Basil and Peach Chicken Salad

This gorgeous basil and peach chicken salad makes a great light summer meal. If you're looking for a healthy peach and chicken recipe then you'll love it! It's a great way to use up leftover roast thicken and the peach vinaigrette is definitely worth making too.

I have to say I was inspired to try the combination of chicken, basil and peaches online on a site that is no longer there. I was intrigued by the peach and basil combination with the chicken. For the reasons above I usually avoid salads with fruit in but for some reason I liked the sound of peach and basil. And I wanted to try it!

Did I like it? Oh yes! I loved this salad and just hope I can get the rest of my family to like fruity chicken salads soon! Just like this jerk chicken salad with mango dressing.

How do you feel about fruit in savoury recipes?

My husband hates the combination of fruit and chicken together. Getting him to love this peach and chicken salad is not an easy task. Even daring to make a fruity savoury salad with chicken as well as peaches is pretty brave of me!

Even so, sometimes I love to be brave. I love to make recipes that I want to make and that he might just like. If I'm lucky! The great thing about this peach and chicken salad is that you can make it with leftover roast chicken and you can easily adapt the quantities.

If you are feeding a crowd, just cook more peaches and use more chicken. If you just have a little roast chicken left but still want a tasty meal for one then that's possible too!

Ingredient notes for peach and chicken salad

Do check out the recipe card further down the post for quantities. But, to make this fruity chicken and peach salad you'll need:

• Peaches - You'll need to cut them in half so try to get peaches that are ripe but not too ripe. If they're not ripe enough they are hard to cut in half and remove the stone. If they are too ripe they are not as easy to griddle.
• Salad - You can vary the salad ingredients you use. I used iceberg lettuce, red pepper, celery and spring onion.
• Chicken - Leftover roast chicken is ideal for this salad. However, if you don't have any leftover roast chicken you can simple panfry some chicken breast and then slice it into strips

For the peach vinaigrette you'll need:

• A peach - For the vinaigrette a really ripe peach will work well as it gets blitzed in the food processor anyway and it adds extra sweetness.
• Vinegar - I used white wine vinegar but I think red wine vinegar would work equally well.
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Pinch of salt
• Basil leaves 

Do you have to griddle the peaches?

If you haven't tried cooking peaches then you have to soon! Griddling the peaches gives them that wonderful charred look and really intensifies their sweet flavour. Griddled peaches really are great in savoury salads. However, if you are short on time then just cut them into slices and toss with the rest of the salad.

An easy peach vinaigrette recipe

For me, the peach vinaigrette is a real revelation. I was inspired by fruity salad dressings online and this peach vinaigrette has become a recipe I love to adapt and make with other fruit too. 

The peach salad dressing is so easy to make. It's simply a mixture of blended peach, basil, white wine vinegar and olive oil. The sharpness of the vinegar stops the dressing from being too sweet but you do still get a lovely peach flavour and of the course the basil gives it a great flavour too.

How to adapt this peach chicken salad recipe

This chicken and peach salad is really easy to adapt. You can vary the salad vegetables you use for  a start. Why not add radishes, green beans or avocado?

If you want to change it into a vegetarian salad then feta or grilled halloumi would work well. If you have leftover pork that would also be a delicious choice as would prawns.

The peaches of course really make this recipe. But if you want to be creative then why not just use the recipe as a base and use a different fruit. For just a slight twist then nectarines, apricots or plums would work.

If you're more adventurous then you could use raspberries, blueberries or strawberries. If you do use berries then just add them to the salad as they are. You don't need to cook them!

Can you make this salad in advance?

If you want to prep this salad in advance then that's fine. It's best to keep the dressing separate until you serve it though as it can make the iceberg lettuce soggy. 

Just store the salad and the dressings separately in the fridge until you're ready to serve it.

I do think the peaches are delicious when griddled and served warm but you can serve them cold too.

Recipe

Chicken Peach Salad with Peach and Basil Vinaigrette

Corina Blum

This gorgeous basil and peach chicken salad makes a great light summer meal. If you're looking for a healthy peach and chicken recipe then you'll love it!  The peach vinaigrette is definitely worth making too.

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 minutes mins

Total Time 12 minutes mins

Course Main Course, Salad

Cuisine International

Servings 2

Calories 429 kcal

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x

For the salad

• 1 peach cut in half
• 50 g iceberg lettuce
• 200 g leftover roast chicken diced
• ½ red pepper diced
• 1 stick of celery finely sliced
• 1 spring onion sliced

For the Vinaigrette

• 1 peach skinned and chopped
• 4 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon basil leaves chopped

Instructions

 

• Mix together all the ingredients for the dressing and blend. I used a stick blender.
• To make the salad, brush the cut side of the peach with a little oil and cook on a griddle pan for about a minute. Turn it by 90 degrees and continue to cook for another minute so it gets a little charred in a criss cross pattern.
• Put the chicken, red pepper, celery and spring onion in a bowl. Add the vinaigrette and toss together.
• Put a few lettuce leaves on each plate and top with the salad and half a peach.

Video

Notes

Nutritional information is approximate and a guideline only.

Nutrition

Calories: 429kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 26gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 76mgSodium: 96mgPotassium: 646mgFiber: 3gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 1850IUVitamin C: 50.3mgCalcium: 20mgIron: 2mg

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More delicious salad recipes

I love salad recipes and even have a whole recipe collection for main course salad recipes. Do check it out if you're looking for inspiration!

Why not try my Vietnamese chicken and rice salad? Or how about this refreshing basil feta and watermelon salad?

You might also like my mango chicken with mango salsa recipe.

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Do let me know if you make this basil and peach chicken salad or any of my other recipes. I love to get feedback from readers.

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