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Home » Recipes » Salad

Blackened Chicken and Strawberry Salad

Published: Mar 17, 2014

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Strawberries are available year-round in California but the peak season is just approaching. As it gets closer and closer to April, the strawberries sold are becoming larger, redder, juicier, and they even smell sweeter. To welcome one of my favorite fruits into the season, I'm recreating a great blackened chicken and strawberry salad I had at the Alcove. The Alcove is a local restaurant in Los Angeles that serves typical California cuisine with salads, sandwiches, and freshly baked goods. I've only been there once but after trying their salad, I can confidently say that I will be returning. Here is my take on their creation.

blackened chicken and strawberry salad
blackened chicken and strawberry salad
blackened chicken and strawberry salad
Print Recipe

Blackened Chicken and Strawberry Salad

Total Time30 minutes mins
Course: Main Course, Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chicken
Servings: 4
Author: Cherry on My Sundae

Ingredients

Strawberry vinaigrette

  • 1 lb strawberries halved
  • 2 teaspoon sugar
  • juice of ½ lemon
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil

Chicken

  • 4 chicken breasts
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon oregano
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne
  • ½ teaspoon cumin
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 tablespoon oil

Remaining ingredients

  • 8 cups spinach
  • 8 ounces crumbled feta
  • 1 lb strawberries sliced
  • 1 ⅓ cup dried cranberries
  • 1 cup toasted pecans chopped

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Place strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until strawberries have softened about 5-8 minutes. Remove from heat. Transfer strawberries to a blender and puree until smooth. Strain the mixture. Cool.
  • Whisk together the pureed strawberries with balsamic vinegar. Slowly add olive oil, whisking constantly. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
  • Combine seasoning for chicken from paprika - onion powder. Liberally sprinkle seasoning mixture onto both sides of the chicken.
  • Heat oil in saute pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and sear on both sides, about 1 minute on each side. Transfer to a baking sheet. Finish cooking chicken in the oven until juices run clear, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool 10 minutes before slicing.
  • Toss together spinach with feta, sliced strawberries, cranberries, toasted pecans, and salad dressing. Portion on four plates and top with sliced chicken. Serve.

**Helpful tips and common mistakes

There are only a couple of ingredients in this salad, but each one serves its purpose. You can substitute the chicken for salmon, shrimp, steak, or even tofu and this salad will still be great.

Start by making the vinaigrette. You can prepare this dressing several days in advance since it does require you to cook the strawberries first. I personally have never used frozen strawberries, but if you have had success using them, I would love to hear all about it!

strawberry balsamic vinaigrette

If you want to mix it up, you also make a blackened chicken and peach version of this salad, preparing the salad dressing with peaches instead of berries. I can already taste the goodness!

For the chicken, do not be afraid of the spices. Season both sides of the chicken and sear it in a hot pan. The spices will form a crust on the chicken, thus the name, blackened chicken. Continue cooking in the oven until the juices run pink. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes then slice.

Toss all the ingredients together and serve. I can have this salad every day and never get bored of it. The combination of sweet cranberries and strawberries, creamy feta, earthy pecans, and savory chicken is heavenly. Fortunately, strawberries are available here in California so I can make this year-round!

blackened chicken and strawberry salad

For more salad inspiration check out this BLT salad recipe!


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Reader Interactions

Comments

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  1. Betsy @ Desserts Required

    March 17, 2014 at 9:23 pm

    Can I make a reservation for dinner at YOUR house? Love this salad!!

    Reply
    • cma0425

      March 17, 2014 at 11:19 pm

      Absolutely 🙂

      Reply
  2. Beth (OMG! Yummy)

    March 20, 2014 at 7:45 pm

    Saying hi from CCN! Lovely post - the photos, the salad, the details. Great job. I am in love with year round berries in California. Feel so spoiled. I love making a vinaigrette with them with balsamic. For some fun variation sometime, buy a bottle of pomegranate molasses at a Middle Eastern market and sub it in for the balsamic. it's thicker but the flavor is a great alternative.

