Nicknamed my POWER SALAD, this Spinach Salad with Chicken, Avocado and Goat Cheese is pretty much the best salad ever! Watch the video showing you how to make it this recipe, then scroll to the bottom of this post to print out the recipe so you can make it at home.
Oh, if I were a single girl, I’d eat salad every night for dinner. That’s how much I love the stuff. I’d eat mixed greens with berries and chicken. I’d eat arugula topped with salmon and drizzled with fresh lemon juice and olive oil. I’d eat crunchy romaine with roasted tomatoes, bacon and a generous dose of blue cheese dressing. And I’d eat a ton of spinach salads like this Spinach Salad with Chicken, Avocado and Goat Cheese.
I gave up my single life (and eating salads for dinner) 17 years ago. It’s pretty rare that I can actually get away with serving salad for dinner these days. Instead, my family wants their version of dinner, which means a plateful of three things: a meat, a starch and a vegetable (or a big bowl of pasta).
Having somewhat of a rebellious nature, I decided to go for it with this salad. I fed my family SALAD for dinner. I started with spinach… sliced it into slivers.
…and then I added tomatoes and corn…
…and plenty of avocado and chopped, cooked chicken…
….and goat cheese and toasted pine nuts.
I drizzled a simple and tangy Dijon vinaigrette on top…
…and then I plated this Spinach Salad with Chicken, Avocado and Goat Cheese as dinner for my family. No meat/vegetable/starch meal for them on this night- just SALAD for dinner.
And guess what? They loved it 🙂
Here are a few more spinach salad recipes you might enjoy:
- Southwest Spinach Salad
- Red Raspberry Spinach Salad
- Cranberry Spinach Salad with Gorgonzola
- Chickpea and Spinach Salad with Cumin Dressing
- Autumn Apple and Spinach Salad
- Reset Quinoa Spinach Salad
- Spinach Salad with Hot Prosciutto Dressing
Spinach Salad with Chicken, Avocado and Goat Cheese
Recipe Details
Ingredients
SALAD:
- 8 cups chopped spinach
- 1½ cups cooked, chopped chicken
- 1 cup halved cherry or pear tomatoes
- 1/2 cup corn (canned, frozen or fresh off the cob)
- 1 large avocado, sliced
- 1/3 cup crumbled goat or feta cheese
- 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
DRESSING:
- 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Place spinach in a large salad bowl. Add remaining salad ingredients.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Pour over the salad and toss (a little at a time... as much dressing as you desire).
Okay, this salad is absolutely phenomenal. Not even kidding, it was probably the most delicious salad I have ever eaten. It should be featured in some fancy restaurant. The flavors and textures all work so beautifully together, especially the salty goat cheese and the sweetness of the tomato and corn. Oh, and the dressing – I wanted to lick it off the plate. I kind of wish I weren’t full so I could keep eating! Thanks so much for sharing such a wonderful recipe. I will most definitely be making this again!
Happy to hear!
Your salad looks delicious. You have so many nice recipes on your blog!
just found this recipe and so happy, I love avocado, spinach and goat cheese and know that I need more protein than the cheese has so love the chicken also, love the other ingredients too, but was taken with the title of this recipe, so thank you!
This salad is so delicious it is now a regular family dinner in my house. Thank you. Great recipe.
I omitted the corn and added shrimp to my version, it was delicious, thank-you! On an entirely different note: Please forgive me for offering my perspective. I do so respectfully. In my home, what I cook is eaten. I make whatever I want. Anyone wanting “their” version makes it themselves or doesn’t eat at all. I don’t consider it being rebellious. It’s very often salad. Or, my partner cooks and it’s whatever he feels like making. Ok, take care!
esa ensalada esta muy buena me gusta la receta se ve muy faci de hacer
I made it tonight and it was fab. I’m visiting my mom in AZ and I am loathe to turn the oven on. The pine nuts were so yummy in it. I used cooked chicken strips so toasting the pine nuts were the only heat added to the kitchen. I bet it would be good with grilled shrimp.
This is pretty much my wife’s dream salad – she’d eat it every night too! Can’t wait to try it!
