Get ready to indulge in a flavor-packed dish that will awaken your taste buds and leave you feeling satisfied. This raspberry salad with chicken breast and goat cheese is the perfect combination of sweet and savory, delivering a burst of deliciousness in every bite. Make it in just 30 minutes for dinner or pack it for lunches!
Anything is possible when you have a batch of Meal Prep Salads in the fridge, this salad being proof positive. If you love sweet and savory like we do, be sure to try our Kale Salad with Red Grapes and this amazingly delicious Orange and Avocado Salad. Be sure to check out our Guide to the Best Salad Toppings for more yummy salad meals.
It used to be that cafe salads were some of my favorites. Whether it was a local restaurant with a great salad menu or a national chain that pushed pastries alongside a great soup and salad combo, I was always ready to dig in.
And then I learned something life-changing.
I could make those salads just as well at home for less money. True story!
You can make your own favorite restaurant salads at home — as big as you like! — for less money, allowing you to do all kinds of other things with the money you save.
A homemade salad with chicken, fruit, nuts, and cheese is a veritable party in your mouth, and you can make it yourself for just a few bucks! This Chicken & Raspberry Salad is one of those salads!
Packed with fresh ingredients and bursting with vibrant colors, this salad is not only scrumptious but also visually appealing. Whether you’re looking for an easy summer lunch option or a light dinner, this recipe is sure to become your new go-to favorite!
Why Make This
It’s incredibly flavorful. Tender chicken, juicy raspberries, and tangy goat cheese get together to party in this simple Chicken & Raspberry Salad. No need for a cafe salad today when you’ve got this going on!
It’s simple. A salad so colorful and beautiful has to be hard or complicated to make, right? Nope. In fact, with a rotisserie chicken, you can make this salad in just a few minutes for your week’s lunches or for a delicious salad bowl dinner.
It’s very make-ahead. Provided you keep all the components dry and the dressing separate, you can make this Chicken and Raspberry Salad up to 3 days in advance, making it perfect for meal prep.
How to Save Money on This Recipe
A Raspberry Salad with Chicken, cheese and nuts tastes like a million bucks, but it doesn’t have to be expensive. Here are some of the strategies you can use to make this recipe more economical.
- Stock up on ingredients when they are on sale. The cheese and raspberries are the high price items in this recipe. Watch for sales and stock up.
- Freeze the cheese. Stretch your cheese purchase by freezing it in small containers. This will extend the shelf life of your purchase and help you enjoy it for several weeks to come.
- Make your own dressings. Bottled dressings are either way too expensive or full of junk. I love to make my own dressings. Not only are they quick and economical to prepare, but they allow me to control the ingredients that I use.
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this Raspberry Salad with Chicken and Goat Cheese:
baby greens – I like mixed baby greens, but you can also use baby spinach or chopped romaine or green leaf lettuce for this yummy Raspberry Salad.
shredded purple cabbage and shredded carrots – These veggies add fiber, nutrition, and brilliant color to salads. I add them to all my entree salad recipes.
cooked chicken – This can be chicken breasts you cook for recipes, such as grilled chicken strips or instant pot shredded chicken, but it’s also a great recipe to use rotisserie chicken. You can also swap in turkey leftovers after a holiday meal.
fresh raspberries – Fresh raspberries make it a Raspberry Salad, obvi, but you can also use strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, or chopped apple or pear in addition or instead of the raspberries. Chicken fruit salad recipes are some of the best!
crumbled goat cheese – Fresh goat cheese is a delicious foil to the sweet tart raspberries. If you prefer, you can use crumbled feta cheese or blue cheese vinaigrette. If funky cheese isn’t your thing, you can omit it or use cubed cheddar or jack. Be sure to freeze goat cheese leftover or use it in Goat Cheese Pizza.
chopped pecans – I love pecans for this salad, but you can also use almonds or walnuts. Spicy Candied Almonds are also a delicious option.
chopped green onions – Scallions are an easy way to add the kick of onions, but you can also use chopped shallots or red onion.
raspberry dressing – I love this homemade Raspberry Vinaigrette, but you can also use balsamic vinaigrette, a Dijon mustard vinaigrette, a poppy seed dressing, or any dressing made with red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar. In a pinch you could just drizzle raspberry vinegar and olive oil over the salad.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s how to make this easy Raspberry Salad with Chicken:
To serve this salad right away:
- In a large salad bowl, combine the baby greens and the dressing.
