30 Minute Meals
Easy Chopped Salad
Prep
10 minutes
Cook
20 minutes
Yield
4
This fresh, and easy chopped salad will only take 30-minutes to prep and is great for a hearty lunch or dinner.
This Easy Chopped Salad recipe is so easy to make and a delicious, flavorful meal that you can make for lunch or dinner. Whip it up in just 30 minutes and enjoy the flavors of the fresh veggies, sweet but savory dressing, and vegan chicken nuggets on top for added protein.
❤️ Why You’ll Love Easy Chopped Salad
- Quick: Salads should be easy and you shouldn’t be spending hours prepping one. This recipe is quick and you can have it ready to eat in only 30 minutes.
- Meal Prep: Prep this salad and dressing separately and then add it together for a quick lunch.
- Versatile: The best part about salads is that you can personalize it to what you like, or what you have in your fridge.
🍲 Ingredients
Vegan Chicken Nuggets: You can use any plant-based (or meat) protein for this Easy Chopped Salad, however, I used vegan chicken nuggets from Nowadays. They have 13g of protein in them that comes from organic pea protein. There are several other types of chicken substitutes out there that you could use instead. You could also marinate tofu, or tempeh, or simply just add beans.
Herbs: I used fresh herbs for the ultimate flavor in this recipe. I used parsley, basil, mint, and chives, but feel free to substitute anything you don’t have or add more of one herb over the other. However, I don’t recommend subbing for dried herbs as you won’t get as much freshness in your chopped salad.
Pumpkin Seeds: I added pumpkin seeds to this chopped salad because they add a great crunch and are also full of valuable nutrients and high in antioxidants. Feel free to use any seeds or nuts you have on hand.
👩🍳 How to Make
- Preheat the oven to 425f and prepare a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Add the Nowadays chicken nuggets to the pan, evenly spaced.
- Bake for 18 – 20 minutes, until golden brown.
- While the nuggets bake, prepare the salad dressing by adding all of the ingredients to a small bowl and whisking them together. Stream in the desired amount of balsamic vinegar.
- Season to taste. Set aside.
- Prepare the salad by finely dicing the cucumber and jalapeno, halving the cherry tomatoes, shredding the carrot, and chopping the lettuce.
- Add and arrange all of these ingredients on a large platter.
- Finely chop the fresh herbs, adding them to the arranged salad along with the pumpkin seeds and feta cheese.
- Slice the avocado and arrange it on top of the salad along with the Nowadays chicken nuggets.
- Pour the dressing over top, and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Enjoy!!
🗒 Tips and Tricks
- Personalize It: Personalize your chopped salad with any extra veggies or spices of your choosing.
- Consistent Chop: Aim for uniform chop sizes for all your ingredients. This ensures an even distribution of flavors and textures in each bite.
- Don’t Overdress: A light dressing is usually best. You can always add more, but it’s harder to take it away.
- Meal Prep: Chop the vegetables in advance and store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
🗒 Substitutions
- Chicken Nuggets: You can swap the vegan chicken nuggets with real chicken nuggets if you prefer.
- Feta: Use real feta or your favorite cheese cubbed in this salad.
- Pumpkin Seeds: You can swap the pumpkin seeds with your favorite seed or nut.
🗒 Best served with
- Greek Chicken Gyro (in place of the vegan chicken nuggets)
- Fluffy Greek Pita
👝 How to Store Leftovers
With any salad, it’s best if you keep dressing separately if you don’t plan to eat the whole dish in one sitting. This helps keep it fresh and prevents it from going soggy.
🤔 Common Questions
Absolutely! Get creative with your ingredients. Some popular additions include bell peppers, carrots, radishes, avocado, corn, and even fruit like chopped apples or dried cranberries.
You can swap the vegan nuggets in this recipe for real chicken nuggets, shredded leftover chicken, crispy tofu, or even shrimp.
Easy Chopped Salad
Ingredients
- ¼ pack of Nowadays Chicken Nuggets
- 2 heads of green leaf lettuce
- ½ long English cucumber
- 1 large carrot
- 1 ½ cups cherry tomatoes
- 1 jalapeno
- ½ cup vegan feta
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
- ¼ cup chives
- 2 tbsp fresh basil
- 1 ½ tbsp fresh parsley
- 1 ½ tbsp fresh mint
- ½ large avocado
For the Dressing:
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tbsp. maple syrup
- 1 tbsp. salt
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
- Juice of half a lemon
- Stream in balsamic vinegar 1 tsp or so
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425f and prepare a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Add the Nowadays chicken nuggets to the pan, evenly spaced.
- Bake for 18 – 20 minutes, until golden brown.
- While the nuggets bake, prepare the salad dressing by adding all of the ingredients to a small bowl and whisking together. Stream in the desired amount of balsamic vinegar.
- Season to taste. Set aside.
- Prepare the salad by finely dicing the cucumber and jalapeno, halving the cherry tomatoes, shredding the carrot, and chopping the lettuce.
- Add and arrange all of these ingredients to a large platter.
- Finely chop the fresh herbs, adding them to the arranged salad along with the pumpkin seeds and feta cheese.
- Slice the avocado and arrange it on top of the salad along with the Nowadays chicken nuggets.
- Pour the dressing over top, and mix until thoroughly combined.
Enjoy!!
Video
