If you like your salads with a side of sweet this Honey Mustard Chicken Salad is going to be a new favorite! Grilled chicken, strawberries, mandarin oranges, and blueberries are served atop spinach with a sweet and punchy honey mustard vinaigrette.

Overhead view of honey mustard chicken salad in bowl

Table of Contents

Why Your Whole Family Will Devour This Honey Mustard Chicken Salad
What You’ll Need
How to Make Honey Mustard Chicken Salad
Tips and Variations
Serving Suggestions
How to Meal Prep and Store Leftovers
More Salads With Chicken
Get the Recipe

Some of us are natural born salad lovers, and others need a little coaxing. One way to get everyone running to the table for salad (yes, it’s possible!) is to add some sweetness in the form of fresh fruit or a lightly sweetened dressing to temper the bitterness of the greens and veggies. And this honey mustard chicken salad has both! If you’ve got some salad haters in your life, this is the recipe that will convert them. (My Avocado Strawberry Spinach Salad and Pear Walnut Salad are winners too!)

Why Your Whole Family Will Devour This Honey Mustard Chicken Salad

This salad is going to be a HIT! Here’s why:

Totally customizable. If your grilling gets rained out, use a grill pan or make Air Fryer Chicken Breast. Not a fan of spinach? Try romaine! Raspberries looking good at the farmers market? Toss them in!
A meal-worthy salad. Sometimes a salad can leave you feeling hungry an hour later. Not this one! It’s got everything you need for a complete meal.
Kid-friendly. If your kids love Chicken Tenders and honey mustard sauce, they’ll gobble up this salad. There will be no dinnertime battles when you make this recipe!

What You’ll Need

Here’s everything you’ll need to make this honey mustard chicken salad. Scroll down to the recipe card to find the ingredient quantities and recipe instructions.

Chicken – I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
Salt and pepper – To season the chicken.
Fresh baby spinach – Or another green you like to use in your salads!
Fruit – Sliced strawberries and blueberries, along with mandarin oranges (a total kid pleaser!).
Broccoli – For a nice crunch! If your kids aren’t fans, cucumber would also work.
Pecans – You can use another nut or if you’ve got nut allergies in your home, try pepitas or sunflower seeds.
Green onions – For a mild onion flavor.

Honey Dijon Dressing:

Mustard – I use a combination of whole grain and Dijon mustard.
Raw honey – Sweetens and balances the flavors of the dressing.
Lemon juice – Adds brightness and acidity.
Garlic – I use fresh garlic, but the lemon juice tames it so the dressing isn’t overly garlicky.
Dry basil – Adds a subtle herbal note.
Salt and pepper – To season the dressing.

Pouring dressing into bowl of honey mustard chicken salad

How to Make Honey Mustard Chicken Salad

Here’s a quick rundown of the steps involved in this recipe, but the full instructions are below.

Prepare. Preheat your grill to medium-high heat and season the chicken with salt and pepper. Spray the grill grates or rub them with an oil-soaked cloth.
Grill the chicken. Cook the chicken for 5-7 minutes per side. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes, then slice it.
Make the dressing. Whisk all the ingredients in a small bowl.
Put it all together. Combine the spinach, strawberries, blueberries, broccoli, mandarin oranges, pecans, and green onions in a large serving bowl. Add the chicken and dressing, then serve.

Tips and Variations

Here are some tips and variations to make this recipe your own and make sure it turns out perfect!

Use the BEST strawberries. Buy strawberries in season; during the winter months strawberries are usually imported. When strawberries come from far away locations they’re picked before they are ripe, which means they won’t be as sweet or tender. You want them to be bright red in color; don’t worry about the shape or the size—and do buy organic because strawberries are on the dirty dozen list.
Don’t overcook the chicken. The high heat of the grill means the chicken will cook fast, but the downside is that it can also overcook! To know exactly when the chicken is done, use an instant-read thermometer and take it off the grill when it reaches 165ºF.
Marinate the chicken. You can make extra dressing and marinate the chicken for 30 minutes before starting the recipe for a little extra honey mustard goodness.

Closeup of honey mustard chicken salad with strawberries and blueberries

Serving Suggestions

This is an awesome light meal, but if you want to add a little something else, you can serve the salad with a scoop of cooked quinoa or farro. A bowl of Carrot Ginger Soup or Creamy Tomato Basil Soup would also be amazing!

How to Meal Prep and Store Leftovers

Meal prep: You can chop and store the salad ingredients in separate airtight containers ahead of time—chicken in one container, spinach in another, everything else in a third, and then the dressing in a jar. Stored this way, it will last 3 to 4 days in the fridge, depending on the freshness of the ingredients.
Leftovers: Store leftover honey mustard chicken salad in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 days. If it’s dressed, the greens will wilt, so you can add some more spinach before serving to freshen things up.