Hello everyone! I hope you all had an amazing, food-packed 4th of July. I don’t know about you guys, but I spent the last week gorging myself on Oreo balls, cheeseburgers, and White Claws. Don’t get me wrong – I loved every second of it, BUT waking up on Sunday morning felt a little rough.
Needless to say, I am ready to start a minor health detox and get back on track. To help restore me back to 100%, I decided to make one of my favorite salads: my (Panera Copycat) Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad.
This salad has summer written all over it. Back when I was in college, I used to work at Anheuser Busch Brewery as a tour guide during the summer months. There used to be a Panera right down the street and, on the hottest summer days, I would swing through on my lunch hour to pick up their Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad.
I love this salad because it has SO much fresh fruit! This salad has pineapple, blueberry, strawberry, AND mandarin oranges; because these fruits add so much flavor on their own, most days I wouldn’t even add the dressing. A clean meal that is filled with nutritious ingredients – this salad is everything I need to get me back on the health train.
Here are a few tips on how to make this salad almost IDENTICAL to the one you would order at Panera:
Buy Panera Poppy-seed Dressing at the Grocery Store
Panera is just asking for us to make Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad at home. The most difficult part of replicating restaurant salad is always the dressing, but Panera has made our lives easy by making their dressing available at your local grocery store.
If you don’t have this dressing, you can also order it online OR make the dressing yourself. On Panera’s website, they have the instructions on how to make your own! (Check out the links below)
Order Panera Poppy Seed Dressing HERE | Make your own Panera Poppy Seed Dressing HERE
Grill Your Chicken for Maximum Flavor
Although Panera does NOT grill their chicken in their Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad, whenever I make this recipe at home I always fire up the grill. The char of the grill is such a summertime flavor. I love how it brings out the flavors of the fruit as well.
If you don’t have a grill at home, you can easily sauté the chicken on the stove or bake the chicken in the oven at 425 for 20 minutes.
Toasted Pecans = The X-Factor of Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad
If you make my Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad, you absolutely MUST toast your pecans. I typically use raw walnuts and almonds for my salads but, for this recipe, the delicious flavor of the oil-roasted pecans cannot be beat.
Do not be intimidated by this step – it’s super easy and it does not take long. Preheat the oven to 350. Toss the pecans with a table spoon of oil and a ¼ teaspoon of salt. Spread the pecans on a baking sheet, toast them in the oven for 7-10 minutes, and you’re set. These pecans will now add a rich, toasty taste to your fresh summer salad.
I hope you enjoy the recipe! As always, if you do enjoy, please comment and rate the recipe below. If you liked Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad, you may also like my Watermelon Summer Salad Recipe 🙂
Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad (Panera CopyCat)
Equipment
- Grill
- Oven
- Baking Sheet
- Cutting board
- Chef's knife
- Tongs
- Salad Bowl
Ingredients
- 4 oz boneless skinless chicken breast seasoned with salt and pepper
- 1/8 cup pecans
- ½ tsp olive oil
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1½ cup romaine lettuce chopped
- ¼ cup mandarin oranges
- ¼ cup strawberries thinly sliced
- ¼ cup pineapple chunks
- ¼ cup blueberries
- 2 tbsp Panera Poppy Seed Dressing
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°
Grill chicken
- Turn the grill on to medium heat and place chicken on the grill.
- Close the lid and let the chicken cook for 5-7 minutes, then use tongs to flip the chicken over. Grill for 5-7 more minutes (or until internal thermometer reads 165°)
- Let the chicken rest while you toast the pecans then chop into bite sized pieces.
Toast pecans
- Toss the pecans with oil and a ¼ teaspoon of salt.
- Spread the pecans on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven for 7-10 minutes
Make Salad
- Combine lettuce, grilled chicken, fruit, pecans, and dressing in a bowl and serve! If you are packing for lunch, don't add dressing until lunch time!
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