    Reply
    • cma0425

      March 20, 2014 at 7:47 pm

      Thanks for stopping by! Wow pomegranate molasses sounds great for a dressing - definitely have to try that soon

      Reply
  3. Jen @ Yummy Healthy Easy

    March 30, 2014 at 3:21 am

    Gosh, this is such a beautiful salad!! I love all the colors and flavors! My husband would love me even more if I made this for him - he loves salads like this! Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
    • cma0425

      March 30, 2014 at 4:36 am

      Definitely a man-approved salad 🙂 Enjoy!

      Reply
  4. Aimee

    April 29, 2015 at 5:42 pm

    I just made this and it was so delicious! Definitely worth a little work =)

    Reply
    • cma0425

      April 30, 2015 at 2:18 pm

      So glad you enjoyed it!

      Reply
  5. Elin Sandberg

    May 03, 2015 at 4:30 pm

    This was so amazing, even my boyfriend who never wants to eat salad loved it!!

    Reply
    • cma0425

      May 04, 2015 at 2:31 pm

      Always a plus when you can make one meal for you and your man!

      Reply
  6. Molly w

    July 27, 2015 at 6:54 pm

    can you make the dressing ahead of time, like a day? Then refrigerate?

    Reply
    • cma0425

      July 28, 2015 at 2:14 pm

      Yes absolutely! The dressing will stay good for up several days if kept in the fridge

      Reply
  7. Carol

    December 30, 2015 at 3:35 am

    Can you substitute a different cheese-maybe goat cheese?

    Reply
    • cma0425

      December 30, 2015 at 5:02 pm

      Yes absolutely, goat cheese would be a great substitution

      Reply
  8. Kat

    May 04, 2016 at 11:37 pm

    All these different flavors don't seem like they work together but they do. I cut up the chicken and pit it in the salad, it was so amazing. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • cma0425

      May 05, 2016 at 2:12 pm

      So glad you enjoyed it!

      Reply
  9. Emilee

    May 24, 2016 at 8:47 pm

    I have made this recipe so many times. It's just so good!! Thanks so much for sharing. It's my new favorite meal 🙂

    Reply
    • cma0425

      May 25, 2016 at 1:49 pm

      Thanks for the feedback! I'm so glad you're enjoying this salad 🙂

      Reply
  10. Charleigh

    May 13, 2022 at 12:49 am

    I made this dish with frozen strawberries and it was AMAZING, my family loved it! I added a splash or two more balsamic vinegar to give the vinaigrette a little more kick. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
    • Charleigh

      May 13, 2022 at 12:54 am

      I also didn't have spinach, fetta cheese, or cranberries. So I replaced the spinach with lettuce, the fetta cheese with chopped Plant Based Baby Belle Cheese, and the cranberries with macadamia nuts and pumpkin seeds. This dish was still delish!

      Reply
    • Cherry on My Sundae

      May 13, 2022 at 12:56 am

      I'm so glad! Thank you for giving my recipe a try!

      Reply
  11. Charleigh

    May 13, 2022 at 1:04 am

    I made this dish with frozen strawberries and was still DELISH, my family LOVED IT! I also didn't have fetta cheese, cranberries, lemon juice, and spinach. I used, chopped plant based Baby Belle cheese, macadamia nuts and pumpkin seeds, lime juice, and lettuce. Someone in my family also has an allergy to sugar so I used coconut sugar! Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
    • Charleigh

      May 13, 2022 at 1:05 am

      I also used a splash or 2 more of balsamic vinegar in the vinaigrette to give it some more kick

      Reply
  12. Charleigh

    May 13, 2022 at 1:06 am

    Your welcome thank you so much!

    Reply

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Hey there! My name is Christine and I'm a chef during the day and food blogger at night. Welcome to my world highlighting what's in season, sharing travel tidbits, and just living a simple life in the busy city of Los Angeles.

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