Copycat Chick-fil-A Market Salad topped with sliced chicken, blue cheese, apples, berries, granola, walnuts and apple cider vinegar dressing.
Chick-fil-A might be known for their one-of-a-kind light, crispy Chick-fil-A Nuggets and refreshingly tart, sugary Lemonade, but you’ll be completely won over by this Copycat recipe for their fresh, delicious Salad.
With fresh fruit, tender greens, smoky chicken, zesty dressing, and crunchy toppings, this Chick-fil-A Market Salad is the ultimate summer salad. It’s such a flavorful, hearty salad, it’s hard to believe it was created by a fast food restaurant. It strikes the perfect balance between wholesome and indulgent, making it a versatile dish that can be enjoyed as a light lunch, a side, or even a satisfying dinner option.
This copycat recipe for Chick-fil-A Market Salad is topped with thin slices of seared chicken breast, a combination of fruit and berries, and a crunchy blend of granola and walnuts. The best part is the spot-on copycat of their tangy, zesty apple cider vinaigrette. It tastes like a gourmet salad from a fancy restaurant, but really it takes almost no time to throw together. Even by cooking the chicken fresh, you can have this salad ready to eat in less time than it takes to get through the infamous Chick-Fil-A drive thru lines.
Chick-fil-A slices its grilled chicken for salads very thinly so you get some chicken and there’s still plenty of room to load up your fork with the other toppings. This lets you enjoy all the flavors and texture of this amazing salad in one delicious bite. If you want to recreate the super thin slices, pop your cooked chicken breasts in the fridge for about 20 minutes, then use a sharp knife to cut the chicken. Letting it rest before cooking also allows the juices to absorb back into the meat for the perfect juicy chicken.
The chicken for this Chick-fil-A Market Salad copycat is made on the stove top with a smoky spice blend so you get the charred taste without firing up the grill. However, you can easily make Grilled Chicken instead. The nice thing about making this salad at home is that you can swap in Grilled Steak or a different tangy dressing too. Some Honey Mustard or even Chick-fil-A Sauce would taste amazing on this fresh fruit and chicken salad.
What is a Chick-fil-A Market Salad?
The Chick-fil-A Market Salad is a combination of fresh ingredients that come together to create a refreshing, delicious medley of flavors. It has a chopped spring mix, which includes a mix of romaine, iceberg lettuce, and cabbage, providing a crisp and refreshing base. The salad is topped with sliced grilled chicken, juicy blueberries, sweet strawberries, tangy Granny Smith apple, and crumbled blue cheese. It has an optional Harvest Nut Granola mix for some crunch and it comes with a zesty Apple Cider Vinaigrette that ties all the flavors together.
Why should you make a Chick-fil-A Market Salad at home?
Salads at Chick-fil-A are a healthy option for on the go, but they’re also rather expensive for just one serving. When you make it at home, you spend about the same amount of money to feed four people as you would on one regular order. Plus throwing a Chick-fil-A Market Salad together is super easy. You just cook the chicken, chop the fruits and vegetables, and layer everything together to create a beautiful, flavorful salad that tastes as good as it looks in no time.
How to Make Chick-fil-A Market Salad
- Chicken: Season the chicken all over with olive oil, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and paprika. Cook the chicken over medium heat until cooked through. Cool in the fridge while you prepare the salad toppings.
- Dressing: Prepare the Apple Cider Vinaigrette dressing. There is a quick recipe included with this post. The dressing can be made days in advance and kept refrigerated.
- Assemble: Add the spring mix to a large bowl. Top with the blueberries, strawberries, apple pieces, blue cheese crumbles, walnuts, and granola, either in layers or sections of each topping.
- Serve: With a sharp knife, cut the chicken into thin slices. Arrange the chicken slices around the top of the salad. You can serve the dressing on the side or toss with the whole salad before serving.
