This Cajun Chicken Avocado Mango Salad is hearty, full of juicy chicken, vegetables, creamy avocado and makes an excellent light dinner. It's gluten-free, paleo, low-carb and WW friendly, of course! I love salads that are meals; they make for healthy, quick and easy dinners that are ideal for busy weeknights.
This Mango Chicken Avocado Salad is great anytime of the year, but it makes a superb summer meal because you can grill the chicken on the outdoor BBQ!
I was introduced to this recipe a few years ago when my daughter took a cooking class, with her Girl Guides group, at Sunterra Market. It was soo good that I had to make it myself and share my version. It pairs well with this Honey Lime Cilantro Dressing and Strawberry Italian Soda.
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🥘Ingredients
Fresh Mango isn't always easy to find, especially where I live. It's often not ripe enough or it's overly ripe (if I can even get my hands on it.) That's one of the reasons I like to use dried mango for this recipe. The dried mango also has a texture that complements the other ingredients in this salad. For this chicken mango salad recipe you'll need:
- chicken breast (boneless and skinless)
- Cajun seasoning
- garlic powder
- avocado
- dried mangos
- red bell peppers
- red onion
- green onion
- grape tomatoes
- spring mix
*See recipe card for quantities.
📖Variations & Substitutions
- Greens- instead of spring mix, you can use another type of mixed green, romaine lettuce or fresh baby spinach
- Mango - if you can find a fresh, ripe mango and you prefer it, then you can substitute fresh mango
- Pomegranate Seeds - if you use fresh mango, I recommend using pomegranate seeds as well (this was in the original recipe) and the seeds make up for the texture you'll be missing from the dried mango
- Vegetarian - skip the chicken and you can add slivered almonds, if desired.
- Kid friendly - this salad is already kid friendly and loved by my kids, but for smaller kids, you'll want to use fresh mango, as it may be tough for them to eat the dried mango (it's very chewy)
🔪Instructions
To make this Mango Chicken Salad:
- Sprinkle chicken breast with Cajun seasoning and garlic powder on both sides. Grill chicken breast until cooked through (no longer pink inside).
*THE very best way to check for doneness (without overcooking) is with an instant read thermometer (affiliate link). This will ensure your chicken turns out juicy and not dry. Your thermometer should read 165 degrees F/ 74 degrees C.
2. Add spring mix, green onion, red onion, grape tomatoes, dried mango and red pepper to large bowl.
3. Mix together and add chicken and avocado.
*Hint: Chop your dried mango (if you're using dried instead of fresh) in the food processer (affiliate link) -it's much easier!
💭Top tip
You don't need to use oil when you're grilling. I spray the grill pan with a non-stick cooking spray to avoid adding extra calories.
🎥 Video
If you want to use a quick and easy method of slicing avocado, as shown in my photos, then watch this video on slicing pretty avocado! It's the method I use.
👪 Serving Size
This chicken mango salad recipe makes 6 servings. However, you can half, double or triple the recipe by clicking on the blue serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust.
🔢WW Points
This recipe is Weight Watchers friendly @ 3 WW points. But it also has healthy fats from the chicken and avocado and you could further reduce the points by using fresh mango. *Be sure to add the WW points for whatever dressing you use.
🥖Side Dishes
You can eat this Chicken Mango and Avocado Salad as a side, but it really is a meal in itself. It is the PERFECT match with my Honey Lime Cilantro Dressing, as that's the dressing that was created to go with it.
It also pairs really well with bread such as:
- Bread Machine Onion & Olive Bread
- Everything Bagel Cloud Bread Recipe (shown below)
- Bread Machine Italian Breadsticks
🍽Equipment
You can grill the chicken on an outdoor grill/BBQ or on an an indoor stovetop grill (affiliate link) if you don't have an outdoor grill or it's too cold to grill outdoors. A salad spinner (affiliate link) is also a handy tool for washing greens. I prefer the type with the handle grip. If you are using fresh mango, you can also use a mango slicer.
🌡️Storage
Store the salad separately from the chicken and avocado and the dressing, in airtight sealed containers in the fridge, and recombine when ready. Good for 2 days.
These ingredients don't stand up well to freezing.
🦺Food safety
- Cook chicken to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
This Chicken Grilled Mango Avocado Salad makes a great busy weeknight dinner, the perfect lunch or if you have leftover chicken breasts to use up. And if you love chicken salads that are a meal, try my Thai Chicken Noodle Salad!
⭐ Reviews
Did you make this recipe? Please RATE THE RECIPE below!
📋 Cajun Chicken Avocado Mango Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 avocado peeled and sliced
- 1 chicken breast, boneless, skinless
- 2 teaspoon cajun spice
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- ½ cup dried mango
- 1 red bell pepper fine julienne or chopped
- ½ cup red onion, chopped finely sliced diced
- ⅓ cup green onions, chopped
- 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes
- 7.5 cups spring mix *312 g container
Dressing (recommended)
- Honey Cilantro Lime Dressing https://foodmeanderings.com/honey-lime-cilantro-dressing/
Instructions
- Heat grill and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Meanwhile, season the chicken with Cajun spice and garlic powder and grill chicken. Cool and refrigerate. Once cold slice the chicken into strips.
- If using, Honey Cilantro Lime dressing, prepare https://foodmeanderings.com/honey-lime-cilantro-dressing/
- Combine the lettuce and vegetable in a large salad bowl.
- Neatly arrange the avocado and chicken on top.
- Drizzle with dressing.
Sheila McRae
Made this for supper last night. Delicious and fresh combination of ingredients! We had to use fresh mango but worked out great anyway! and loved the combination of the lime-honey cilantro dressing!!!