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Apple, White Cheddar, and Grilled Chicken Salad

Averie Sunshine

5 from 8 votes

Updated: Jun 30, 2025

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🍎🧀🥗 My Grilled Chicken Apple Salad with White Cheddar is easy, nutritious, and all the flavors POP deliciously! The honey-apple cider vinaigrette doubles as a marinade + salad dressing to save time!

Easy Grilled Chicken Salad Recipe

There’s nothing like grilled chicken to add flavor to a salad. The marinade for the chicken and the vinaigrette for this grilled chicken salad are one and the same. I love time savers like this.

It’s light, tangy, yet sweet from the apple cider vinegar, honey, and Dijon mustard gives it a little bite. The best part is you just shake it together in a jar, and any extra will keep for a week in the fridge.

There are so many wonderful textures and flavors in every bite of this loaded-up salad. It’s filling, satisfying, and healthy. My family raved about it. It’s a spinoff of this Apple, White Cheddar, and Spinach Salad with Honey-Apple Cider Vinaigrette, which is a reader favorite, and the addition of chicken is a great new twist.

There are juicy, crunchy apples, salty white cheddar cheese, chewy orange-flavored dried cranberries, and almonds for extra crunch. Serve it as a casual dinner or a filling lunch!

This was absolutely delicious! We will be making this again really soon. :-)

Anita

What’s in an Apple and Chicken Salad

To make this easy salad with chicken and apples:

• Dressing/Marinade – I skip homemade options, and combine olive oil, honey, apple cider vinegar, mustard, and pepper to make my own
• Chicken breasts – I prefer lean chicken breasts, finding they take on the flavor of the marinade nicely. Or, skip the grilling, and use leftover rotisserie chicken
• Lettuce – Use any greens you like best, such as Romaine, butter lettuce, spinach, kale, etc.
• Apple – I prefer sweet, red apples such as Gala apples, Fuji apples, or Pink Lady apples for this salad, but green apples, like Granny Smith, also work if you prefer a more tart taste
• White cheddar cheese – Use yellow cheddar, mozzarella, provolone, or any cheese you like best. Or, omit it completely to keep this salad dairy-free
• Dried cranberries – Swap raisins if preferred
• Nuts – Use walnuts, almonds, peanuts, etc. Anything goes

How to Make a Grilled Chicken Salad

1. Add the vinaigrette ingredients to a jar and shake or stir to combine. Set aside half the dressing to use over the salad. You can make the vinaigrette / marinade in advance and keep it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. 
2. Add the other half of the dressing to a zip-top bag, then add the chicken breasts. Seal the bag, toss to coat chicken evenly, and set aside to marinate for at least 20 minutes. 
3. Grill the chicken, making sure it reaches an internal temperature of 165. Note that you MUST discard the marinade after the chicken has rested in it. It’s not safe to drizzle over the salad since raw chicken touched it!
4. Assemble the salad ingredients.
5. Pour the dressing on top, toss, and enjoy! Pro-Tip: Omit the greens, and store leftovers in the fridge. Then, pair the chicken mixture with your favorite bread for light chicken salad sandwiches or crackers for dipping.

What to Serve with an Apple Chicken Salad

Cheesy Garlic Bread

Garlic Cheese Flatbread

Easy Cheddar Sourdough Bread

Easy Sourdough Bread

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5 from 8 votes

Apple, White Cheddar, and Grilled Chicken Salad

By Averie Sunshine

🍎🧀🥗 All the flavors just POP in this fast, easy, and healthy salad! The Honey-Apple Cider Vinaigrette doubles as marinade + salad dressing to save time!

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Equipment

• 1 Glass Jar or Container
• 1 Grill or Grill Pan
• 1 Large Bowl

Ingredients 

Honey Apple Cider Marinade and Vinaigrette 

• ▢ ½ cup olive oil
• ▢ ½ cup honey
• ▢ ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• ▢ ¼ cup mustard, I like either dijon or honey mustard
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons Kosher salt, or to taste
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

Chicken and Salad

• ▢ about 1.25 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, I use thinly sliced breasts
• ▢ about 6 cups lettuce, I used romaine and kale; fresh spinach or your favorite greens may be substituted
• ▢ 1 large apple, cored and sliced very thin (try Envy, Gala, Fuji, or similar)
• ▢ 1 cup aged white cheddar, crumbled or grated (I used Trader Joe’s Unexpected Cheddar)
• ▢ ½ cup dried orange-flavored cranberries, I use Trader Joe’s; plain dried cranberries may be substituted
• ▢ ½ cup nuts, sliced almonds, candied pecans, spiced walnuts, cashews, etc.

Instructions 

Marinade and Vinaigrette:

• In a medium glass jar or container with a lid, add all ingredients, put the lid on and shake vigorously until combined; taste and tweak as necessary to taste.
• Set half aside to be used later as a vinaigrette over the salad.

Chicken and Salad:

• Add chicken to a large ziptop plastic bag, add the remaining half of the marinade, seal bag, toss to coat chicken evenly; set aside to marinate for at least 20 minutes; I marinated overnight and recommend it if you have time because the chicken turns out so tender and juicy. If marinating longer than 20 to 30 minutes, place bag in the fridge.
• Preheat grill to high heat (or if using a grill pan, heat it over high heat on the stove). Add chicken to grill, reduce heat to medium, and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes per side, or as necessary until chicken reaches an internal temp of 165F. All grills, grillpans, and thickness of chicken vary so cooking time will vary. Allow chicken to rest off the heat on a platter while you prep the salad.
• To a large bowl or platter or individual bowls, add the lettuce, apple, cheddar, cranberries, and almonds; set aside.
• Slice the chicken, add to the salad, drizzle reserved vinaigrette over salad as desired, toss to combine, and serve immediately. If you don’t use all the vinaigrette, extra will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Notes

Adapted from Apple, White Cheddar, and Spinach Salad with Honey-Apple Cider Vinaigrette.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 833cal, Carbohydrates: 58g, Protein: 42g, Fat: 50g, Saturated Fat: 11g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g, Monounsaturated Fat: 29g, Trans Fat: 0.02g, Cholesterol: 119mg, Sodium: 1410mg, Potassium: 903mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 48g, Vitamin A: 891IU, Vitamin C: 5mg, Calcium: 263mg, Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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