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Avocado Bacon Chicken Salad with Jalapeño Honey Mustard. The chicken is seasoned with a mix of spices and roasted until lightly charred and delicious. Everything is tossed together with my creamy jalapeño honey mustard dressing, fresh cherry tomatoes, crispy bacon, and then lots of crumbed feta cheese. The spicy honey mustard is quite possibly one of my favorite dressings, it’s delicious!

Avocado Bacon Chicken Salad with Jalapeño Honey Mustard | halfbakedharvest.com

I’m on a roll with the salads right now. Monday brought us crunchy Thai peanut chicken salad. Yesterday, we shared an Italian pasta salad (that I’m so into right now). And today, we’ve got the perfect spring/summer chicken salad.

I feel like I’ve shared this story before, but as you all know, I spent a good chunk of my summers as a kid hanging out with my Nonnie. She’d have me over to her house. We’d shop for flowers, hit up the mall, and then grab lunch. When we returned, she’d take a little nap while I watched a movie. Later, we’d start setting the table for dinner.

My Nonnie was my best friend growing up, especially since I didn’t have a sister. We did so much together!

Some of my favorite memories of spring breaks and summers were those spent hanging with Nonnie. And especially our lunch dates. Nonnie loved to go out to lunch!  She was a lunching pro and knew all the best places.

I was kind of an odd kid and remember ordering a lot of chicken and bacon salads. I think back to those memories a lot. Those salads I shared with Nonnie really stuck out. So I decided it was time to recreate it but make it even better!

Avocado Bacon Chicken Salad with Jalapeño Honey Mustard | halfbakedharvest.com

These are the details

Step 1: let’s make the chicken

I wanted the chicken crispy and with a little more spice. I seasoned the chicken breasts with smoked paprika, chipotle chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, and chili flakes. Nothing fancy, but a combination I often use.

Toss the chicken with olive oil, then roast it in the oven until it starts to get crisp.

Avocado Bacon Chicken Salad with Jalapeño Honey Mustard | halfbakedharvest.com

Step 2: mix the salad

While the chicken is roasting, grab a giant salad bowl. Add all the salad greens, tomatoes, and pickles.

For the greens, I love to use shredded romaine, but I like to mix in some spinach too!

Avocado Bacon Chicken Salad with Jalapeño Honey Mustard | halfbakedharvest.com

Step 3: the honey mustard dressing

Most of us love creamy honey mustard dressing—you can’t go wrong with it. But as I was making my go-to dressing, I started to wonder how I could make it better, a little more different.

I loved the sound of pickled jalapeños together with the bacon in this recipe, so I tried blending a few into the dressing. It could not have been more delicious. The spice from the jalapeño is a really nice balance to the sweetness of the honey.

Avocado Bacon Chicken Salad with Jalapeño Honey Mustard | halfbakedharvest.com

Step 4: toss the salad

Combine all the ingredients. First, toss the greens with some of the dressing to ensure they are evenly coated before adding everything else.

Then, add the hot chicken to the greens. Throw on the avocado, tomatoes, feta cheese, and fresh herbs. Next, take the honey mustard dressing and add spoonfuls over the chicken and greens. The last ingredient I love to add is the crispy bacon. You can chop it up or simply break it into pieces.

Avocado Bacon Chicken Salad with Jalapeño Honey Mustard | halfbakedharvest.com

Step 5: eat

Serve the salad warm or cold. It’s great for lunch and dinner. You could even serve it this weekend for Easter. Either way, it will be delicious. It’s a great salad for the summer months too.

It never disappoints!

Looking for other fun recipes? Here are a few ideas:

Caprese Caesar Pasta Salad

Everything Cheddar Tomato Bacon Grilled Cheese

Picnic Style Brie and Prosciutto Sandwich

Grilled Vegetable Burrata Sandwich

Spinach and Artichoke Pita Grilled Cheese

Chicken Cobb Salad with Avocado Ranch

Lastly, if you make this Avocado Bacon Chicken Salad, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!

Avocado Bacon Chicken Salad with Jalapeño Honey Mustard

Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 524 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Ingredients

Jalapeño Honey Mustard

Instructions

  • 1. Preheat oven to 425° F.
    2. On a baking sheet, toss the chicken, olive oil, chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and season to taste with chili flakes, salt, and pepper. Toss well to evenly coat. Roast for 15-20 minutes, until lightly charred.
    3. Add the lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles to a large salad bowl.
    4. To make the dressing. Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend/whisk until smooth. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup water to thin the dressing. Taste and season with additional salt.
    5. Pour some of the dressing over the salad. Add the chicken, avocado, feta, herbs, and bacon. Top the salad with lots of extra dressing. Lightly toss. Serve and enjoy! 
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4.83 from 23 votes (8 ratings without comment)

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Comments

  1. 4 stars
    So I make a lot of your recipes. . . my wife is in love with your havarti avocado sandwich and it is on regular rotation in our house. . . . this salad was good however, I think the salad dressing needs more zip (I’ll add jalapeño powder next time) and the pickles were, in my opinion, sooooo out of place in this salad. The brightness that came from the cilantro/basil was amazing and then you’d get a bite with the pickle and it was just weird and somewhat off-putting.

    I will absolutely make this again, but will be making it without the pickles and will absolutely add some jalapeño powder to the dressing.

    1. Hey Tristan,
      Thanks so much for your comment and sharing your feedback! Love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed and I hope it’s even better with your adjustments next time around! xx

  2. Hello, I could not find Tahini, is there something that you would recommend using in place of Tahini. Thank you Love all of your recipes

    1. Thanks so much, Suzanne:) You could use another nut butter in place of the tahini. Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xT

  3. 5 stars
    This might be the best salad I’ve ever eaten, let alone made at home! I’m already craving it again. All the ingredients work so well together and that dressing is unreal. Another winner!

    1. Hey Maggie,
      Fantastic!! So glad to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks for giving it a try and your comment! Xx

  4. 5 stars
    This salad was SO delicious! Adding the basil & cilantro really took it to the next level! I wasn’t sure how to feel about adding pickles to the salad, but that was a pleasant surprise and also really added something special to the salad. My husband loved it too!

    1. Hey Audrey,
      Awesome! So glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it! xT

  5. I make so many of your recipes and they’re all winners but i always struggle with getting chicken crispy in the oven. Help!

    1. Hi Brenda,
      Thanks so much for making so many recipes:) Are you by chance over crowding your pans when making chicken? That really tends to just steam the chicken rather than crisp it. Otherwise, I would just pop the broiler on at the end of a recipe to get the chicken crispy. I hope this helps! xT