More Fresh Hearty Salads
FAQs for Chick-fil-A Market Salad
Packed with an array of fresh fruits and vegetables, chicken breast, and healthy toppings, this salad is a balanced, well-rounded dish. The combination of leafy greens, colorful berries, and apples ensures a generous dose of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. The sliced chicken offers a lean source of protein, while the blue cheese, walnuts, and dressing add a satisfying richness and healthy fats.
The dressing will stay good up to 2 weeks if kept in an airtight, sealed container. It’s best to keep homemade dressings in the back of the fridge when not serving so they stay cold and last longer.
Chick-fil-A’s Harvest Nut Granola is a delightful blend of whole grain oats, roasted almonds, pecans, honey, and cinnamon. It offers a satisfying crunch and a hint of sweetness, making it a perfect addition to their Market Salad or as a topping for other dishes.
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Key Ingredients
- Chicken: Instead of the grilled chicken that is normally on the Chick-fil-A Market Salad, this recipe uses pan-seared chicken. It gets a flavorful smoky, slightly spicy, seasoning for a similar flavor without the grill.
- Spring Mix Salad: Spring Mix salad is typically a combination of baby lettuce and baby greens like arugula, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, spinach, romaine, and radicchio. It’s a more flavorful greens mix with extra nutrients versus a romaine and iceberg blend.
- Berries: Blueberries and strawberries add a colorful burst of sweetness and are packed with antioxidants, vitamins, and fiber.
- Granny Smith Apple: The tartness of the Granny Smith apple balances the sweetness of the berries and adds a refreshing crunch.
- Blue Cheese: Blue cheese crumbles provide a tangy and creamy element to the salad, elevating its overall flavor.
- Walnuts: The addition of roasted walnuts adds a delightful crunch and provides heart-healthy fats. You can roast walnuts in the oven or toast them in a dry skillet until they are fragrant.
- Granola: Granola adds a satisfying texture and subtle sweetness. Look for your favorite store-bought granola or make your own using a combination of oats, nuts, and dried fruits.
Can Chick-Fil-A Market Salad be made ahead of time?
You can make parts of this salad ahead of time but don’t combine it all until right before serving so the lettuce stays crisp. You can combine the walnuts and granola and store at room temperature for up to a week. The dressing will stay good in the fridge for about 2 weeks. The chicken can be cooked ahead of time and kept in the fridge for up to 3 days, but it’s best in the first 24 hours. Keep everything in airtight containers.
Variations
- Chicken: Instead of cooking chicken just for this salad, you can use leftover Rotisserie Chicken or canned chicken. For a little more indulgent salad, why not use Fried Chicken Tenders instead?
- Fruit: Swap out other fresh summer fruits and berries like peaches, raspberries, blackberries, grapes, and plums, or use whatever seasonal fruit is available when you want to make this salad.
- Cheese: Instead of the blue cheese, try other salty, creamy cheese like feta cheese, mozzarella cheese, or goat cheese.
Chick-fil-A Zesty Apple Cider Vinaigrette
Combine the following ingredients and shake well before serving. For the best taste, make it at least an hour ahead of time so the flavors have time to come together.
- 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
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How to Store
- Serve: To maintain the salad’s freshness, assemble it just before serving. You can keep it at room temperature for up to 2 hours, but it’s best to keep everything chilled as much as possible.
- Store: To store the Chick-fil-A Market Salad, keep the dressing separate and refrigerate it in an airtight container for up to 3 days. As a note, spring mix doesn’t store very well, especially after it’s been dressed, so you may want to store leftover toppings separately and serve them with fresh greens.
- Freeze: Besides the chicken and the granola nut mix, this salad isn’t going to freeze well. You can freeze leftover chicken for up to 3 months and plain granola nut mix for up to 6 months.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 16 cups spring mix salad , chopped
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 cup strawberries , cut in half
- 1 granny smith apple , chopped
- 1/2 cup blue cheese , crumbled
- 1 cup roasted walnuts
- 1 cup cup granola
- 1 cup Zesty Apple Cider Vinaigrette , recipe below
Instructions
- Combine the chicken, olive oil, kosher salt, black pepper, cayenne and paprika.
- Heat a large skillet on medium heat and cook the chicken for 5-8 minutes on each side until cooked through.