- Add the cabbage and carrots, then the chicken pieces, raspberries, goat cheese, pecans, and scallions.
- Drizzle the dressing over all and toss to combine.
- Serve immediately. Leftovers will not be good later as the salad is already dressed and will get soggy after a few hours.
To make this recipe for meal prep salads:
- In four meal prep containers, divide the salad elements: greens, cabbage, carrots, chicken slices, raspberries, goat cheese, pecans, and scallions.
- Divide the dressing into four sauce containers with lids.
- Store the salad and dressing containers in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
FAQs
There are so many different types to choose from. Green salad, Caesar Salad, and Chef Salad are all popular choices, featuring lettuce of some kind. This raspberry salad falls in the category of Salade Composee, a composed or layered salad popular in France.
Moisture is the enemy when it comes to salads, so hold off adding the dressing until right before you serve it. Even before then, you can extend the shelf-life of your meal prepped salad by making sure the other components are very dry.
Use a salad spinner to get the salad greens very dry and pat the raspberries dry before adding them to the salad. My salads last a full four days when done in this manner with very fresh ingredients.
If you want to take it all a step further, in the vein of Mason Jar Salads, place the heavy, wet items (chicken, cheese, nuts, berries) in the dish first and top with the greens. You’ll need to invert the dish or have room to shake it all up before you serve it.
Savvy readers will notice that this salad follows a certain template:
greens + protein + fruit + nuts + onion + cheese = awesome salad
You can recreate this at home with whatever you have on hand. Will it taste the same as this salad? Of course not. But, the point of Good Cheap Eats is to help you make the most of what you have. So, if blueberries and walnuts are what you got, go with it!
Fruits are a wonderful addition to green salads. They add flavor, fiber, color, and texture. Some of the best ones include berries (sliced strawberries or whole blackberries, raspberries, blueberries or boysenberries), sliced or chopped apples or pears, sliced or chopped oranges or grapefruits, preferably cut into supremes, chopped or sliced mango and avocado (yes, avocado is a fruit), stone fruit such as apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, and pitted cherries, sliced figs. and dried fruit, such as cranberries or raisins.
Tell us what you think!
We love to hear your experiences with Good Cheap Eats. Click the STARS on the recipe card or leave a STARRED comment to let us know what you think of the recipe.
Tell us what you think!
We love to hear your experiences with Good Cheap Eats. Click the STARS on the recipe card or leave a STARRED comment to let us know what you think of the recipe.
Chicken & Raspberry Salad
Ingredients
- 1 6-ounce package baby greens
- ½ cup shredded purple cabbage
- ¼ cup carrots (shredded)
- 2 cup chicken (cooked and cubed) (Great for rotisserie chicken!)
- 6 oz raspberries
- 2 oz goat cheese crumbles (½ cup)
- 2 tablespoon pecans (chopped)
- 2 tablespoon chopped green onions
- ½ cup Raspberry Vinaigrette
Instructions
To serve this salad in a bowl:
- In a large salad bowl, combine the baby greens and dressing.1 6-ounce package baby greens, ½ cup Raspberry Vinaigrette
- Add the cabbage, carrots, and then the chicken slices, raspberries, goat cheese, pecans, and scallions.½ cup shredded purple cabbage, ¼ cup carrots (shredded), 2 cup chicken (cooked and cubed), 6 oz raspberries, 2 oz goat cheese crumbles, 2 tablespoon pecans (chopped), 2 tablespoon chopped green onions
- Drizzle the dressing over all and toss to combine.
- Serve immediately. Leftovers will not be good later as the salad is already dressed.
To make this recipe for meal prep salads:
- In four meal prep containers, divide the salad elements: greens, cabbage, carrots, chicken slices, raspberries, goat cheese, pecans, and scallions.1 6-ounce package baby greens, ½ cup shredded purple cabbage, ¼ cup carrots (shredded), 2 cup chicken (cooked and cubed), 6 oz raspberries, 2 oz goat cheese crumbles, 2 tablespoon pecans (chopped), 2 tablespoon chopped green onions
- Divide the dressing into four sauce containers with lids.½ cup Raspberry Vinaigrette
- Store the salad and dressing containers in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Tried this Recipe? Tell us what you think!Your reviews help us develop better recipes and give newcomers the confidence to try your favorites. Scroll down to leave a starred comment.This post was originally published on December 18, 2019. It has been updated for content and clarity.
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