Grilled Peach and Chicken Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette — 🍑🥗🍋 Fresh peaches are grilled quickly on both sides before being tossed with juicy grilled chicken, crisp lettuce, salty feta, fresh mint, tomatoes, and more! Grilling peaches caramelizes them and infuses the salad with so much FLAVOR! Take advantage of seasonal summer produce while it lasts by making this EASY and crave-worthy salad!
Table of Contents
- Easy Grilled Peach and Grilled Chicken Salad Recipe
- The Best 5 Grills (for Beginners)
- Ingredients Needed
- How to Make Grilled Peach Salad with Chicken
- My Best 35 Grilling Recipes eB00k! 📖🔥🍔
- Recipe Variations
- Salad FAQs
- Storage Instructions
- What to Serve with Chicken and Peach Salad
- Grilled Peach and Chicken Salad with Honey Lemon Vinaigrette Recipe
- More Easy Salad Recipes Using Chicken:
Easy Grilled Peach and Grilled Chicken Salad Recipe
This grilled peach salad recipe screams ‘summer’ and all things fresh, juicy, and bursting with flavor! Between the grilled peaches and grilled chicken, fresh mint, crisp veggies, and lemon dressing, every bite contains all of my favorite flavors of my very favorite season!
This grilled peach salad requires minimal ingredients, yet is bursting with contrasting flavors and textures. After being grilled, the peaches add so much juicy freshness to the salad, while the lettuce, cucumbers, and onions add tons of crunch. It feels healthy yet satisfying and it’s naturally gluten-free.
You can grill the chicken fresh for this salad, or you can use leftover chicken from last night’s dinner. It’s a flexible recipe that can be customized using whatever chicken you have on hand.
The same can be said for the other vegetables and fruit and making swaps and substitutions as you see fit. Heirloom tomatoes rather than cherry tomatoes, butter lettuce in place of Romaine, nectarines instead of peaches – you get the drift – we’re talking flexibility. More on that below!
The salad gets tossed with a quickie whisk-together or shake-together honey lemon vinaigrette that’s got a nice zing to it. But if you want to use another vinaigrette or a store bought dressing, go for it.
Ingredients Needed
You can mix and match the ingredients in this chicken, peach, and feta salad to use up whatever’s lying in your produce drawer. Here’s what I used to make the salad and lemon vinaigrette:
- Grilled chicken (see my suggestions below)
- Fresh peaches
- Honey
- Lettuce
- Cherry tomatoes
- Cucumber
- Feta cheese
- Onion (I used a red onion)
- Fresh mint
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Lemon juice
- Salt and black pepper (to taste)
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Grilled Peach Salad with Chicken
Grilling the peaches for this salad has a prep time of less than 5 minutes total — it’s so easy to do! If you’ve never grilled peaches before, this salad is the perfect way to try them for the first time.
Below is a rough overview of the steps for making the grilled chicken and peach salad:
- Grill the Chicken (if grilling fresh and not using leftovers): I suggest making my Grilled Hawaiian Chicken since it has only a 30-minute marinade time. The chicken will need about 10 minutes total on the grill (or stovetop grill pan); add the peaches in the final few minutes of cooking.
- Grill the Peaches: Quarter the fresh peaches, then drizzle with honey. Grill them over medium-high heat for about 1 minute per side, or until the peaches develop grill marks. Immediately remove them to the salad bowl.
- Make the Dressing: To a mason jar, add the honey, oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and shake to combine.
- Assemble the Salad: Combine the grilled peaches, chicken, veggies, and feta in a large bowl. Drizzle over the dressing and toss to combine.
Grilling Tips: If grilling on an outdoor grill and not on a grill pan, be sure to clean and then lightly oil the grill grates before adding the peaches. Because of their delicate nature, the heat, the honey, they will be prone to sticking. They also will cook very fast, in about 1 minute per side, so pay attention so they don’t burn.
Recipe Variations
You can customize this summer peach salad using any combination of chicken, veggies, and cheese you’d like!
- Swap the grilled peaches for sliced fresh peaches. Grilling the peaches infuses them with tons of flavor and makes them super juicy, but fresh peach slices will work too! Or use nectarines, apricots, or even plums.
- Swap the grilled chicken for leftover roasted, baked, or poached chicken. Or, omit the chicken entirely.
- Swap the lemon dressing for your favorite balsamic vinaigrette.
- Swap the feta with another salty cheese, such as Parmesan or halloumi (which can also be grilled!). Or use a creamy burrata cheese, creamy goat cheese, or blue cheese.
- Swap the lettuce with another leafy green, such as baby spinach, arugula, butter lettuce, of your favorite greens mix.
- Swap the fresh mint with other fresh herbs like basil leaves, chives, or parsley.
- Swap the veggies with any other summer vegetables, like bell peppers or avocado.
