Peach, Bacon and Chicken Salad with Goat Cheese is an easy and flavorful summer weekday dinner that will brighten your evening. It’s made with fresh peaches, seared chicken, crispy bacon and creamy goat cheese for a wonderful combo of flavors and textures.
Move away peach cobbler, bring on chicken peach salad! Honestly, as far as using fruit in dinner salads goes, peaches are in my top 3 for sure, after strawberries and blueberries.The sweet, the sour and the creamy texture go incredibly well with leafy greens, salty bacon and perfectly cooked chicken. Add some goat cheese, red onions and homemade honey mustard dressing and you’ve got yourself a true winner of a salad. If you're in a salad rut and looking for something new, give this one a try!
What you will need
Fresh Peaches: use ripe but firm peaches. They are best when in season!
Chicken Breasts: boneless, skinless chicken breasts are the protein base for this recipe.
Sliced Bacon: I use thick sliced bacon for this salad. The recipe calls for chopping the bacon and cooking it in a skillet (my preferred method of making bacon bits) but you can also bake whole bacon slices in the oven until crisp and then crumble them over the salad.
Salad Greens: spring mix, spinach, arugula or your favorite mix of tender salad greens will all work.
Red Onions: see my trick for how to make the onion taste milder below.
Goat Cheese: creamy, soft Chevre works so well with sweet and tart peaches!
Honey Mustard Dressing: homemade is best. My recipe is below.
Homemade honey mustard dressing
Dijon Mustard: classic Dijon works beautifully in this dressing but you can use any mustard you like or have on hand.
Vinegar: apple cider vinegar is my favorite in salad dressings but you can also use white wine vinegar for this recipe.
Olive Oil: extra virgin olive oil is best.
Honey: pick thick but pourable honey so it can dissolve easily in the dressing.
Salt & Pepper: to season the dressing.
Step by step directions
STEP 1: Soak the onion. Place the sliced onion in a small bowl and cover with cold water. Let it soak while you prepare the salad, then drain on a sieve. This step may seem redundant but I highly recommend the soaking trick if you don’t like sharp onion flavor (and onion breath after dinner). It makes the onion taste milder and sweeter.
STEP 2: Cook the bacon until crisp. My preferred method is to chop the bacon slices into small pieces, cook them in a skillet until brown and crispy, then remove bacon bits with a slotted spoon and lay them on a paper towel to drain any excess fat.
STEP 3: Cook the chicken. The seasoning on the chicken is pretty simple: salt, pepper and garlic powder. Sear it in a cast iron skillet (or your favorite skillet with a thick bottom) on both sides, turn the heat down and cook for about 20-25 minutes flipping a couple times until the inner temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have an air fryer, you can also cook the chicken by air frying it for about 9 minutes per side in 360 degrees Fahrenheit.
STEP 3: Make the dressing. Put all dressing ingredients in a mason jar and shake vigorously until smooth. You can also place the honey, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk adding the oil in a slow stream until the dressing is thick and smooth.
STEP 5: Chop and slice the ingredients. Slice the peaches into wedges (about 8-10 per peach), leaving the skin on. Let the chicken cool slightly and chop or slice. Crumble the goat cheese with your fingers and drain the onions.
STEP 6: Assemble the salad. Arrange the greens on a platter (or a large bowl) and top with chopped cooked chicken, peach slices, crispy bacon bits, goat cheese crumbles and red onion. Then drizzle with the honey mustard dressing and serve immediately. Enjoy!
Meal prep and make ahead tips
To make ahead, arrange all salad ingredients on a platter and place in the fridge. Make the dressing and keep it in a jar at room temperature until ready to serve. Then, take out of the fridge, give the dressing a good shake, drizzle and serve. If you want to meal prep this salad as a school or work lunch, divide the salad between air tight glass or plastic containers, prepare the dressing and divide between mini mason jars (or bring the bigger jar to work). Dress the salad before serving.
