There is just nothing like a chopped chicken salad — a salad with all of the ingredients cut small so you can get a terrific variety of flavors and textures all on one forkful. This chopped salad features chunks of tender chicken (and yes, you can absolutely use a rotisserie chicken or any simply cooked leftover chicken you have!), vegetables with crunch, and a generous amount of blue cheese. This is a truly satisfying main dish salad.

You don’t have to serve this salad with anything. But if you want to whip up a batch of beer bread or buttermilk biscuits, no one would ever say no to a piece of homemade bread with a terrific salad for lunch.

Ingredients

• Heart of romaine – I like crunchy lettuce in my chopped salads.
• Baby spinach – Adds some good nutrition and a softer texture to the combo.
• Grape or cherry tomatoes – You could also use larger tomatoes and cube them.
• Cucumbers – I like to use baby cucumbers, but you can also use regular or English cucumbers. Slice them in half lengthwise and then into half moons.
• Red bell pepper – Or whatever color you like.
• Red onion – Again, pick a color, any color!
• Greek or black olives – My family loves olives, but skip them if you don’t.
• Cooked chicken breast – Dice the chicken into small cubes so the pieces blend nicely into the salad. This is a great use for a rotisserie chicken, or leftover roasted or grilled chicken.
• Blue cheese dressing – Just add a few tablespoons of milk or cream to this blue cheese dip recipe for a quick homemade dressing. If you use purchased blue cheese dressing, try to buy one from the refrigerated section in the produce area. They taste fresher and usually have more generous chunks of actual blue cheese blended in. Make sure to store the dressing in the fridge.
• Crumbled cooked bacon – Bake the bacon, or try cooking it in the air fryer.

Substitutions and Variations

• You can change up the vegetables as you like; just try to get a vibrant mix of colors and textures in there. Play with different colored bell peppers, use a medley of cherry or grape tomatoes, and any onion will do if you don’t have red. You can also use different types of olives. Add some corn kernels, scallions or green onions, celery, whatever you like.
• If you want to skip the chicken and bacon and keep the salad vegetarian, by all means, do that.
• Other good chicken chopped salad dressing options are Homemade Ranch Dressing, Creamy Avocado Dressing and Avocado Ranch Dressing. If you use one of these you might add some crumbled blue cheese or some crumbled feta cheese.

How to Make Chopped Blue Cheese Chicken Salad

If you decide to purchase it, I recommend making a beeline for the dressing in the refrigerated produce section of the market. They taste fresher and usually have more generous chunks of actual blue cheese blended in. Make sure to store the dressing in the fridge.

1. Build the salad: Pile the romaine and spinach in a large shallow serving bowl. Add the tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions, olives, chicken, and toss.

2. Dress, toss, and serve: Dollop on the blue cheese dressing and toss again. Top with the bacon if desired.

Storage and Make-Ahead Tips

The vegetables can be prepped up to two days ahead of time; same with the chicken. You can make the whole salad a day ahead of time and store it in an airtight container in the fridge. Just don’t dress the salad until just before serving.

What to Serve With Chicken and Blue Cheese Chopped Salad

Lentil Tomato Soup

Pan con Tomate

Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries

More Chopped Salad Recipes

• Southwestern Chicken Taco Salad Bowl
• Chopped Salad with Chicken, Tomatoes, and Lemon Thyme Dressing
• Winter Chopped Salad