recipe it can be a little challenging to replicate that lovely Lemon flavor that we want. The off the shelf Lemon Pepper Spice Blend is quite good for this dish. So, to avoid having to mix and match a bunch of different spices, we recommend buying the Lemon Pepper seasoning

This Creamy Lemon Pepper Chicken Salad Recipe requires a significant amount of Lemon Pepper Spice Blend. About 2 tbsp. in fact, so buying the Lemon Pepper blend makes sense. Even if you never use it again (which is doubtful because it tastes great!) you’ll use almost half a regular jar in this recipe. So there’s not really any wastage

You can of course make your own Lemon Pepper spice blend from scratch. Combine Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Salt, Lemon Zest, Sumac, and Black Pepper. Try a little quantity of each spice (about ½ tsp each) to start and alter the quantities based on your flavor profile. For instance, if you want it to taste lemonier, then add more Sumac and Lemon Zest. If you want it to be sweeter, add more Onion Powder. More Peppery, well obviously add more Pepper!

You can use Chicken Breast of Thighs for this recipe, whichever you prefer

If you’ve read any of our Chicken recipes you will know our opinion on this matter. We prefer Chicken Thighs in about 9 out of 10 recipes. They have much more flavor and are a lot more forgiving to cook than Chicken Breasts. They’re also thinner than the Chicken Breasts too, which means more surface area for the amazing Lemon Pepper Spice Blend to come through in the overall flavor

However, Chicken Breasts and Chicken Tenders will work just as well in this recipe. So, if you prefer them, or simply cannot get hold of Chicken Thighs then absolutely you can use the Breast. If you are using Chicken Breasts we will caution that the cooking times may need to be increased slightly. Our advice, as always, is to use a good quality meat thermometer and cook the Chicken until its internal temperature is 160 F. That way you know for sure the Chicken is cooked perfectly

The Lemon Pepper Chicken Salad can be made in under 20 minutes

The beauty of this dish is how easy it is to make. Throw a bunch of ingredients together for the salad. Season the Chicken then fry it up in the frying pan and you’re basically done! When it comes to easy, healthy meals this is what it should be like

Now, if you’re super organized and are using our Weekly Meal Plans then you likely have this recipe on the list well in advance of when you plan on cooking it. If so, we would recommend seasoning the Chicken then letting it marinade overnight in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator. You’ll get even more delicious Lemon Pepper flavor out of the Chicken. This is optional, but if you are organized it’s well worth the wait and we recommend it

Like many Salads, you can mix and match a few ingredients to suit your flavor profile

This salad includes fruits that we know work well together to produce a delicious meal. However, if you want to add a few different ingredients, or swap some out that is totally fine. This isn’t like we’re baking, and the ingredients need to be 100% like the recipe to be successful. So, feel like swapping out Parsley for Cilantro? Go ahead! Don’t want Celery but you’re feeling Carrots? Do it!

A very tasty optional ingredient we’d suggest you consider are ripe stone fruits such as Nectarines, Plums, Mangoes, Peaches etc. They add a lovely sweetness which contrasts very well with the tartness of the Lemon and Green Apple. We used delicious Nectarines in our recipe, and it came out great. So worth considering adding Stone Fruit to the Creamy Lemon Pepper Chicken Salad for added sweetness

Creamy Lemon Pepper Chicken Salad Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Chicken Thighs
• 1 Green Apple, cored and cut into cubes
• 2 cups Romaine Lettuce, roughly chopped
• ½ Red Onion, sliced
• 2 large Tomatoes, cut into chunks
• 1 Celery stork, diced
• ½ cup Parsley, roughly chopped
• ¾ cup Mayonnaise
• Juice of 1 Lemon
• 2 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped
• ½ tsp. Salt
• 2 tbsp. Lemon Pepper Spice Blend
• 1 tsp Vegetable Oil
• Optional: 1 stone fruit (eg: Plums, Nectarine), cut into bite sized chunks
  
  

Instructions

1. Season the Chicken with the Lemon Pepper Spice Blend, ensuring a thorough, even coating across all the pieces
2. Place a large frying pan over medium heat with the Vegetable Oil. Once hot, add the Chicken and cook for 10 minutes, turning once
3. Once the internal temperature of the Chicken is 160 degrees, remove from heat and set aside to rest while you prepare the Salad
4. Combine the Mayonnaise, Lemon Juice, Garlic, and Salt in a large salad bowl. Mix well to incorporate all the ingredients. Add the Lettuce, Red Onion, Tomatoes, Green Apple, Celery, Parsley, and Nectarine. Mix well to dress the salad
5. Once rested, slice the Chicken into strips or bite sized pieces then add them to the salad. Serve immediately
   
   

This Creamy Lemon Pepper Chicken Salad recipe is super easy to make, and you’ll be amazed by how much flavor it packs. We hope you’ve enjoyed this recipe! We’ve got a load more delicious Salad Recipes for you to check out too. Here are some of our favorites:

• Duck and Nectarine Salad
• Strawberry Romaine Salad with Green Apple
• Thai Mango Salad with Peanut Dressing
• Kale Caesar Salad with White Anchovies
  
  

Happy Cooking!