Chicken Bacon Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

After I had my second baby, I was really craving a yummy healthy salad and pulled out whatever I had in my fridge that sounded good. It ended up being one of my favorite salads I’ve ever had and I still make it regularly now! It’s honestly so simple to make but it hits the spot for being delicious, healthy, and satisfying. The added flavor of the crispy bacon and candied pecans make it feel like more than a salad, and the citrusy lemon vinaigrette has me licking my plate afterward.

I love salads because they’re generally pretty easy to make allergen friendly. This recipe includes pecans and mustard, but can easily be made without either and still be so yummy!

What Makes This Recipe So Great

• Dairy, Egg, Gluten Free: It can be hard to find salad dressings that are delicious and free of top allergens, so I tend to make my own homemade. I love this lemon vinaigrette – it does have mustard which is a top ten allergen and actually one of my son’s allergens, but I’ve tried it without and it’s still so good.
• Easy To Make: While I bake my chicken & bacon, I just throw together the other ingredients really quickly and it’s all ready in a matter of 30 minutes. If you want it to be even quicker, use leftover rotisserie chicken even!
• It’s Delicious: Like I said above, this is one of those recipes that I just can’t get enough of and totally has me licking my plate clean afterward.

Ingredients & How to Substitute

• Salad Greens – I really like to buy a spring mix from the grocery store, but other greens work great well such as romaine lettuce.
• Apple – I love honeycrisp apples with this salad, but you can choose any of your favorite apples!
• Pecans – Optional – if you have tree nut allergies – you’ll still love this salad without the nuts!
• Maple Syrup – Optional – if you want to candy your pecans use maple syrup or if you don’t have maple syrup you can use honey! You can also just do plain pecans or no nuts.
• Bacon – I’ve made this with and without bacon, but it’s definitely more delicious with bacon.
• Chicken – I usually bake my chicken, but if you’re wanting something fast and easy, you can definitely use canned or left over rotisserie chicken.
• Fresh Lemon Juice – This is essential for the dressing, I highly recommend buying and squeezing fresh lemons as opposed to lemon juice from a bottle.
• Avocado Oil – Most dressing recipes call for olive oil, which you can definitely substitute for here, but I prefer avocado oil as it has a less strong flavor.
• Garlic – Fresh minced garlic is the best option.
• Dijon Mustard – Optional – I like to add it to my dressing if I know it’s something my son isn’t going to eat, but like I said above, it’s still good without mustard if you have a mustard allergy!
• Salt, Pepper, & Garlic Powder – What’s life without a little seasoning?

Some Recipe Tips

I always start this recipe by baking my chicken and bacon first. I prefer it warm on my salad, but if you want it all cold on your salad you’ll want to use left over chicken or cook it all in advance.

There’s not really much you can get wrong with this recipe, just throw it all together and enjoy!

This Recipe Includes A Top 10 Allergen:

Check the Ingredients and Substitutions list above for easy ways to make this safe for you!