Substitutions and special diets
The wonderful thing about dinner salads is that there is no right or wrong way to make them. Adjust the amounts to your preferences, replace some ingredients with others and make it your own! Here are some suggestions you might like:
- If you don’t like goat cheese, replace with crumbled feta or blue cheese or skip all together.
- Nectarines, apricots or plums can be used instead of peaches. Just make sure they’re ripe.
- To turn this dish into a lighter side salad, skip the chicken and serve as a side at a potluck or a family barbeque.
- If you like grilled peaches, go ahead and grill them on a gas grill, barbeque or a grill pan until grill marks appear. It will make for a stunning presentation! You can also grill the chicken, instead of cooking it in a skillet.
- When peaches are not in season, you can use canned peach slices in 100% peach juice. Just drain and use instead of fresh peaches.
- This recipe is naturally gluten free. For a paleo/whole30 version, skip the cheese and use a different kind of dressing, for example a simple lemon vinaigrette.
More summer dinner ideas
- Greek Salad with Chickpeas
- Strawberry and Feta Spinach Salad
- Keto Egg and Avocado Salad
- Chicken Caprese Sheet Pan
- Italian Ground Chicken Stuffed Zucchini
This post may contain affiliate links.
Recipe
Peach, Bacon and Chicken Salad with Goat Cheese
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 2 chicken breast boneless, skinless (6 oz each)
- 1 teaspoon neutral tasting oil avocado, sunflower or light olive oil
- 2 medium peaches ripe
- 4 slices thick bacon
- 3 oz mixed greens
- 1 ½ oz red onion sliced thin
- 2 oz goat cheese
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- black pepper to taste
- fresh basil leaves for garnish
Honey Mustard Dressing
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons apple cider or white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- a pinch of black pepper
Instructions
- Chop up the bacon into small bits, transfer to a skillet and cook until browned and crispy. Remove from the stove, drain on a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel. Set aside.
- Place the sliced red onion in a bowl, pour some cold water over it and let it soak for about 15 minutes or while you’re preparing the rest of the ingredients. Drain on a sieve and set aside. This step will help remove the harsh onion flavor.
- Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt, black pepper and garlic salt. Heat the oil in a skillet and cook the chicken until well seared on medium heat, about 20-25 minutes flipping from time to time. Transfer on a plate and cover with tinfoil to let the meat rest and finish cooking.
- Prepare the dressing. Place all ingredients in a mason jar, close the lid and shake vigorously until the honey is dissolved and the dressing is smooth.
- Cut the peaches in half, remove the pit and slice the peach halves into 4-5 even slices.
- Assemble the salad. Place the greens in a large bowl or on a large platter and arrange the chicken, sliced peaches, red onion and cooked bacon on top. Crumble the goat cheese into the salad and drizzle with the dressing. Toss and serve immediately.
Natalie
Lovely summer salad. I LOVE added goat cheese. My husband doesn't like goat cheese, so I will just sub feta for him and make this for lunch tomorrow. Yum, can't wait!
Makhaya
Wow this salad looks fantastic! Definitely adding this to the recipe bucket list! Thank you for sharing!
Kirby
This is the perfect summer salad. I didn't change a thing and it was a big hit!
amanda
This salad was so good, all of the flavors are delicious.
Anaiah
This salad was so delicious and I loved the addition of peach! This salad was the perfect combination of sweet and savory.
Kristin
This was great on a hot evening!
Agnieszka
Glad you enjoyed it! I love adding fruit to my salads in the summer.
Alexandra
Such a delicious combination of flavours and the perfect dressing for this salad!
Megan
I could eat this every day without any complaining. Delicious recipe!
Peter
We made this for a summer bbq dinner, so we grilled the chicken breasts AND also grilled the peaches too! It was so delicious with the goat cheese, definitely making this again! Thank you!
Natalie
What a great combination of flavors, delicious, thanks!
Audrey
This was the perfect summer salad.
Kayla DiMaggio
loved this chicken salad! It was so refreshing since it's now in the 100's and all we want is a refreshing dinner!
nancy
wow this sweet savoury combo really is packed with flavour and texture
Genevieve
I have peaches sitting on my counter and now I know exactly what to do with them!