Avocado chicken salad is my new found love that got me hooked so strongly that I made and devoured it back to back for almost a week! Being so easy to make, this avocado chicken salad will become your staple this summer as it hardly takes any effort to make it!
I have been fond of a good salad even before I started my weightloss journey simply because a nice & beautiful salad packs all the fresh things together with vibrant colors and wonderful flavors!
I have already shared a few chicken salad recipes here and they are fantastic as they are! To add to the salad recipe repertoire, today I have the recipe for THE salad of all salads – the mighty avocado chicken salad!
You taste this once and I can bet that you will crave for it daily! Good news is that this avocado chicken salad is ridiculously easy to make; so you can fit it even in your hectic weekday schedule.
I have already packed this salad multiple times for my work meal as it hardly takes a few minutes to cook & assemble.
The air fryer chicken breast, which is a key element in this avocado chicken salad, hardly takes 10 minutes to cook and just 2 minutes to coat with the spicy seasoning mix while the air fryer is preheating.
I am sure you all gonna love this salad; more so if you are aiming to lose a few extra pounds just like me because this avocado chicken salad is loaded with high amounts of good protein, generous amount of fiber and tons of flavors thanks to the smoked peppers!
What is this Chicken Salad?
The name says it all! Avocado chicken salad is that overwhelmingly beautiful chicken salad that will knock your socks off! And I mean it literally!
Since the time I had discovered avocado, I have been very fond of this wonder fruit even though many complain about it being bland and tasteless!
Avocado is one of the newly introduced fruits in the Indian market and thanks to its health benefits, it has quickly gained popularity among fitness enthusiasts like me!
I can enjoy avocado on its own with just a drizzle of lemon juice and pinch of salt; but then I started wondering how else can this magical fruit be enjoyed!
A quick exploration made me realize that salad made with the combination of avocado and chicken seems to be very popular and well loved!
And that’s it! I made my version of avocado chicken salad, but with my personal touch by adding a couple of roasted bell peppers that imparted the right amount of smokiness along with a subtle sweetness!
Ingredients for avocado chicken salad
Avocado: For me, avocado is the star of this recipe and not chicken! Yeah, chicken is a plus but without avocado it is just another ordinary chicken salad!
The combination of creamy avocado with the soft & juicy chicken is simply mind-blowing! Some of you may not be fond of avocado due to its bland taste on its own; but trust me on this avocado chicken salad!
Pro tip: Ensure to use the avocado at the right moment; neither too soft nor too hard. Just press the avocado very lightly from outside before peeling and check the softness; you should be able to take a call if it is ready to use!
Chicken breast: Since this is another weightloss salad from my weightloss meal plan, I used chicken breast and also recommend you to use the same as it has minimal fat with high amount of fiber and protein.
I made this absolutely gorgeous and scrumptious air fryer chicken breasts and shared its recipe just last week! Since then I have been making it on repeat and lost the count of how many times I made it!
This avocado chicken salad is a perfect use case of how this air fryer chicken can be used in one of various ways!
Capsicum/Bell peppers: Bell pepper, which is more commonly known as capsicum, is another integral part of this avocado chicken salad! I used red and yellow peppers which taste best when roasted; but green ones will work too!
Spring onion: To add a subtle hint of onion and a touch of vibrant green, a handful of spring onion greens was sprinkled over the salad. When tossed with the salad dressing, the greens turn soft and do not taste raw.
Onion: I wasn’t initially sure whether to add onion or not; but my better half suggested that I add a very small one and that too thinly sliced so that it doesn’t overpower the subtle taste of avocado and peppers.
You may skip this ingredient if you don’t like the pungent flavor of onion.
Extra virgin olive oil: The key ingredient of the simple salad dressing used in this avocado chicken salad is a good quality extra virgin olive oil. The brand that I have been using for many years can be found here.
Lemon: Juice of fresh lemon is what makes the salad dressing a real killer! Use the fresh staff, not the bottled one, to taste the difference between fresh and preserved things!
Salt & pepper: Season your salad dressing nicely with salt and pepper, but better to first taste and then adjust according to your liking.
How to make avocado chicken salad?
Step 1: I used my mind-blowing air fryer chicken breasts for this amazing avocado chicken salad. So, if you own an air fryer, I urge you to follow that recipe and you will thank me for it!
If you don’t have an air fryer yet, you can grill your chicken breasts following one of my earlier recipes here! See, I have got you covered for all situations! 🙂
Step 2: Once the chicken breasts are completely cooked, let them rest and cool down a bit for about 10 minutes.
Step 3: Then first slice each breast into thin strips of about 1-inch width. Then cut each strip into bite-sized pieces. Set the chicken aside while you prep other ingredients.
