Some recipes become staples because they’re reliable, fast, and endlessly satisfying. This Balsamic Chicken Dinner Salad is one of those: a recipe I’ve been making for nearly two decades. It began as a clipped recipe from a Wegman’s circular and evolved over the years with a few tweaks based on pantry ingredients. The result has been on repeat ever since.
Tender strips of chicken are finished in a bright, savory pan sauce made with balsamic vinegar, sun-dried tomatoes, and capers, then served over a bed of fresh mixed greens. It’s an ideal dinner-salad: simple, flavorful, and satisfying. Serve it with bread—baguette or warm corn muffins with butter—and you have a complete, impressive dinner with very little fuss.
If you’re not primarily a salad person or can’t find quality mixed greens, don’t skip the chicken. The chicken itself is irresistible and versatile: great on sandwiches, delicious tossed with pasta and a sprinkle of grated Parmesan, or served chilled over greens the next day. The recipe yields a generous amount of chicken, which is perfect for a hearty dinner but also stores well for leftovers.
Budget-friendly and quick to prepare, this dish is both weeknight-friendly and company-worthy. The flavors are bright and satisfying, and the balsamic-caper pan sauce takes the chicken from ordinary to memorable.
Balsamic Chicken Dinner Salad
Rebecca Lindamood
Ingredients
- 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, sliced into thin strips
- 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not oil-packed)
- 1/2 cup semi-dry or dry white wine
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced or pressed
- 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 1/2 tsp brined non-pareil capers, drained
- 5 basil leaves, torn into strips
- Mixed salad greens
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Heat the white wine in a small saucepan or microwave until it steams. Pour the hot wine over the sun-dried tomatoes in a heatproof bowl, cover, and let them rehydrate while you prepare the chicken.
- Season the sliced chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When the oil shimmers, add as much chicken as will fit without crowding.
- Sauté the chicken until just cooked through and lightly browned, then transfer to a plate. Repeat in additional batches, adding 1 tablespoon of oil for each batch. Depending on breast size, you may have three batches.
- After removing the final batch, add any remaining olive oil to the pan and sauté the garlic about 15 seconds until fragrant. Add the balsamic vinegar and scrape up any browned bits from the pan. When the vinegar bubbles and begins to thicken, add the rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes (with the wine), the drained capers, and the torn basil. Return the chicken to the pan, toss to coat, and heat through. Remove from heat.
- For each serving, arrange about 2 cups of mixed greens on a plate and top with roughly 1 cup of the chicken. Spoon some of the pan sauce over the chicken if you like. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided as a courtesy. Calculate nutrition using the exact ingredients you use if you need precise values.
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