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Chicken Cranberry and Sunflower Salad

Categories Appetizer/Snacks, Easy Recipes, Gluten Free, Healthy Recipes, Main Course, Salad, Side Dish

I love this chicken, cranberry and sunflower salad with a sweet and tangy poppy seed dressing! It’s full of delicious flavors and textures that work great together. It’s also super filling and perfect for a main course. You can serve it as a side dish or appetizer.

This salad recipe calls for chicken that you can prepare however you want. I left the meat preparation up to you because there are so many different preferences for cooking chicken and as long as it’s cooked it will work great for this recipe. It’s great grilled, baked, boiled and shredded or grab a rotisserie chicken and use the meat from that and it works fabulous for this salad! The chicken doesn’t need any specific seasoning, I just season with salt and pepper and it’s perfect.

The dressing is a creamy poppy seed and red wine vinegar salad. It’s sweet, tart and has the poppy seeds in it for some delicious poppy seed flavor with each bite. The dressing can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for whenever you may need it. I also have the optional Dijon mustard as an ingredient, it is totally optional and tastes great without it, the Dijon just adds a little extra pop of flavor but I make it without it all the time.

I have a local restaurant by me that makes a similar salad, not this exact salad and this is not a copycat but it does have similar flavors and I love it! As much as I love restaurant salads, I know I can make ones that taste just as good at home and this salad is a great way to get my salad fix at home. I promise almost every salad lover will love this combo, especially ones that love a sweet, salty, savory, fresh combo is salads.

This salad makes enough to feed roughly four people. It can also be put together for weekly lunches or meals. Just reserve the dressing for when you are ready to eat and it will hold up a few days in the refrigerator.

What you need to make chicken, cranberry and sunflower salad:

Serves 4

For the salad:

  • 5 cups baby spinach
  • 1 cup arugula or additional cup baby spinach
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds
  • 1 cup mozzarella – shredded
  • 2 cups sliced baby Bella mushrooms
  • 1/2 small red onion – sliced into rings
  • 2 chicken breasts – simply seasoned and cooked, grilled, baked. rotisserie or boiled, shredded or cut into chunks

For poppy seed dressing:

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, plus 1 tablespoon
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard – optional

Instructions

  1. Make the dressing first so it can cool while preparing the salad.
  2. Add sugar and 1/4 cup red wine vinegar to a sauce pan.
  3. Bring mixture to a boil for 1 minute.
  4. Remove from heat and cool in freezer or refrigerator.
  5. Add remaining 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, salt, black pepper, poppy seeds, mayonnaise and optional Dijon mustard and whisk until smooth. If you have chunks use an immersion blender or blend in a blender.
  6. Chill until ready to use.
  7. Next, assemble the salad.
  8. Add spinach and arugula to a bowl.
  9. Add cranberries, sunflower seeds, mozzarella, baby Bella mushrooms, red onions, shredded and chunked chicken breasts.
  10. Add dressing per serving or pour over the whole salad and give it a toss.
Print Recipe
5 from 2 votes

Chicken Cranberry and Sunflower Salad

This salad is hearty, fresh and completely delicious with chicken, cranberries, sunflowers, red onions, mushrooms on a bed of delicious and tender greens and a sweet and tangy poppy seed dressing on top.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Salad
Cuisine: American, Dinner, main course, Salad, Salad Dressing
Keyword: cheese, Chicken, cranberry, Dinner, Healthy, lunch, Salad, Weekend Dinner, Weeknight Dinner
Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

  • For Salad:
  • 5 cups baby spinach
  • 1 cup arugula or additional cup baby spinach
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds
  • 1 cup mozzarella – shredded
  • 2 cups sliced baby Bella mushrooms
  • 1/2 small red onion – sliced into rings
  • 2 chicken breasts – simply seasoned and cooked. Grilled, baked. rotisserie or boiled, shredded or cut into chunks
  • For poppy seed dressing:
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, plus 1 additional tablespoon
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard – optional

Instructions

  • Make the dressing first so it can cool while preparing the salad.
  • Add sugar and 1/4 cup red wine vinegar to a sauce pan.
  • Bring mixture to a boil for 1 minute.
  • Remove from heat and cool in freezer or refrigerator.
  • Add remaining 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, salt, black pepper, poppy seeds, mayonnaise and optional Dijon mustard and whisk until smooth. If you have chunks use an immersion blender or blend in a blender.
  • Chill until ready to use.
  • Next, assemble the salad.
  • Add spinach and arugula to a bowl.
  • Add cranberries, sunflower seeds, mozzarella, baby Bella mushrooms, red onions, shredded and chunked chicken breasts.
  • Add dressing per serving or pour over the whole salad and give it a toss.