Everyone loves this Bacon Avocado Chicken Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette! Loads of veggies, crispy bacon and creamy avocado make the perfect base for the healthy salad dressing.
Salads are an easy way to eat healthy for lunch or dinner. But they can quickly get out of control when you start adding tons of unhealthy ingredients and creamy salad dressings. Restaurant meal salads can easily top out at well over 1200 calories. That’s no bueno.
This Bacon Avocado Chicken Chopped Salad recipe makes a lot, and it’s great for meal planning and lunching on all week (just be sure not to dress the whole salad if you’re not using it all at once). You’ll get about 4-6 servings (lunch portions are usually smaller) which will equal 300-470 calories per serving, including the dressing. Not bad for a complete meal!
Made with fresh ingredients, a delicious healthy salad dressing, tons of protein and low in carbs this is a refreshing salad that you won’t feel guilty about.
How to Make Bacon Avocado Chicken Salad
Chopped salads are simple and quick depending on how many ingredients you’re using.
This Bacon Avocado Chicken Salad also has:
- Chicken breasts – cook your own using one of my 3 easy methods: Stove Top Chicken, Baked Chicken, Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken.
- Avocados
- Corn
- Bacon
- Fresh herbs (chives and parsley)
- Romaine lettuce
- Roma tomatoes
All of these ingredients are chopped into bite sized pieces and tossed together with my irresistible lemon vinaigrette. You could go crazy and add even more veggies if you like; things like shredded carrots, cabbage, bell peppers and sunflower seeds would be great additions.
How to Make Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing
Every salad needs a good dressing and this Bacon Avocado Chicken Salad is no different. It deserves better than some mayo based dressing that’s going to overpower the flavors of bacon, avocado, corn and herbs.
Enter my tangy, refreshing and slightly sweet Lemon Vinaigrette. Here’s what you’ll need for this healthy salad dressing:
- 1 lemon
- 1 lime
- Olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- Honey
- Salt & pepper
If you are staying away from sugar, you could omit the honey altogether, it just adds a balance to the acidic citrus.
The ingredients are whisked together until emulsified. You can store any remaining dressing in a sealed container in the refrigerator; just be sure to let it sit out for half an hour before using. Another way to combine the ingredients would be shake them together in a sealed mason jar. This is a great way to combine your dressing and store it in the same container. You could even make a double or triple batch and use it on all of your appetizer salads. At less than 80 calories per serving you’ll want to keep this healthy salad dressing in your purse and pour it on everything!
This Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing is easily customizable as well. Add some herbs like parsley or basil for even more flavor. It would be a delicious marinade for chicken or fish or even pork.
Looking for more delicious healthy salads and salad dressing recipes? Try these:
- Lemon Kale Caesar Salad
- Nicoise Salad Lettuce Wraps
- Black Bean and Mango Salad
- Asian Salad with Peanut Dressing
- Raspberry & Pear Salad with Homemade Raspberry Vinaigrette
Chicken Bacon Avocado Chopped Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Salad:
- 2 chicken breasts cooked and shredded
- 2 avocados diced
- 1 cup of corn kernels 1 ear of corn
- 6 slices bacon cooked crisp and chopped
- 4 cups chopped lettuce
- 2 Roma tomatoes seeded and diced
- 2 tablespoons fresh minced parsley
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped chives
Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing:
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 lime juiced
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon honey
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
Lemon Vinaigrette
- Whisk dressing ingredients together in a small bowl, or place ingredients in a mason jar, seal and shake well.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Salad:
- Toss salad ingredients together in a large bowl. Pieces should be as evenly sized as possible.
- Toss with half of the salad dressing. Add more dressing as desired.
- Enjoy immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Really delicious dressing. I was really happy because usually the citrus is really overpowering but in your recipe, it was the perfect balance. I made your exact recipe but added orange pepper, cucumbers, radishes, and sunflower seeds. I will definitely be making this one again. Thanks!
You are so welcome Leah! Thank you for the awesome feedback.
Thank you for your sharing, I am meating keto and really tired of the boiled chicken breast, this recipe may help me a lot lol
You are so welcome Marina! Thanks for stopping by.
Taught my g-daughter this recipe to teach her how to read a recipe and cook it. Came out delicious.
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Eric.
Hello Kristin,
I tried this tonight, and it was fabulous! The store was out of fresh lemons so I substituted the fresh lemon with lemon concentrate. I also added a sprinkle of greek peperoncini peppers , pumpkin pepitas and fresh Parmesan cheese. It was amazing. It will be a regular on my menu. Thanks for sharing!
You are so welcome Christi! Thank you for the awesome feedback.
Delicious! Love the avocado and bacon together with the citrus dressing
Nice ! Thanks for stopping by Jennifer.
Thanks for sharing! Do you use this vinegrette for any other salads?
This looks so good! It’s even one that husbands will want to eat!
Thank you Vanessa!
Sadly I didn’t get a picture of our salad but it was so good! That dressing was amazing!
Nice! Thank you for stopping by Krista.
Do you cook your corn first or use it raw?
I cook it first. It’s done quickly in the microwave or you can boil it.
This looks beautiful!! The dressing sounds amazing. I am ready to experiment more with making my own dressings. Thanks for the idea
You are so welcome Hannah! Thanks for stopping by.
Absolutely delicious! This is a new go to for lunch and dinner for me!
NICE! Thanks for stopping by Amanda.
How will the avocado keep from browning?
The lemon vinaigrette will help with that. I recommend slicing in the avocado just before serving.
This dressing was amazing!! So light and refreshing. I didn’t measure, but didn’t use as much oil. Added egg to the salad. A definite keeper!
That’s awesome Kristin! Thank you for the sharing your positive experience.
This dish is so CLASSIC, I have to say it’s almost my breakfast everyday, ok well, I often change some ingredients in the salad but lemon vinaigrette is required xo – Natalie
Lettuce, bacon, tomatoes, advocado and corn are exactly 5 ingredients I use everyday for my breakfast. It’s so quick to make and super healthy to make xD Aw, I already craved my next breakfast!!
– Natalie Ellis
Really enjoyable! Thanks!
Oh yummy! That’s truly my kind of salad! The dressing sounds absolutely fabulous. On my shopping list, and I already almost have everything on hand right now. Thank you!
I made this for myself a couple of years ago when Hubby was to have a procedure at Emory. Procedure got postponed for a couple of days so I was sure the avocado However, I had it in an airtight container and it was awesome and fed me for more than one meal! GOOD stuff!