An Easy White Bean And Pesto Chicken Salad With Arugula
A salad can be many things. A salad’s primary duties include crunchiness, freshness, and creaminess. They like to be dressed in a tasty sauce, and do well with an added protein. For this salad scenario we’re adding creamy white beans to crunchy arugula dressed in a tangy vinaigrette. Topping it all off is our favorite simple way to flavor grilled chicken–with a big scoop of fresh pesto. Slice some Crusty Bread and roast crispy Rosemary Potatoes for a delicious and easy meal.
Ingredients You’ll Need To Make Chicken Pesto Salad With Arugula And White Beans
Chicken breasts – We call for boneless and skinless chicken breasts, but you could really make this with any and all pieces of the chicken.
Easy vinaigrette – Lemon juice, mustard, sugar, and salt get emulsified with olive oil.
Canned white beans – Cannellini or great northern are perfect.
Arugula – We love arugula for this salad, it’s peppery and crisp and stands up to the vinaigrette and pesto. You could use spinach or other lettuce greens if you have them around.
How to Make White Bean Salad With Pesto Chicken
Make the pesto chicken. Put the chicken breasts and pesto in a medium bowl, and toss to coat the chicken.
Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, mustard, sugar, and salt. Slowly pour in the olive oil, whisking constantly, until emulsified. Stir in the chopped shallot.
Dress the beans with the vinaigrette in a separate medium sized bowl.
Preheat the grill on medium-high. Brush the grates with oil.
Grill the chicken. Place the chicken on the grill and cook until the internal temperature reaches 165°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 5-6 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes, then slice.
Assemble the salad. Add the arugula to a serving platter in an even layer. Top with the marinated beans and sliced chicken, then drizzle with the remaining dressing and remaining pesto to serve.
How to Store Leftover Salad And Chicken + Tips
This is one of those salads that does best the day that it is prepared. If you have leftover beans and chicken, you could use either (or both!) to compose salads throughout the week, but once arugula is dressed it doesn’t have a long shelf life.
If you’d like this salad to be vegetarian, you could make some perfect Six-Minute Eggs and throw in some grilled broccoli coated in pesto.
Like many salads, this pesto chicken salad recipe is infinitely customizable. Got some cherry tomatoes in the garden ready to be picked? Slice them in half and throw them in! Roasted veggies from another meal laying around? Add them to the bowl! You catch our drift?
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