Raspberry Walnut Salad with Chicken

My favorite Raspberry Walnut Salad with Chicken made with leafy greens, fresh raspberries, shredded chicken, chopped walnuts, and sliced ​​red onions all tossed with a creamy raspberry vinaigrette!

This salad truly has all my favorite components! Sweet and tart raspberries, leafy greens, tender shredded chicken, savory red onions, crunchy walnuts and drizzled with the most delicious raspberry vinaigrette! So delicious and super simple to throw together.

You can easily customize this salad to your liking as well. Sprinkle in a little goat cheese or feta cheese, swap out the raspberries for strawberries, blueberries or other fruit of your choice, add in some avocado slices or dried cranberries, and you could even substitute the chopped walnuts for pecans, almonds or cashews.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Mixed greens – I used a mixture of arugula, baby kale and fresh baby spinach leaves, but feel free to use whatever leafy green lettuce you prefer.
• Chicken – I love making this with rotisserie chicken because it’s quick, easy and adds a boost of protein to this salad! You could also use cubed chicken breasts, leftover shredded chicken or even canned chicken would work.
• Raspberries – raspberries are loaded with Vitamin C and antioxidants, but they also taste incredible in this salad. You could also use strawberries, blueberries or even chopped apples or pears.
• Red onions – adds a nice savory flavor to the salad and I cut the onion into thin slices
• Walnuts – these add a nice crunch to the salad, but you can also use chopped pecans, almonds or cashews
• Raspberry Vinaigrette – made with a combination of raspberries, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey, shallots and salt/pepper

Easy Raspberry Vinaigrette

I absolutely love the flavor and creaminess in this super simple raspberry walnut vinaigrette! Not only does this dressing add a beautiful vibrant color to your salad, but it is easily made with just a few simple ingredients – raspberries, red wine vinegar, a little balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey (or maple syrup), shallots and salt/pepper.

I like to make this right in my blender (or food processor) and it comes together in just minutes. You can use fresh or frozen raspberries for this as well! I always try to make my own salad dressings right at home because I typically already have all the ingredients on hand in my pantry or fridge, it’s budget-friendly and honestly just tastes so much better than the bottled stuff from the store.

Can this Salad be Prepped in Advance?

Absolutely! In fact I love prepping everything in advance so that I can easily throw this salad together for an easy lunch or as a delicious side dish with my dinner. In order for the lettuce to stay fresh and prevent wilting, I like to store everything in separate containers until I’m ready to assemble and toss together.

• Wash and store the raspberries in a sealed container in the fridge and thinly slice the red onion storing in a sealed baggy or container.
• Shred some cooked rotisserie chicken (or use any other left over chicken you may have on hand) and store separately in the fridge.
• Blend together the ingredients for the raspberry vinaigrette and store in a sealed mason jar in the fridge. Just before serving, let the dressing sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes to let the oil become liquid again and give the dressing a good shake or whisk to mix everything together. The vinaigrette will last up to a week in the fridge.

More Salad Recipes You’ll Love

Hope you all enjoy this Raspberry Walnut Salad with Chicken and if you love this recipe as much as we do, please leave me a five-star rating below and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using the hashtag #eatyourselfskinny! I love seeing all your delicious recreations!