Panera Fuji Apple Chicken Salad (Copycat Panera Bread)

Name: Panera Fuji Apple Chicken Salad (Copycat Panera Bread)
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 rotisserie chicken (thinly sliced or 1lb. boneless chicken breast, cooked and thinly sliced); 10 ounces salad greens (two 5 ounce bags (use more if you prefer)); 2 ½ - 3 cups apple chips; 1 ½ cups tomatoes (thinly sliced); ½ cup red onion (thinly sliced); ½ cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese; ¼ cup pecans (finely diced); ½ cup olive oil; ¼ cup white balsamic vinegar; 2 teaspoons honey; ½ teaspoon salt; ¼ teaspoon black pepper; ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder

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Panera's Fuji Apple Salad is a popular choice for salad lovers and haters alike. With its sweet and crunchy combination of salad greens, gorgonzola cheese, crisp apple chips, tender chicken, and candied pecans, it will please even the toughest critics.

This is the first “copycat” recipe that I have done on my blog. We went to Panera Bread after our son gave us a gift card for Christmas. It was his first Christmas as a working man, and he bought us a gift. It was such a nice surprise! Instead of just my husband and me going, we made it a fun family night.

My husband got me hooked on this Fuji Apple Salad, and I knew I had to make it at home so we could enjoy it anytime we wanted. That's where this copycat recipe comes in!

This tasty salad is seriously so easy to replicate, and you'll have no trouble at all throwing it together in the comfort of your own home!

It's nearly an identical copycat recipe for Panera Bread's Fuji Apple Salad, but it's a lot less expensive, and I've included two different salad dressing options - the storebought option from Panera and a homemade salad dressing that you can make yourself.

A red bowl of panera fuji apple salad with red leaf lettuce and greens, red onions, tomatoes, chicken, apple chips, gorgonzola, and white balsamic dressing.

This wonderful recipe is designed to feed four people for an easy dinner, but you can also make the salad in advance, leaving the apple chips and pecans off to the side and portioning the dressing in small containers - for a week's worth of grab-and-go lunches!

Ingredient Notes

Rotisserie Chicken or Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast that is cooked and thinly sliced
Dark Salad Greens or Spring Mix, about 10 ounces (use more if you prefer.) You can also use a mix of arugula and chopped romaine lettuce. Use a mix of greens that your family likes.
Apple Chips - You can make homemade apple chips or buy them at the store. The brand that Panera uses is called Seneca Apple Chips.
Thinly Sliced Tomatoes - You can also use cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes.
Red Onion, thinly sliced
Crumbled Gorgonzola Cheese - If you don't like gorgonzola cheese, you can use feta cheese or blue cheese.
Pecan Halves - Finely diced. You can also use Candied Pecans if you really want to jazz it up. The crunchy pecans are one of my favorite parts of the salad.

Note about the dried apple chips. We like to make our own apple chips, so I make those ahead of time from crisp fuji apples, so they are ready to go.

Salad Dressing Ingredients

If you really want to make a Copycat Panera Fuji Apple Salad, you can buy the Panera Fuji Apple Dressing at your local grocery store. We made a "Copycat" Panera Fuji Apple White Balsamic Vinaigrette (that's a mouthful!) that is really delicious and is made with clean ingredients:

Olive Oil
White Balsamic Vinegar
Honey
Salt
Black Pepper
Garlic Powder

Here's a link to the actual dressing so you can see what the bottle looks like. I would buy it locally if you can unless you need 10 bottles of it.

How to Make It

We used a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and sliced that up (minus the skin) instead of cooking the chicken ourselves. It makes this recipe even easier!

If you do want to cook your chicken from scratch, preheat your oven to 350°F. Prepare a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper, then coat your chicken breasts with olive oil.

Season the chicken with a pinch of salt and ground black pepper. Place the chicken on the prepared baking sheet, and bake for 20-30 minutes, until the internal temperature of the chicken is 165°F. Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. Then thinly slice the chicken. You can also cook chicken in an Instant Pot if desired.

Once your chicken is thinly sliced, get your veggies ready. (Or prepare the veggies while the chicken cooks!) Thinly slice up your tomatoes and red onion. To make slicing up your veggies even easier, you can use a handheld mandoline slicer. (Just be careful and use a glove if needed.)

Put the Salad Together

To make this salad, start by placing your salad greens into a large bowl. Add the sliced chicken, sliced tomatoes, red onions, apple chips, crumbled cheese, and pecans. Give everything a good toss to mix all the ingredients together.

How to Make the White Balsamic Vinaigrette

Next, make the White Balsamic Vinaigrette, which can be made in about five minutes.

A red bowl of panera fuji apple chicken salad with red leaf lettuce and greens, red onions, tomatoes, chicken, apple chips, gorgonzola, and white balsamic dressing.

Why make your own vinaigrette?

It is so easy to make.
You know what goes into it. Have you ever read the list of ingredients on some of the salad dressing bottles in the store? It's usually, a long list that includes ingredients that I am not familiar with. I love to feed my family food made with real ingredients whenever I can.

To make the homemade dressing, all you need to do is whisk all of the ingredients together in a bowl.

When we make our dressing at home, we use a salad dressing mixer bottle that you can just add all your ingredients into and give a good shake, and you are done. (It's a cool bottle that has dressing recipes on the bottle, so you don't have to look them up.)

Finally, drizzle your desired amount of vinaigrette on your salad. Toss and serve immediately.

How to Meal Prep Your Fuji Apple Salad

This will make four lunches:

Combine lettuce, onion, chicken, and tomatoes in four individual large airtight containers.
In four smaller, separate containers, combine the apple chips and pecans(together) and in four others, the gorgonzola cheese (by itself.)
In four individual very small salad dressing containers, pour a serving of salad dressing for each day.
To serve, combine all of the contents into the largest airtight container and shake, then serve.

(If I'm prepping a salad for just one day, I use a BentGo Salad box, but I don't have four of those, and I also don't want everything to smell like cheese.)

🙋‍♀️ Frequently Asked Questions

What ingredients are in this salad?

This salad typically consists of mixed greens, crunchy apple chips, gorgonzola cheese crumbles, pecans, tomatoes, red onions, and chicken, topped with a sweet and tangy balsamic dressing.

Can I substitute the chicken with another protein source?

Yes, you can substitute the chicken with shrimp, grilled tofu, salmon, or any other protein source of your choice.

Is this salad gluten-free?

The salad ingredients themselves are typically gluten-free, but it is always best to check the dressing and rotisserie chicken as they may contain gluten.

Can I make this salad in advance?

While you can prepare the individual components in advance and cook the chicken ahead of time, it is best to assemble the salad just before serving to prevent the greens from getting soggy and wilting or the apples and pecans from getting soft.

Can I use a different type of cheese instead of gorgonzola cheese?

Yes, you can use feta, goat cheese, blue cheese, or really any other cheese that you like.

What type of dressing should I use for the salad?

A sweet vinaigrette dressing made with white balsamic vinegar is a common choice for this salad. The creamy texture of the dressing coats this salad perfectly, and it is so delicious. But, I won't judge. You can also use ranch, blue cheese, or really any other dressing of your choice.

More Quick and Easy Dinner Recipes

I like to use rotisserie chicken for some quick dinner recipes. I have a few good ones if you are looking for some good quick and easy dinner recipes:

This is one of my favorite dinner recipes, and our whole family loves it. I hope you give it a try. Let me know if you do and how you like it.

Did you make this recipe? If so, please leave a comment and rating below. I love hearing from you.