Bursting with flavor and vibrant colors, this chipotle chicken salad is perfect for those warm evenings when you're craving something fresh yet filling. This recipe starts with a quick marinade featuring smoky chipotles in adobo, garlic, lime, honey, and a few spices like cumin and oregano. The creamy cilantro jalapeño vinaigrette has become a mild obsession of mine since it came together on a whim one weekday lunch...it's citrusy, creamy, spicy, with a hint of sweetness from honey – it just takes things up a notch! As for the salad, mixed baby greens or romaine work beautifully for the base, then we add grilled chipotle chicken, some charred corn, ripe avocado, juicy strawberries, and salty feta crumbles. Is your mouth watering yet? This is a salad for those who claim to not enjoy salad – believe me!  

Serves 2-3

INGREDIENTS

For the Marinade –

• 1-2 lbs. 1915 Farm Pasture Raised Chicken Thighs or Chicken Breasts
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp water
• 2 lime, juiced
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 3 chipotles plus 1 Tbsp adobo sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 Tbsp cumin
• 1 Tbsp oregano
• Pinch of kosher salt

For the Creamy Cilantro Jalapeño Vinaigrette – 

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1.5 tbsp mayo (sour cream works too)
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1/4 cup cilantro 
• 1 jalapeño, stemmed, and roughly chopped (take out ribs and seeds if you don't want the spice)
• 1 Tbsp honey

To Assemble Salad –

• About 4 cups of mixed baby greens or chopped romaine lettuce  
• 2 ears of corn, grilled, and sliced off the cob
• 1 ripe avocado, sliced
• 4-5 ripe strawberries, sliced
• 4 oz. feta cheese crumbles

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine all ingredients for the marinade in a small blender (a smoothie sized one works great). Remove chicken from packaging and place into a gallon sized bag or container. Pour marinade over, cover tightly, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, ideally 1 hour, and up to 2 hours. 

Rinse blender cup and add the ingredients for the vinaigrette. Blend until smooth and transfer to a jar (or place lid on blender cup if available). Refrigerate until ready to use.

To cook chicken, heat an outdoor grill to medium high heat (400-450°F). Place chicken thighs on the grate and grill for 6-7 minutes per side, until chicken thighs reach an internal temp of 165°F (it will continue to rise to about 175°F after resting, which I find is a better temp for dark meat, especially with skin, as it really breaks down the extra collagen and darker meat).

(If using chicken breast, grill for about 4-5 per side and remove around 155-160°F internal temp for a rested temp of 165°. Let chicken rest 10 minutes before slicing.)

In two low rimmed salad bowls, add lettuce followed by a drizzle of creamy vinaigrette. Toss to combine, then add grilled chicken, corn, strawberries, avocados, and feta crumbles to each. Top with additional vinaigrette and enjoy!

We hope you love this recipe! If you’d like to share your delicious dish on Instagram, don’t forget to tag us @1915_Farm

P.S. If you can't get enough of our pasture raised chicken – consider subscribing to the new Grassroots Meat Club (ships free in TX, reduced in other states). Each box includes a variety of hand-selected grassfed and pasture raised meats, such as chicken breasts, chicken tenders, leg quarters, wings, thighs, drumsticks, whole chicken, ground beef, kabobs, stew meat, stir fry, cutlets, London broil (top round), beef roasts, beef ossobuco, short ribs, various sausages, pork roasts, pork chops, bacon, ground pork, fajita meat, country style ribs, spare ribs, and bacon!