Looks yummy….the folks in my house would eat the chicken and goat cheese out of it and head for the fridge for something else. *sigh*
Can I just say how utterly DIVINE this salad is? I made it last night with chicken, got a little obsessed and made it again tonight with turkey bacon… it’s my new favourite! I love everything about it- the perfect blend of ingredients and the tangy dressing simply hits the spot for me. In fact, I would like to feature it on my blog (I will be sure to direct my readers back to your link, as requested) so that I can share the salad love. Thanks, Lori!
Thanks so much- it’s our favorite!
Excellent! Not a salad fan but this is great…..thanks
This is my new favorite salad. It was amazing with all of the different textures amd flavors. Seriously everything I want from a salad and the dressing was perfect. Thanks so much Lori.
I’m so glad you like it so much!
This salad was delish! Posting on my blog later this week with a link to your recipe. Thanks for posting!
Glad you enjoyed! Please post a link to my recipe, rather than reprinting the recipe on your blog. Thank you!
We tried this salad today. It is delicious even my youngest son (16month) liked it.
We used red and yellow tomatoes instead of corn.
Since there is no way to get fresh spinach at the moment ( in Germany) we used corn salat. It was sooooo great!
This salad was a success!!! Thanks!
I’m going to have to pin this one! I get bored with salads but this one looks great! I love anything with goat cheese and avocado!
Your salad looks delicious. Great job on the Pictures too. Going to definitely try this salad.
Hello everyone! This looks delicious cant wait to try!
Just a question if anyone knows…
How long can the cooked chicken be preserved in the fridge?
I am planning to prepare a big bowl of this salad on a Sunday and I want to know for how many days I can keep it in the fridge and take small portions of it at work for lunch.
Thank you so much for this!
I would prep and chop everything and keep it all separate. Assemble each day that you want to bring in the salad for lunch (the chicken will stay good for several days). Don’t chop the avocado ahead of time or it will brown on you.
I love this salad! found it on Pinterest. I made this salad 3 weeks in a row, and changed it up a bit here and there. One day I didn’t have enough to make a meal out of it so i tossed it with some cold pasta.
I love how versatile this salad is. Soooo good 🙂
Thanks heaps!
Sarah
This looks wonderful! Thanks for sharing.
I made this salad for a family get together…minus the chicken and corn….it was a huge hit! I can’t wait to add the other ingredients and try it as a main course…tonight!
My daughter made this for me on Mother’s Day and it is beyond delicious!!! It was good, maybe better the next day. It may come as a regular in our dinner rotation, especially for summer.
Thanks for a great recipe!
Love cutting spinach. Made at least 8 side salads. I would add more corn next time
That looks like good healthy meal and I plan to copy it
I am doing the Sherry Brescia “Great Taste No Pain” meal plan and she tells us that startches and meats should NEVER be eaten together…and I have not had heart burn since doing this
This is the best salad I have ever made. I just made this for my husband and I to have for lunch and he also loved it. I had never tried pine nuts before and I loved them. I can’t wait to make this for my sisters when they come to visit. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
YUMMY! I’m definitely going to make this! We’ve started to grow our own vegetables too so making salads won’t be so expensive! 🙂 ~Yolanda~
Made this tonight but didn’t have corn, so I substituted frozen peas and it was delicious!
Delicious – I made this last night and my 13 year-old son said it was “delicious” – and it was! Thanks for posting. Annie x
Made this the other night and we loved it.
Sounds wonderful, I will figure out my Weight Watchers points and try it this week! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe! I can’t wait to make it for my daughter who eats far healthier than I ever have and she will be so proud of me! I’m following you on Twitter now to get more inspiration! Thank you again!
This is a keeper. Love all the flavors and bonus it is healthy.
Loved it! Thanks for sharing!
beautiful! can’t wait to try it!
Since suffer from “pine mouth”, ridiculous I know…but real, I would have to sub another nut but this looks divine.
This was so good, thank you for sharing! I added beets, and used poppy seed dressing because that’s what I had on hand, and it was fantastic! Hubby and I cleaned our plates!
This salad is mouth watering.Absolutely yummy! thxxxxxx
This looks like it would make a great ‘Mason Jar’ salad for lunch as well…. dressing, chicken, corn, avocado, pine nuts then spinach, I think…….
Lori, it is awesome, I served it a few times this summer and it was a WOW! Curious as to nutrional count….do you have it? It is so good I’m afraid it be like too high in something? But I realize you don’t need a lot of dressing for this!
