Panera Strawberry Poppyseed Salad
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This Copycat Panera Strawberry Poppyseed Salad recipe has all the flavors of summer! This seasonal salad with crisp romaine lettuce and topped with fresh strawberries, blueberries and mandarin oranges. You’ll also enjoy crunchy pecans and grilled chicken breast. Then the salad is dressed with their sweet & refreshing poppyseed dressing.
What You Will ❤️ About Strawberry Poppyseed Salad
- Summer Fresh – Strawberries start ripening in June & July and that’s when Panera lets us have this salad again! But now you can have it any time!
- Homemade Dressing – Panera’s menu has so many delicious salad dressing options and the poppyseed is one of my favorite – but I cracked the code and made a pretty great copycat!
- Juicy Chicken – Using your air fryer to cook your chicken breast will give you the juiciest chicken!
Panera Bread Strawberry Poppyseed Salad Ingredients
This salad has pretty simple summer fresh ingredients like blueberries, pineapple, strawberries and even mandarin oranges! The dressing is easy to make as well – with items you already have in your pantry!
- 4 cups romaine lettuce – about 1.5 romaine hearts
- 1 large grilled chicken breast, cut into strips – seasoned with garlic powder, salt & black pepper
- Sea salt
- Garlic powder
- Black pepper
- 1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
- 15 oz. can Mandarin oranges, drained
- 1/2 cup fresh pineapple chunks, sliced
- 1/2 cup fresh strawberries, sliced
- 1/4 cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped
- Poppyseed Dressing – you can buy Panera Poppyseed Dressing at most grocery stores or make it yourself. This will make just the right amount for this salad for two. You’ll need sugar, water, olive oil, white vinegar, honey, orange juice, pineapple juice, apple cider vinegar, poppy seeds and dried minced onion.
- Be sure to use minced onion to give it the texture you’ll find in the Panera version.
- The Panera version is very sweet – I tried a few things but that pineapple juice really made it. I just used the juice from the fresh pineapple!
Recipe Variations
This salad is very tasty on its own – but a few tweaks – and it’s even better!
- Optional Toppings – Panera allows you to add optional toppings like feta and avocado. I tried it with avocado – delicious!
- Nuts – feel free to swap out pecans with candied pecans, almonds or walnuts
- More Berries – if you’re a fan of other summer berries like raspberries – those would be delicious as well!
- Goat cheese – I didn’t have feta so I added goat cheese and it was so good on this salad as well!
How to make Panera Strawberry Poppyseed Salad
Salads are easy to make – layer it up and then add your dressing. This homemade dressing is what really makes it!
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all salad dressing ingredients and refrigerate for an hour.
- Prepare chicken breasts by rinsing them and patting dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle seasonings on chicken breast. Grill/cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Set aside to rest. Check chicken with instant read thermometer and remove chicken at 155º. Let rest for while you prepare salad. It will come up to 165º while it rests.
- In a large bowl, tear romaine into bite-sized pieces.
- Add all fruit – blueberries, oranges, strawberries & pineapple – to bowl. Sprinkle on pecan pieces.
- Thinly slice rested chicken breast and lay across salad..
- Remove salad dressing from refrigerator and drizzle over salad. Salad serves two as a meal.
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Tips, Tricks & FAQs
Store leftovers in an airtight container (I like these glass ones) in the refrigerator for up to a week. I would recommend keeping the ingredients separate as the juice from the fruit will quickly make the salad soggy.
Yes – Panera only provides about 4 oz chicken on each salad. There’s a lot of other delicious toppings that add to the salad!
Fresh blueberries are great but I had a bag I had frozen from fresh and they worked just fine. They thaw in the time it takes to make the salad.
The air fryer for sure! It’s fool-proof and takes no work and it NEVER comes out dry! Season or marinade and air fry at 360º for 12-18 minutes depending on the size of your chicken breast. Always start with less time, and then check with an instant read meat thermometer. You can always add more time but you can’t unburn it.
Get Heather’s NEW cookbook – Air Fryer Cooking for One today!
Sandwiches & Soups to serve with Strawberry Salad
More Salad Recipes with Fruit
More Panera Bread Salad Recipe Ideas
Panera Strawberry Poppyseed Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups romaine lettuce torn into bite sized pieces
- 1 chicken breast large
- 1 tsp coarse sea salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup blueberries fresh or frozen
- 15 oz mandarin oranges drained
- 1/2 cup pineapple chunks, cut into slices
- 1/2 cup strawberries sliced
- 1/4 cup pecans toasted
Poppyseed Dressing
- 4 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp orange juice
- 2 tsp pineapple juice
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp poppy seeds
- 1/4 tsp dried minced onion
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all salad dressing ingredients and refrigerate for an hour.4 tbsp granulated sugar, 2 tbsp water, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tsp orange juice, 2 tsp pineapple juice, 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, 1/2 tsp poppy seeds, 1/4 tsp dried minced onion, 1 tbsp white vinegar
- Prepare chicken breasts by rinsing them and patting dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle seasonings on chicken breast. Grill/cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Set aside to rest. Check chicken with instant read thermometer and remove chicken at 155º. Let rest for while you prepare salad. It will come up to 165º while it rests.1 chicken breast, 1 tsp coarse sea salt, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp black pepper
- In a large bowl, tear romaine into bite-sized pieces.4 cups romaine lettuce
- Add all fruit – blueberries, oranges, strawberries & pineapple – to bowl. Sprinkle on pecan pieces.1/2 cup blueberries, 15 oz mandarin oranges, 1/2 cup pineapple, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1/4 cup pecans
- Thinly slice rested chicken breast and lay across salad..
- Remove salad dressing from refrigerator and drizzle over salad. Salad serves two as a meal.
