Apple Apple Chicken Salad with Cider Dressing

Apple Apple Chicken Salad with Cider Dressing – Double the apples, double the love with this delicious fall salad. That cider dressing is incredible! 

We’ve been running full out for the last few weeks and our fall break is just around the corner. Sophie will be off this week from school and Michael next week. It’s time to slow down a bit, rejuvenate, and take care of ourselves a bit. We’d love to take long drives to stare at the gorgeous changing leaves or visit our local cider press. But we live in the desert and those don’t exist here. So we’ll eat fall foods, watch fall movies, read fall children’s books, and find pumpkin patches to peruse.

This Apple Apple Chicken Salad is so delicious. I dreamed of it for weeks before making it a reality. Dried apples, crisp fresh apples, and a cider vinaigrette make apple the star of the show. Tart blackberries, purple grapes, and lettuce fill things out, and the savory bites of celery, almonds, and chicken cut through all that sweetness and keep your taste buds grounded. It’s a meal that will fill you up without filling you out, and will give you just the taste of fall you need.

I live and die by Honeycrisp apples this time of year. They’re The Apple of All Apples, but if they’re not your favorite, you can sub in any kind you fancy. The rest of the salad is all just as flexible–you can try dried Granny Smiths or even cinnamon apple chips in place of the fuji ones I used. You can swap pecans for the almonds, or skip the chicken to keep it meatless. Not dairy free? Some little cubes of Brie would be diviiiiine. If you want a higher veggie-to-fruit ratio, shredded carrots or a bit of green onion would be great here. Make it your own, as always.

Serve it all up with some fresh cornbread or some tortilla chips if you need something on the side. It would also pair beautifully with a cup of hot soup. Whatever you need to get that cozy fall feeling in your house.

What recipes make you feel fall-ish? Anything you’re looking forward to during a fall break?

Apple Apple Chicken Salad with Cider Dressing

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• Author: One Lovely Life
• Yield: makes enough for at least 4-6 servings.

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Description

The amounts for the salad ingredients are loose suggestions. There’s no magic formula to make it come out just right. You’ll want to be a bit more careful about the cider vinaigrette ingredients but let your tastebuds be your guide. I know you’ll end up in the right place.

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 5–6 cups Greens (I used spring mix)
• 1–2 cups cooked chicken, diced or shredded
• 1–2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 apple, cored and diced – I prefer a combo of Honeycrisp and Granny Smith
• 1/2 cup purple grapes, halved
• 1/2 cup blackberries, halved if large
• 1/2 cup dried apples/apple chips, more to taste
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds, toasted if desired

For the Cider Vinaigrette:

• 1/2 cup apple cider
• 2–3 Tbsp avocado or olive oil
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• salt and pepper, to taste

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Instructions

1. Make the cider vinaigrette by tossing together cider, oil, vinegar, cinnamon, and a healthy pinch of salt and pepper. Whisk together until well combined (or you can shake it in a lidded jar). Taste and add additional salt, pepper, cinnamon, or vinegar as desired.
2. Toss salad ingredients with just enough vinaigrette to coat. Serve immediately

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