Mandarin Chicken Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
This mandarin chicken salad with lemon vinaigrette is the delicious result of a quest for perfectly baked chicken breasts. It's an easy recipe that ensures juicy, flavorful results every time.
Ingredients
Salad
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 5 cups baby spinach
- 4 mandarins peeled and separated
- 1 avocado ripe and diced
- 1 English cucumber sliced
- 2 green onions chopped
- ¼ cup slivered almonds
- black and white sesame seeds sprinkle
- 1 recipe lemon vinaigrette
Instructions
Steps
- Mix the vinaigrette ingredients together and pour 3/4 of it into a container, along with the chicken to marinate. Marinating the chicken not only infuses it with the bright lemon vinaigrette flavor, but also helps tenderize it, resulting in a more succulent and flavorful salad. Ideally, you should marinate the chicken for a few hours, but 30 minutes is fine as well.
- Preheat your oven to 425F and add the marinated chicken breasts to a baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes until cooked through.
- Shred the chicken using either a fork or a stand mixer. Then in a large mixing bowl, toss all the ingredients together. Drizzle the remaining lemon vinaigrette on top.
Notes
The key to this mandarin chicken salad, as with so many recipes, lies in the details. Precise chicken cooking is paramount. By monitoring the internal temperature and accounting for carryover cooking, you’ll avoid dry, tasteless chicken.
Think of this recipe as more than just a salad; it's a lesson in engineering deliciousness, and it allows you to bake chicken perfectly every time.
Nutrition
Calories: 315kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 29gFat: 14gSodium: 169mgFiber: 7gSugar: 11g
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