- Let chicken cool while assembling salad.
- Layer the romaine, iceberg, cabbage, carrots, blueberries, strawberries, apple, blue cheese, roasted walnuts and granola.
- Slice the chicken as thinly as you possibly can (refrigerated cooked chicken is easiest) and top on salad with vinaigrette.
Notes
- 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- Add ingredients to a closed container and shake well until combined.
Nutrition
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This was spot-on and I love the dressing. The instructions are a little unclear though because they reference romaine and iceberg lettuce, while the recipe calls for spring mix. I chopped up romaine because it was what I had readily available, and felt it worked well.
This recipe is awesome! I leave out the nuts/granola and sometimes the cheese! Every once in a while I will add sugar instead of honey and a pinch pf cayene! Thanks for sharing this!
I was very disappointed with this recipe. I realize it’s a recreation of the original but I did not think it tasted anything like Chick-fil-A. I hate wasting food but I threw this away.
This salad was delicious. The dressing was so good with it. Thank you for sharing this recipe. My family loved it. The only question I have is did you candy the walnuts? If so, do you have the recipe for that. Thanks again.
Maybe this is a stupid question, but what kind of granola is used here? I’ve never had this salad at Chick-fil-a and the first time I made this, I just didn’t use granola because I didn’t know what kind to get. It was delicious but I do like the idea of adding granola for a little extra crunch. There’s just so many different flavors, I wasn’t sure which was best?
I love this salad! And yes, it’s way too expensive to get regularly, so I appreciate this recipe.
One minor thing, and perhaps it varies regionally, but here in AZ the salad comes with chopped almonds, not walnuts.
Thanks for the tip, Bill.
The calorie count on this salad is way off. According to my calculations, based on this recipe making 4 servings, a single serving has 857 calories (this includes dressing).
My family loved this salad and salad dressing. It was definitely a good imitation to the Chick-fil-a Market Salad.
Thanks for coming back to let me know. I appreciate the 5 stars, Frances.
Its like 50% like chic fil a. Not what I was looking for
Is it Keto friendly?
I’m not familiar with that diet so I would recommend checking the ingredients online to see if they’re compliant or if there needs to be any substitutions. Good luck!
The honey and granola aren’t keto friendly. There is keto friendly granola of u search hard enough. Not sure what u will do for the honey. ????
Do the nutrition facts include the dressing? Always one of our favorites but as you point out too expensive to but it every day. Can you make it all up several days ahead and divide it into different bags and take a bag with you and put it in a bowl at work?
Yes, the nutrition facts include the dressing. I would suggest keeping the dressing separate until you’re ready to eat but splitting up the salad into containers for meal prep would definitely work. Enjoy!
Great recipe! This is one of my favorite salads. I added a tbsp of dijon mustard to the dressing, fresh lemon/lime juice and fresh minced garlic. Delicious! Thanks for this.
I eat this salad anytime I’m near a Chic-Fil-A, but unfortunately, the closest Chic-Fil-A is about 2.5 hours from where I live. I’m so glad my cravings for this salad can be put to rest since I can make it at home now. Delicious recipe and would highly recommend trying it for yourself.
So glad you enjoyed it, Brittany! Happy to help get you through the times when your not near one.
Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I travel quite a bit and this salad is my go to. Your recipe is spot on. I vacuum seal the fruit and nuts together and the chicken in a separate bag. Cheese goes in a ziploc. Put all in a gallon size bag and the salad is ready for any hungry family member! Everyone gives it a thumbs up, even my 16 year old baseball player says its delicious.
How awesome! Thanks for all of the tips for taking it on the go!
This is my favorite salad sans chicken!
GORGEOUS! I want to stuff my face with it! Bet this makes the best dinner salad ever.
Thanks Katerina!
Your pictures are gorgeous! I’ll have to try this recipe soon!
That’s so sweet of you to say, thanks!
Totally pinning this one! I love Chick-fil-A’s salads so much!
Thanks for the pin! Enjoy!!
Yum! I’m going to have to try this!