ho says salads can’t make a meal? This Chicken and Prosciutto Salad will fill you up and treat your tastebuds.
Last fall we took the whole fam (all eight of us) to France for a month. It was amazing. I can’t tell you how much I’m itching to go back! We flew nonstop from LA to London and back, taking the Eurostar through the Chunnel/under the English Channel to Paris.
The bookend stays in London were amazing! Amazing!
Part of the reason for that is that we were in a country where we could expect people to speak English. The burden of translation was lessened for me — except that I still acted as interpreter for some French people in London. Ha!
Another wonderful part about London is the food. We ate so very well during both three-day stays in Kensington. Oh my!
We always found food that we loved in London — except for the one time we broke our own rules for home and ate at Subway. Ick. London’s food scene is amazing. I might even say it was better than in France, but the London restaurants and take-out were more affordable than in France, so we ate out more often, in fact, almost all the time. We had no kitchen in London, so we had to eat out or make easy stuff from the store.
Regardless, let me just say two thumbs up for London. I can’t wait to go back.
During our tail-end stay in London, we ate at the same restaurant twice: Zizzi. Despite the fact that it was frightfully expensive to feed our family, the food was so fabulous the first night that we went back the next. I highly recommend the Earl’s Court location, just be sure to make a reservation. We did and were glad! There was always a wait, but we walked right in both times to “our table”. (We got the same table both nights.)
Everything we ordered was amazingly good, from pizzas to pastas to salads to grilled meats. The kids meal tops at 10 pounds, but the kids
One night I had the Chicken and Prosciutto Salad. It was remarkable. So much so, that I’ve been wanting to recreate it at home for months.
What do I need to make this prosciutto salad?
Protein: For this protein portion, we used prosciutto and chicken (I’m guessing you figured that out already!)
Dressing: We made our own dressing from one egg yolk, lemon, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. It’s super easy to make, and the egg yolk helps to emulsify the dressing and bring it all together. You can use bottled dressing if you have it, but I’m begging you to try this. Homemade dressing is so cheap and easy to make.
Salad: For this we combined salad greens, avocado, sundried tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, grape tomatoes and red onion. But you can also throw in what you have in your crisper!
How do I make this chicken and prosciutto salad?
Crisp the prosciutto.
Cook the chicken.
Make the dressing.
Assemble the salad.
Can I add cheese to this prosciutto salad?
The Zizzi version calls for parmesan cheese. I omitted it this time because of the Whole 30 diet I’m doing, but I’ll definitely be adding it in next time.
Make up a big batch of chicken, crisp the prosciutto in a pan, and blend up the dressing. The salad comes together very quickly and is great for packing. I sent it with my husband for lunch today.
Can I use rotisserie chicken for this salad?
You most certainly can. Any leftover chicken in your fridge would be perfect to pair with the prosciutto.
HOW TO MAKE THIS CHICKEN AND PROSCIUTTO SALAD GOOD AND CHEAP:
Here are some of the strategies you can use to make this recipe more economical:
- Stock up on ingredients when they are on sale. For instance, when I see a great price on prosciutto or chicken, I’ll buy 4-5 packages/containers and stash them for later.
- Use a whole chicken! Cooking a whole chicken (or buying one that Costco roasted for you) can be more economical than buying chicken pieces. Plus, you can use the carcass to make homemade stock. You can easily make this salad with turkey when the whole birds go on sale in the fall.
HOW I MAKE THIS RECIPE EASY:
Since one of you mentioned getting a rotisserie chicken every time you go to Costco, I’ve started doing the same. What a game changer! Having a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken makes my prep work a lot easier. The cost of the chicken is comparable to a whole chicken uncooked — and they taste great! Plus, the work is done for me.
Having the right kitchen tools can really make your time in the kitchen more enjoyable. Over time, I’ve honed my collection so that they are perfect for my needs. Here are the tools that I use for this recipe:
- plastic cutting boards – I have blue boards for veggies and white boards for meat.
- Ergo Chef chef’s knife – I’ve had my set for several years and they work well.
- salad spinner – I love this large model salad spinner with a salad serving bowl.
If you prepare this recipe, be sure to take a picture and hashtag it #GOODCHEAPEATS. I can't wait to see what you cook up!
Chicken and Prosciutto Salad
Ingredients
For salad protein
- 4 slices prosciutto
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 8 to 12 chicken tenders
- Homemade Seasoned Salt
For the dressing
- 1 pasteurized egg yolk
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- salt
- black pepper
- 1/2 cup olive oil
For the salad
- 1 6-ounce package baby greens
- 1 cup grape tomatoes
- 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes drained if packed in oil
- 1/4 red onion thinly sliced
- 2 avocado pitted, peeled, and sliced
- 4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 4 tbsp Parmesan cheese (shredded)
Instructions
- In a large, nonstick skillet, heat the prosciutto until crisp. Remove from the pan and chop coarsely.
- Heat the oil in the skillet over medium heat. Season the chicken to taste with the spice mix. Cook the chicken, turning frequently, until done. Remove from pan.
- Prepare the dressing by blending the egg yolk, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil in a blender cup. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Toss the greens with enough of the dressing to coat. Divide the greens among four dinner plates. Divide the chicken, prosciutto, tomatoes, onion, and avocado among the plates. Serve with the balsamic vinegar and parmesan cheese.
Notes
Nutrition
Heather @ My Overflowing Cup says
Oooh, I think salads make excellent meals, especially when they have lots of protein like this one.
I haven’t had prosciutto, but it looks so good, I’ll definitely have to give it a try.
Thanks for sharing your recipe. I probably would have ordered the same thing!
Lee says
This looks so good. I’m a sucker for avocado, but I never have them around when I want them.
Kara says
How do you pack the avocado so it doesn’t turn brown?
Jessica Fisher says
I send it whole with him to work so he can slice it there.
Sandi says
I’m not normally a fan of prosciutto but crisping it first sounds interesting. Also not a big fan of sun-dried tomatoes. (I know, everyone thinks I’m nuts.) The finished photo looks beautiful, though, and makes me consider giving it a try.
I am highly amused to read that you loved the British food, possibly even more than French. THAT is not something one hears very often! Our experience with British food (other than some lovely fish and chips) was that a lot of it was barely edible. LOL. I haven’t been there in a good 20 years now, though, so perhaps they’ve improved a bit. Or perhaps we just picked the wrong places to try.
Jessica Fisher says
The reading that I’ve done is that the UK has had a food revolution. Really great places producing internation/fusion cuisine.
Violet says
I love salad and avocado so I think its a great idea to add prosciutto, plus my hubby would love this! thanks for sharing.