Every summer I make a point of adding a new chicken salad to my towering pile of chicken salad recipes. For one thing, I make my beloved buttermilk rosemary grilled chicken so dang much that I always have leftover chicken hanging around. And in the case of this recipe, I also had an unusually large group of avocados rapidly ripening in my kitchen. Sure, I could have made a vat of guacamole…but then I got a vision of avocado chicken salad with sweet cherry tomatoes, tangy red onions, all nestled on a warm piece of grilled flatbread. There was no going back.
Now, not only are there wonderful chunks of avocado in this salad, the dressing is also a glorious mixture of creamy avocado, buttermilk, lime juice, mint and a few other things…all whirled up in your food processor or blender in about one minute. We had a little leftover after I mixed it into the salad, and I put it out on the counter with some tortilla chips and yes, it can double as a dreamy avocado buttermilk dip. Yum.
But its main reason for being is to mix into this incredibly easy salad. Find a big bowl and toss in some cold cooked and shredded chicken, sliced cherry tomatoes, chopped red onion, cubed avocado and some salt and pepper. Pour on the dressing in stages, mixing as you go, until it has as much dressing as you like.
Now, you can definitely serve this salad on lettuce, on regular bread or on toast, but I have to tell you that eating it on a piece of warm flatbread that is fresh off your grill takes it to whole new heights of wonderfulness. Grilled flatbread is as easy as it gets, bread-wise…click here to get my favorite way to make it.
And with that, my Chicken Salad for 2012 is in the books. And it’s only July! I might have to come up with another one…stay tuned to this channel.
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Avocado Chicken Salad
Yield: 4 servings
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeIngredients
Dressing Ingredients
- 2 avocados
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 scallion, chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
- 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
- Juice from two limes
- 1/3 cup water
- Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
Salad Ingredients
- 3 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 1/2 red onion, chopped
- 1 avocado, diced
- Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
- Crushed tortilla chips for garnish
- Bread or lettuce to serve salad on (optional)
Instructions
Dressing Instructions
- Combine all dressing ingredients except for salt and pepper in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.
Salad Instructions
- Combine all salad ingredients except for salt and pepper in large bowl.
- Add dressing in 1/2 to 1/4 cup increments until the chicken has the amount of dressing you like, stirring gently after each addition of dressing. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve as is garnished with crushed tortilla chips, or on lettuce or bread.
Dressing recipe adapted from Everyday Food
Still Hungry?
Gazpacho Chicken Salad from Framed Cooks
Chicken Avocado Cranberry Salad from Leite’s Culinaria
BBQ Chicken Salad from Two Peas And Their Pod
Great summer meal! Thanks for the link love!
Love your bbq salad! Happy Fourth! 🙂
I like the cut of your jib…
Thanks! 🙂
I’ve seen avocado used in dressings a LOT recently and I’m totally loving it! I’ll take it over mayo any day!
Agree 100%…I think we should declare avocado the new mayo. You and me. 🙂
Great recipe, can’t wait to try it….
Hope you love it as much as we do! 🙂
Kate, I adore avocado, but I find once cut, they get unappetizingly brown. I’ve tried using lemon juice, but the color is still “off”. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks!
Hi Amy – yes, that’s a tough one. Lemon (or lime) juice usually does work for me…for guacamole, you can also try saving the pit and putting it in the center of the dip…that sometimes helps. For a recipe like this salad, I just leave the avocado for the very very end and chop it up last minute. But let’s see if any other Framed Cooks readers have other ideas? 🙂
The avocados I bought yesterday seem to be nice and ripe…soft. How long can I keep them in my frige? Once I make up the dressing, how long can I store it, and will it turn brown or does the lime juice keep it nice and green?
Thanks, I am looking forward to trying this recipe.
Pop them in the fridge right away, and they should keep for a couple of days. As for the dressing, I’ve only ever made it and gobbled it down right away, so I’m not sure about the brownness question. 🙂 My guess is that it would keep through the day because of the lime juice, but I can’t promise. My best advice is to make it right before you serve it – it’s super-fast!
Thank you so much for this great recipe! I can’t wait to try this avocado ranch, I love to make homemade sauces/dressings! I’m also glad to see a chicken salad recipe w/o mayo (I HATE mayo lol).
I’m not the biggest mayo fan either – and mayo versus avocado is SO not a fair fight…we buy avocados in bulk at Costco!
Oh, wow this looks good. Should I admit I’ve had this page open for two days, staring at the scrumptious photos? 🙂 I bet that dressing is fantastic. Can’t wait to try it!
Aw, thanks for admitting that – you made my day! xx
Love avocados with any type of foods..
Your Avocado Chicken salad looks yummy. cannot wait to serve my family..
Me too! I hope they love it.
I found this recipe on Pinterest around the beginning of December. I think I have made it about 4 times….. LOVE IT! My husband is pretty picky with avocado recipes, but this he loved. I have even just made the dressing for regular salads… did I tell you that I LOVE IT!… 🙂 Thank you very much
I am so glad! I will eat pretty much anything that involves an avocado, but this is one of my very faves. Glad it passed the husband test! 🙂