This copycat Panera Strawberry Salad recipe is loaded with fresh berries and candied pecans. Tossed with a sweet homemade lemon poppy seed dressing, it’s the perfect fresh salad warm summer days!
If you think salad is boring, you haven’t eaten salad at my house. Spinach and Bacon Salad and Mexican Street Corn Salad are two more favorites that can turn anyone into a salad lover!
Why This Salad is Best
If you like green salads with fruit, you just might become obsessed with this Strawberry Pecan Salad. This sweet salad is based off our favorite Panera Strawberry Poppyseed Salad recipe!
- FRUITY- It’s made with strawberries, blueberries and juicy mandarin oranges.
- CRUNCHY- Candied pecans for a satisfying sweet crunch factor.
- ZESTY- red onion adds a perfect bite.
- HEARTY- Delicious with or without grilled chicken.
- PERFECT- The sweet and tangy dressing brings it all together.
We love making this salad after a trip to the farmer’s market for fresh fruits and veggies. It’s an easy, tasty way to fill your plate with all that good-for-you produce! And it’s so full of color!
If you love our spinach salad, you can swap out the romaine in today’s strawberry salad for spinach to give you a delicious, hearty meal.
Ingredient Notes
What I love about this fresh salad recipe is how versatile it can be. LOVE mandarin oranges? Add more. Hate goat cheese? Swap it out for feta. Here’s an overview of your key ingredients.
- Strawberries. Remove the stems of fresh berries and slice them in half to add to the salad.
- Blueberries. Make sure to use FRESH berries, not frozen for this salad recipe.
- Mandarin oranges. We use canned orange slices with the juices drained out.
- Candied pecans. The salad starts by toasting pecans on the stovetop with sugar until the outsides become crisp and sweet.
- Romaine Lettuce. Or swap it for other fresh salad greens such as spring lettuce or baby spinach.
- Red onion. The sharp taste of the red onion provides a nice balance to all the sweetness going on in this salad.
- Goat cheese. The tangy flavor and creaminess of the crumbles make it perfect for sweet salads like this one. The fresher the better.
- Chicken breasts. Cook the chicken breasts on the stove or your grill first. Leftover shredded chicken or rotisserie chicken works here too!
- Lemon Poppyseed Dressing. You will need lemon juice, olive oil, sugar and poppy seeds, along with a little mustard.
Salad Tips and Tricks
- Make the poppy seed dressing ahead of time. Mix all the ingredients together and store it in a mason jar in the fridge. When the salad is ready, the dressing will be perfectly chilled and ready to drizzle over your Strawberry Pecan Salad. We save jelly jars to use for homemade dressing!
- Side dish or main course. To serve this salad as a side dish for your main course, simply omit the chicken. Adding the chicken turns it into a complete meal!
- Make it less sweet. Use unsweetened toasted pecans instead of candied nuts if you prefer a salad with less sweetness. You could also reduce the amount of sugar in the dressing to suit your taste.
- Skip Panera and try our homemade kitchen sink cookies and orange scones at home!
Recipe FAQs
I don’t recommend frozen berries for this recipe. They release a significant amount of moisture as they thaw which would make your salad mushy. This is one recipe where fresh berries are a MUST!
We often enjoy this salad as a one-bowl meal on its own. It would pair well with sides like freshly baked dinner rolls or crackers, too.
Keep the strawberry theme going and make a No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake for dessert!
Our Strawberry Pecan Salad recipe is vegetarian if made without the cooked chicken breast. To make it vegan, omit both the goat cheese and the chicken.
This salad with strawberries is best served right away once it’s assembled. You could prep the dressing and cook the chicken in advance, if you like. Store them in tightly sealed containers in the fridge until you’re ready to make your salad.
More Easy Dinner Recipes
- Egg Salad Recipe
- Meatloaf Recipe
- Coleslaw Recipe
- Southwest Chicken Salad with Avocado Dressing
- Broccoli Salad
- Bruschetta
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Strawberry Salad
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 1 cup pecan halves
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 12 ounce package Romaine lettuce chopped
- 8 ounce fresh strawberries halved
- 4 ounce fresh blueberries
- 2 ounce goat cheese crumbled
- ¼ cup red onion sliced (cut into small pieces)
- 15 ounce can Mandarin oranges drained
- 2 chicken breasts cooked and diced
For the dressing:
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅔ cup olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon poppyseeds
Instructions
- In a small skillet over medium heat, saute pecans with sugar. This will take several minutes for the sugar to dissolve as you stir the pecans. Set aside and cool.
- In a large bowl, combine romaine, berries, oranges, cheese and onion. Add diced chicken. Toss gently.
- In a small mason jar, combine dressing ingredients and shake with lid on.
- When ready to serve, add candied pecans and drizzle with dressing. ENJOY!
I love salads like this with lots of fresh berries, but also love a good cobb salad.
You got all my favorites in this salad! Lemon poppyseed has my heart 🙂 and anything with fruit is a double thumbs up! Last year, I went from no fruit in my salad to all fruits in my salad and nuts compliment them so well. Gorgeous recipe, Aimee, pinned!
I love salads with fruit and nuts in them, and the lemon poppyseed dressing sounds wonderful! This is such a pretty, colorful salad, perfect for summer.
I love a good wedge with blue cheese and bacon
What a tasty salad!
My very favorite salad is the green jello kind that you always get at cafeterias. It has pineapple, cottage cheese, lime jello, whipped topping and pecans… absolutely yummy
My favorite salad is one I make with romaine lettuce, mixed baby greens, mandarin oranges, red onions and candied almonds – the dressing I make is similar to the one you have made for this salad except without the poppyseeds (but now I’ll have to add them because I love poppyseed anything!!). Thanks for the continuing great recipes.
This salad looks great!
Summer salads are the best to eat on a hot day…especially your Strawberry Pecan Salad. I made one like this last year for 4th of July and it was a hit, I even doubled the recipe. Also, I’ve used store bought Poppy Seed dressing to save time.
Love your blog! Thank you for offering a giveaway! Going to make this salad recipe this week.
My favorite salads are ones I don’t have to make LOL Love combining fruit and nuts and some veggies in my salads.
No sooner did you tell me you like nuts and pecans on my pecan post than I come over here and you have a pecan salad – awesome! I would gobble this right up! Dressing sounds great and my fave salads are the ones that are simple, clean, light, and EASY! 🙂 pinned
Greens with berries or fruit and a vinaigrette is our favorite. This looks wonderful!
I make a Mandarine orange salad that is similar to this and it is wonderful!!
That is one fantastic looking salad, all those colors are stunning!
That looks delicious! I love using fruit in salads this time of year. 🙂
This is my most favorite type of salad!! Can’t wait to make my own!
That salad looks so amazing! I’m gonna make it for the 4th!
Looks yummy! Definitely going to give it a try.
That salad is looking amazing! I love strawberries in my salad!