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
If you happen to be following the Weight Watchers WW plan, you’ll find a link to the WW Points on the recipe card below.
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
- ½ cup corn (canned, frozen or fresh off the cob)
- 1 large avocado, sliced
- ⅓ cup crumbled goat or feta cheese
- ¼ 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).
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!