Step 4: Cut the avocado in half and take the seed out. If your avocado is nicely ripen, the outer skin will come off with just a gentle pull. Peel out the outer skin from each half.
Step 5: Cut each half first into thin long strips and then cut each strip into bite-sized pieces. Set it aside.
Step 6: For roasting bell peppers, I again used my air fryer. Smear about half a teaspoon of olive oil around each capsicum coating them evenly.
Step 7: Set your air fryer temperature at 180 C / 350 F and set the timer at 20 minutes. Air fry both the capsicums together for 20 minutes. They will turn soft.
Pro tip: If you like your peppers crunchier, then reduce the time to 15 minutes. We like them soft, which is why I continued for 20 minutes after checking them at the 10 minutes mark.
Step 8: Take the capsicums out and let them cool down enough to touch. Then cut each pepper into half, deseed & peel the skin off and chop each one into bite sized pieces.
Step 9: Thinly slice the onion and finely chop the spring onion greens.
Step 10: Prepare the simple salad dressing by whisking together juice of the lemon, extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepper. You can use a small bottle with tightly fitted lid and give vigorous shakes with all the ingredients in it. Your salad dressing is ready!
Step 11: Assemble all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl – avocado, chicken breasts, roasted peppers, onion and spring onion greens.
Step 12: Drizzle half of the prepared salad dressing over the bowl. Now using two mixing spoons, start tossing all the ingredients with a light hand ensuring the salad dressing coats all the small pieces of veggies and chicken.
Pro tip: I don’t prefer to add all the salad dressing at one go; just serve the remaining dressing on the side and let everyone add more if needed as per their liking.
Step 13: To add more freshness, you can garnish your salad with freshly plucked basil leaves that you see in my avocado chicken salad; this one was also a personal touch from my better half simply wanting to show-off his kitchen garden creation :D!
Step 14: Your delicious and soulful salad is ready to serve! Enjoy the summer with these freshest possible avocado chicken salad!
- Air fryer chicken breast - 2, about 450 gms
- Avocado - 1, about 400 gms
- Red capsicum / bell pepper - 1
- Yellow capsicum / bell pepper - 1
- Onion - ½ of a medium one
- Spring onion greens - ⅓ cup, chopped
- Lemon - 1, large
- Extra virgin olive oil - 4 tbsp
- Salt - ½ tsp
- Black pepper - ¼ tsp
- I used my mind-blowing air fryer chicken breasts for this amazing avocado chicken salad. So, if you own an air fryer, I urge you to follow that recipe and you will thank me for it!
- If you don’t have an air fryer yet, you can grill your chicken breasts following one of my earlier recipes here!
- Once the chicken breasts are completely cooked, let them rest and cool down a bit for about 10 minutes.
- Then first slice each breast into thin strips of about 1-inch width. Then cut each strip into bite-sized pieces. Set the chicken aside while you prep other ingredients.
- Cut the avocado in half and take the seed out. If your avocado is nicely ripen, the outer skin will come off with just a gentle pull. Peel out the outer skin from each half.
- Cut each half first into thin long strips and then cut each strip into bite-sized pieces. Set it aside.
- For roasting bell peppers, I again used my air fryer. Smear about half a teaspoon of olive oil around each capsicum coating them evenly.
- Set your air fryer temperature at 180 C / 350 F and set the timer at 20 minutes. Air fry both the capsicums together for 20 minutes. They will turn soft.*
- Take the capsicums out and let them cool down enough to touch. Then cut each pepper into half, deseed & peel the skin off and chop each one into bite sized pieces.
- Thinly slice the onion and finely chop the spring onion greens.
- Prepare the simple salad dressing by whisking together juice of the lemon, extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepper. You can use a small bottle with tightly fitted lid and give vigorous shakes with all the ingredients in it. Your salad dressing is ready!
- Assemble all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl - avocado, chicken breasts, roasted peppers, onion and spring onion greens.
- Drizzle half of the prepared salad dressing over the bowl. Now using two mixing spoons, start tossing all the ingredients with a light hand ensuring the salad dressing coats all the small pieces of veggies and chicken.**
- To add more freshness, you can garnish your salad with freshly plucked basil leaves that you see in my avocado chicken salad; this one was also a personal touch from my better half simply wanting to show-off his kitchen garden creation ;)!
- Your delicious and soulful salad is ready to serve! Enjoy the summer with these freshest possible avocado chicken salad!
** Note: I don’t prefer to add all the salad dressing at one go; just serve the remaining dressing on the side and let everyone add more if needed as per their liking.
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Yum yum one of my favorites, gonna give this a go this week, thanks for sharing this :-)Simon