Chopped Salad with Chicken, Peppers, Olives, and Feta

The trick of marinating the diced chicken, red pepper, and olives gives this Chopped Salad with Chicken, Peppers, Olives, and Feta that extra something. And this is a perfect recipe for using leftover grilled chicken!

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For many years it was considered to be not a good technique to cut lettuce, but then someone came up with the idea of chopped salad, and food history was made. Of course you don’t really need a recipe to make chopped salad, but what makes this Chopped Salad with Chicken, Peppers, Olives, and Feta so memorable is the step of tossing the leftover chicken, chopped red pepper, and olives with some of the dressing before you add it to the salad.

If I’m not starving, I’ll even let the chicken marinate in the dressing for about 30 minutes before I finish the salad. This is something I’ve been making for years, whenever I have leftover Grilled Chicken or rotisserie chicken in the fridge. I make dressing, wash and chop the romaine lettuce, chop the chicken, and chop the red pepper and store it separately in the fridge. Then when I want a salad I mix it together with the simple recipe I’m giving you for one salad.

What kind of dressing can you use?

I make my own dressing for this, and I urge you to make the full amount of the flavorful dressing that’s in the notes in the recipe. I think the combination of two vinegars, a touch of Dijon, and dried Italian herbs I use here goes perfectly with the other ingredients. If you don’t want to bother making the dressing, this would still be delicious with something like Newman’s Own Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing (affiliate link) or your favorite bottled Italian Dressing. (Check the sugar content if you’re buying bottled dressing for this, as it can vary greatly.)

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

• Red Wine Vinegar (affiliate link)
• white balsamic vinegar (affiliate link)
• Dijon mustard (affiliate link)
• Italian Herb Seasoning (affiliate link)
• Vege-Sal (affiliate link), or use salt if you don’t have Vege-Sal
• Fresh ground black pepper to taste
• extra virgin Olive Oil (affiliate link)
• leftover chicken
• red pepper
• black olives
• chopped romaine lettuce
• crumbled Feta cheese

How to make Chopped Salad with Chicken, Peppers, Olives, and Feta:

(Scroll down for complete recipe with nutritional information.)

1. To make the dressing, start by mixing together the red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, Dijon, Italian herb seasoning, Vege-sal (or salt), and pepper. Then whisk in the olive oil, a little at a time. If you have time, let this sit for a few minutes.
2. You can use more or less of any ingredient to suit your taste, but I like about 1/4 cup diced red pepper and 1/4 cup sliced olives. (If it’s fresh tomato season you can replace the red pepper with chopped tomatoes.)
3. For a lunch salad for myself, I use about a cup of diced leftover chicken. Combine those ingredients with 2 T of dressing and let them marinate while you prep the other ingredients (or longer, if you’re not starving.)
4. I use about 2 handfuls of chopped romaine to make a lunch salad. I crisp the lettuce in my baby salad spinner, a kitchen gadget I love!
5. When you’re ready to make the salad, put lettuce in the bottom of the bowl. You can drizzle over a bit more dressing or not, depending on how much dressing you like.
6. Add the marinated chicken, red peppers, and olives and sprinkle with feta cheese.
7. I can’t imagine how many times I’ve had this combination for lunch, so good.

They were definitely an investment, but I love the Fiesta 2-Quart Serving Bowl (affiliate link) shown in this photo, and I bought four of them especially to use for large lunch salads.

More Tasty  Chopped Salad Recipes:

Baby Arugula Salad with Chicken, Mozzarella, and Tomatoes from Kalyn’s Kitchen
Italian Chopped Salad from What’s Cooking Chicago
Peperoncini Chopped Salad with Romaine, Peppers, and Feta from Kalyn’s Kitchen
Israeli Chopped Salad from Cafe Liz
Chopped Chicken Salad with Cafe Rio Salad Dressing from Kalyn’s Kitchen

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Yield: 1 salad

Chopped Salad with Chicken, Peppers, Olives, and Feta

Prep Time 25 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Chopped Salad with Chicken, Peppers, Olives, and Feta is a great way to use leftover rotisserie chicken!

Ingredients

• 3 T red wine vinegar dressing (see notes)
• 1 cup diced leftover chicken breast, cut into pieces 1/2 inch square
• 1/4 cup chopped red pepper, cut into pieces 1/2 inch square
• 1/4 cup black olives, cut in half
• 2 large handfuls chopped romaine lettuce
• 2 T crumbled Feta cheese

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients for the dressing, except olive oil, in bowl or glass measuring cup. Whisk in olive oil, a little at a time until ingredients are well combined.
2. Let the dressing sit to blend flavors while you prep salad ingredients.
3. Chop chicken and red bell pepper and slice olives.
4. Put those ingredients in a small bowl and toss with 2 T of dressing and let it marinate while you prep other ingredients.
5. Chop lettuce into bite-sized pieces, wash if needed, and spin dry or dry with paper towels.
6. Crumble Feta cheese.
7. Put the chopped lettuce into a large salad bowl, adding a little more dressing if desired.
8. Top with the marinated chicken, chopped red pepper, and olives.
9. Sprinkle with crumbled Feta cheese and enjoy!

Notes

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 T Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 T Dijon Mustard
• 1 tsp. Italian Seasoning herb blend
• 1/2 tsp. Vege-Sal or salt
• Fresh ground black pepper to taste, about 1/2 tsp.
• 1 Cup extra virgin olive oil

I used Vege-Sal for this salad. Extra dressing can be kept in the refrigerator for a few weeks.  You will need to let the leftover dressing come to room temperature and shake it again each time you use it.  If you don’t want to make the dressing, just use your favorite bottled Italian dressing. Recipe created by Kalyn.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

1

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 548Total Fat: 39gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 26gCholesterol: 151mgSodium: 798mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 3gSugar: 5gProtein: 37g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
All the low-glycemic ingredients used in this salad make it perfect for any phase of the original South Beach Diet and it’s also perfect for low-carb eating plans, including Keto.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Salad Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You can also Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe was posted without photos in 2005! Photos were added in 2011 and the recipe was updated with more information in 2021.

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