- Add nuts, such as pine nuts, walnuts, or slivered almonds.
- Hot honey dressing/vinaigrette is easy to achieve by adding a tiny pinch of cayenne pepper to the mix. Start with 1/8 teaspoon and work up. If you have chili oil on hand, 1/2 teaspoon of it should also do the trick.
Salad FAQs
No, I do not recommend using canned or frozen peaches in this salad. Both are too soft to grill, and I personally don’t like the idea of eating canned or thawed frozen peaches in a salad. You want fresh peaches (or nectarines, plums, or pluots will also work).
Nope! Wash them under running tap water, pat dry, then cut into quarters before grilling. The skins also help support the structure of the peach flesh (those delicate things!) so that they don’t collapse or fall apart as easily.
Of course! You can also make this recipe using an indoor grill pan.
Yes, you may omit the chicken entirely or replace it with another grilled protein of choice.
You can whisk together the dressing, chop the vegetables, grill the chicken and peaches, and then store everything in separate airtight containers in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the salad. Basically do it meal-prep style in containers. Although, it’s common sense, but worth mentioning is not to toss the salad together and then store it in the fridge fully assembled because that will make the veggies soggy.
Storage Instructions
If you think you’ll end up with leftovers, I suggest keeping all of the ingredients separate and preparing only as large a salad as you think you’ll eat right away. Refrigerate the dressing, veggies, chicken, and peaches in individual containers for up to 4-5 days.
What to Serve with Chicken and Peach Salad
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Grilled Peach and Chicken Salad with Honey Lemon Vinaigrette
Equipment
- 1 outdoor (gas) grill (or indoor grill pan)
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 pound grilled chicken*, see Notes
Peaches
- 2 large fresh peaches, quartered with pit removed, keep skin on (should be ripe but not mushy or over-ripe)
- 1 tablespoon honey
Salad
- 6 cups lettuce, such as Romaine, butter lettuce, arugula, spring mix, etc.
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved if desired (grape tomatoes, heirloom, Roma, etc. may be substituted)
- 1 cup diced cucumber, peeled if desired, or use English cucumber and don’t peel
- ⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese, or shredded Parmesan, shredded cheese blend, etc.
- ⅓ cup sliced red onions, or white/yellow onions
- ¼ cup fresh mint, finely minced (or fresh basil, parsley, or your favorite fresh herbs)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Honey Lemon Vinaigrette
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, or apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste or as desired
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste or as desired
Instructions
- Chicken – Use your favorite grilled chicken recipe, made either on your outdoor grill, or use an indoor grill pan. You can grill it fresh, and if you're doing so, see the Notes below for my favorite grilled chicken options. I use boneless skinless chicken breasts for easy slicing over the salad later on but you could in theory use any type of chicken. You can also use leftover chicken (grilled, baked, roasted, poached), or use store bought rotisserie chicken. Although remember you need to grill the peaches so you may as well grill the chicken, too.
- Peaches – If your grill is not already hot from grilling the chicken, preheat it now to medium heat or preheat your grill pan. To a medium bowl, add the peach quarters, honey, and toss with a soft spatula tip to coat the peach pieces evenly.
- Place the peaches on the grill and grill for about 1 minute on each side, flipping as necessary. Tip – The fruit will cook VERY fast. Be careful so it doesn't burn, if your grill runs hot, you may only need 45 seconds per side or so. Be mindful and present so you don't burn them and need to start over. Set aside momentarily.
- Salad – Either add all the ingredients to a large serving bowl OR you can plate individually, dividing all ingredients among 4 bowls/plates. Tip – All quantities and ingredients are very flexible so if you have tons of garden tomatoes on hand, or zucchini from the farmers market, or extra peaches, etc. use what makes sense for you and treat my recipe as an outline or guide.
- Add the chicken and peaches with the other salad ingredients; set aside momentarily.
- Vinaigrette – To a mason jar or glass jar with a lid, or medium bowl, add all the ingredients and seal jar and shake vigorously. Or whisk well to combine the ingredients. Taste, and make any necessary seasoning or flavor adjustments. Tips – If the vinaigrette tastes at all flat, boring, or dull, it likely needs more salt so don't be afraid to add more. It may also need a bit more of an acid (lemon juice or vinegar). 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard is also great to add, optionally. If you want to make a hot honey lemon vinaigrette, add 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper OR 1 teaspoon chili oil, or to taste. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad, to taste.
- Storage – Salads are always best fresh. If you have leftover grilled chicken, grilled peaches, or any of the salad components, store them all separately in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 3-5 days. Extra vinaigrette will keep airtight in a mason jar or similar in the fridge for up to 10-14 days. This is not a recipe that should be frozen.Make Ahead – It's fine if you want to place all the components in 4 meal prep containers for grab-and-go work lunches. Make sure to store the vinaigrette separately and only dress the salad right before eatings.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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