I didn’t figure the nutritional info on this one. Glad you enjoy!
Excellent! I found this on Pinterest the other night, and I couldn’t get it off of my mind since I found it! LOL It was super yummy!!! Even my non-salad eater son ate some of it. 🙂
This caught my eye on Pinterest tonight…looks so good Lori!! I could eat salad for dinner most nights too!
Eating spinach as salad is such a great idea! I love sponach, but so far, I only ate them cooked. Thanks!
This looks great, making it for dinner tonight. Found it on Pinterest!
Looks great! Avocados make everything better! About to run the store to get the ingredients for lunch, think I’ll add black beans as well. Love corn and black bean with avocado, the flavors are great together!
oooooh this sounds delish, would love to make for my mother in law, but she HATES avocado…any suggestions??
You can always leave it out!
This salad is a favorite in my house. So simple and SO good. I love it!
For the corn cut off the cob – eat raw or cooked first? I always grill before cutting off the cob but curious to know if I can just eat raw and it will be just as yummy? Looks so delicious! Thanks…
Ginny
You can do either- I actually really like it cut raw from the cob myself!
This was excellent.
I made this tonight -YUM! I left out the corn, I wanted to substitute black beans but I didn’t have any, but I will make sure I have some on hand next time!
Made this tonight and it was delicious!
My 11 year old SON came home from his friend’s house begging for me to get this recipe immediately! His friend’s mom made it for dinner and he loved it. Can’t wait to give it a try.
Absolutely one of the best salads that I have ever had! Thank you!
I’m making this tonight. Adding asparagus, quinoa and maybe hard boiled eggs just because. Can’t wait… looks so yummy!!!
Wow! That salad is on my “summer to make” list. I’m right there with ya. If I were a single gal I’d be eating big salads for dinner every night. There are so many great flavors in a good salad!
This looks delicious! I am hosting a girls’ night at my house and want to make this. There will be about 9 girls including myself. Should I double or triple the recipe? Thanks!
I think doubling would be fine as long as you are serving other things with the salad. You can always toss in some extra greens.
How long does the vinaigrette last for? I’d love to be able to make some decent sized batches. I had this salad last night (had to substitute the white wine vinegar for seasoned rice vinegar, SO GOOD) I’m thinking of making this salad a weekly thing 🙂
I think the vinaigrette would be good for a couple of weeks. Just shake it up before serving. There really isn’t anything in there that would go bad, right?
Hi there!
I just want to thank you for sharing this awesome recipe. I am featuring your dish on my blog today. Thank you again!!
I just used low fat honey Dijon dressing. This was delicious. I could eat it everyday.
This looks incredible! Question for you… I am allergic to spinach, what would you suggest as a substitute?
Thank you!
Mixed greens!
Yum, this looks fabulous! 🙂 Love pine nuts and goat cheese, oh and avocado, yum yum!!
This looks amazing so glad I found it on Pinterest, I hate to cook in the summer and love eating cold foods this will be added to my grocery list thank you
I made this tonight, it was so good. All three sons and my husband loved it. Thank you so much.
Looks good…this is going into my ‘to try’ file.
cubed or grated cheese of choice is good too
Salads don’t need recipes, add whatever is available in the frig or pantry, ,,hard cooked eggs, chicken, salmon, nuts, fruit of any kind, veggies cold cooked potatoes,even cut up spagetti or any other pasta, dressing of choice, and there you have a beautiful meal!!!
I likee to make my salads with whatever is in my frig or pantry, will add a cold cooked potato or an egg filberts strawberrys avacado if its in the house,some lettuce off the garden a
or any kind of vegetable, salads don’t need recipes use what is there!!!!
I figured out the calories for anyone who might want to know… is 320 calories per serving. 🙂 Trying it tonight!
Any idea on how many calories per serving?
Not sure on this one.
This is perfect – loving avocado right now! Thanks for the great idea 🙂
Saw this on Pinterest. Made it tonight for my husband and two little boys, 8 and 11. Everyone loved it, especially me. Thanks for the recipe!!
How funny…if you were single you’d want to eat more salads. If I were single, I would feel obligated to eat more salads, in hopes of being skinny and getting lots of dates. Ha! I guess I’m just not a salad lover. This one looks terrific though – love the avocado and pine nut combo!
