Panera Fuji Apple Chicken Salad (Copycat Panera Bread)

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

4.75 from 4 votes

Panera Fuji Apple Chicken Salad (Copycat Panera Bread)

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.

Prep Time30

Total Time30

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Salad

Keyword: 30 minute meal, copycat panera salad, easy dinner recipe, fuji apple chicken salad, fuji apple salad

Servings:

Author: Jeannie

Equipment

mixing bowls
baking sheet

Ingredients

Salad 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

White Balsamic Vinaigrette Ingredients

½ cup olive oil
¼ cup white balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
⅛ teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

Slice a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store.
1 rotisserie chicken
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.
1 rotisserie chicken

To Make the Salad

Thinly slice up your tomatoes and red onion.
1 ½ cups tomatoes, ½ cup red onion
Place salad greens in a large bowl.
10 ounces salad greens
Add in the chicken, cheese, apple chips, and pecans, and toss to mix evenly.
2 ½ - 3 cups apple chips, ½ cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese, ¼ cup pecans

To Make the Vinaigrette

Combine all ingredients in salad dressing bottle and shake until well combined. If you do not have a salad dressing bottle, whisk all ingredients together in a bowl until combined well.
½ cup olive oil, ¼ cup white balsamic vinegar, 2 teaspoons honey, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
Drizzle the dressing over the salad and serve.
Refrigerate any leftover salad.

Notes

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.)

Adapted from Panera Bread

Nutrition