Such a tasty salad!! I changed the dressing up a bit…i added a bit of garlic and some agave nectar and instead of white vinegar, i used basalmic…just a personal preference but its really tasty and works well with all the flavors of the salad..its my go-to salad dressing for spinach salads!
This was delicious!! A little too much dijion for our tastes, but next time we would probably turn it into a tsp and just add more evoo and vinegar.
That looks delish! I love spinach!!
Your photos are amazing! Can’t wait to try the recipe!
I’m so with you on the salad for dinner every night Lori! This looks delicious! Avocado always takes a salad to another level 🙂
My husband and I loved this salad! We’ve eaten it twice this week. For the dressing, we used a honey serrano balsamic vinegar with olive oil. I highly recommend the honey serrano balsamic if you can find it somewhere.
Of course they loved it — it’s fabulous! My hubster is to the point where he’ll email at some point during the day and say, “It needs to be a salad dinner night.” I’ve gotten good at including that starch along with the protein in our salads and we look forward to them. I’ll have to try the pinenuts in this combo which is a fave. YUM!
I’d skip the corn, but otherwise I am there!
I love salad..and this one looks delicious! I don’t know why i dislike making them so much! This one could possibly inspire me to just go ahead and make it already!
What a gorgeous salad, Lori. If only we could get by eating this every day. When Jason is up north at school, I’m a vegetarian but when he comes back into town, I’m devouring baby back ribs, fried chicken, and plenty of other artery-clogging foods!
Everything but the Corn – The rest sounds delish!
Looks incredible! I too had to give up salads for dinner unless they are a side of course no the main dish! BUT I will try again, summer is coming and who wants to heat up the house with the oven, salad is the perfect idea and your looks lovely!
Looks so wonderfully springy!
What beautiful pictures! I just made a spinach salad yesterday for my daughter’s school/staff appreciation. It had avocado, oranges and an Asian vinaigrette. coming to my blog soon.
This looks like one amazing salad! The dressing sounds perfect with the chicken and avocado (my favorite salad topping)!
We do salad for dinner at least once a week! It’s so nice to not cook and whip up something healthy in no time at all.
Avocado and Goat Cheese are one of my favorite combinations…
I am loving this salad!! This is so simple, elegant and looks amazing!!
This sounds absolutely wonderful. We have been doing salads with grilled chicken more often and my kids love them – and I love that. Will have to try this – we love goat cheese:-)
This recipe has so many of my favourite things, as well as being pretty to look at 🙂
Looks wonderful…except for the corn!
What a great combination of ingredients. I would eat a salad every day if it looked like this one. Yum!
I never bookmark salad recipes. My husband is the same as your family – a plate of meat, veggie, starch suits him just fine. But on occasion in the summer we both enjoy what we call a “big salad.” I do think he would love this as a “big salad” every now again this summer. So…I bookmarked this for later. 🙂
This is basically what I eat every night, plus quinoa. It’s amazing. I’m glad your family is coming around to see that as well 🙂
I’m always looking for more salad recipes, and I’m so glad that I have all the ingredients in my fridge! Will be trying this for lunch today!
So bright and colorful. Love the corn and tomatoes pic!
Yum! I love finding new salad recipes. 🙂
Great salad Lori! Avocado makes everything better!
This is a salad I would happily eat for dinner…lots and lots of great flavors together. How great that your family agreed.
Looks so delicious and healthy! I was wondering if you have a preferred method for cooking chicken that can be used in various recipes like this one? It would be nice to cook a bunch of chicken on Sunday and use throughout the week. Thank you for another fabulous meal idea!
I usually just pan fry it. I spray a little bit of nonstick spray in a nonstick pan, coat the chicken breasts in garlic salt and pepper, put a lid on the pan and then cook on both sides for several minutes. Let it cool and then cut or shred it apart. That’s my go-to method!
Totally gorgeous! Love the pine nuts, well, I love everything in there!
ohhh Lori that looks good, I love having all my kids still at home, but I tell ya if they were not living here, I would be cooking different too…but I do love having them still here with Mama….
I bet that would be good with grilled salmon too…
This salad looks so incredibly delicious. I can totally see why your family loved it.
Simple, healthy, delish! I love the addition of pine nuts!
I’m not surprised they loved it! I wonder if I can sneak it past my boyfriend 😉