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Cooking adventures in a small, closet sized, kitchen. - I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.

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Blackberry Balsamic Grilled Chicken Salad with Crispy Fried Goat Cheese

[heart_this] · Jul 15, 2016 · 40 Comments

Blackberry Balsamic Grilled Chicken Salad with Crispy Fried Goat Cheese

Blackberry balsamic marinated and grilled chicken black berry salad with crispy fried goat cheese and avocado!

I have really been enjoying salads for dinner lately and I am currently absolutely crushing on this blackberry balsamic grilled chicken salad with crispy fried goat cheese! This salads base is fresh blackberries starting out with a blackberry balsamic vinaigrette that is used both to marinate the chicken and as the dressing for the salad! The salad is filled out with lettuce, avocado, nuts, onions and goat cheese along with the grilled chicken and of course plenty of fresh blackberries. Instead of simply sprinkling some crumbled goat cheese onto the salad, which would be OK, it is formed into patties, coated in breadcrumbs and fried until nice and golden brown and crispy on the outside and warm and melty on the inside! This blackberry balsamic grilled chicken salad with crispy fried goat cheese is one tasty and fresh summer meal!
As it turns out, the star of this show is the crispy fried goat cheese! You really, really should try this amazing salad, but if you don’t you absolutely
need to try the crispy fried goat cheese! I practically inhale, usually long before it gets to the salad!
This salad would also be great with other berries so feel free to replace the blackberries with one or more of raspberries, blue berries, strawberries, etc!

Blackberry Balsamic Grilled Chicken Salad with Crispy Fried Goat Cheese
Blackberry Balsamic Grilled Chicken Salad with Crispy Fried Goat Cheese
Feel free to add some prosciutto or crispy fried bacon!

Blackberry Balsamic Grilled Chicken Salad with Crispy Fried Goat Cheese
Blackberry Balsamic Grilled Chicken Salad with Crispy Fried Goat Cheese

Blackberry Balsamic Grilled Chicken Salad with Crispy Fried Goat Cheese
Blackberry Balsamic Grilled Chicken Salad with Crispy Fried Goat Cheese

Blackberry Balsamic Grilled Chicken Salad with Crispy Fried Goat Cheese

Prep Time: 10 minutes Marinate Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 20 minutes Servings: 4

Blackberry balsamic marinated and grilled chicken black berry salad with crispy fried goat cheese and avocado!

ingredients
    For the blackberry balsamic vinaigrette dressing:
  • 1/2 cup blackberries
  • 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon tamari or soy sauce
  • 1 large clove garlic, minced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • For the fried goat cheese:
  • 8 ounces goat cheese, either sliced into 1/4 inch thick discs or formed into small balls
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (or breadcrumbs)
  • For the salad:
  • 1/2 pound chicken breasts
  • 6 cups lettuce
  • 1 cup blackberries
  • 1 avocado, sliced
  • 1/4 cup red onion, sliced
  • 1/4 cup walnuts (or pistachios or almonds)
directions
    For the blackberry balsamic vinaigrette dressing:
  1. Puree everything in a food processor or with a blender.
  2. For the fried goat cheese:
  3. Dredge the goat cheese slices/balls in the flour and coat in egg followed by breadcrumbs and fry in oil over medium heat until lightly golden brown before setting aside on paper towels to drain.
  4. For the salad:
  5. Marinate the chicken in half of the vinaigrette for 30 minutes to over night before grilling over medium-high heat until cooked and slightly charred, about 2-5 minutes per side, and setting aside to cool and slice.
  6. Assemble the salad and enjoy!
Option: Add sriracha to taste to the dressing.
Option: Add prosciutto or crispy bacon!
Note: Best enjoyed while the fried goat cheese is still warm from frying!
Nutrition Facts: Calories 631, Fat 35g (Saturated 12g, Trans 0), Cholesterol 108mg, Sodium 633mg, Carbs 48g (Fiber 8g, Sugars 15g), Protein 31g

Nutrition by: Nutritional facts powered by Edamam
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20 Minute Meals, 30 Minute Meals, Avocado, Bacon, Chicken, Food, Gluten-free, Grill, Main Course, Recipe, Salad

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Laura @ Laura's Culinary Adventures says

    July 15, 2016 at 1:52 pm

    You make some delicious looking salads! Yummy!

    Reply
  2. Maria says

    July 15, 2016 at 2:24 pm

    So many yummy and vibrant flavors!

    Reply
  3. A SPICY PERSPECTIVE says

    July 15, 2016 at 7:18 pm

    I'm heard over heads in love with this gorgeous dish!

    Reply
  4. Vicki Bensinger says

    July 15, 2016 at 9:42 pm

    This salad is stunning and I love what you did with the goat cheese!

    Reply
  5. Jeannine Davaz says

    July 15, 2016 at 11:43 pm

    Beautiful! What other cheese would you recommend?

    Reply
    • Lisa says

      July 18, 2018 at 12:59 pm

      I made mine with mozzarella, kind of like fried cheese sticks. Much better option for those who despise goat cheese, like me!

      Reply
    • Charli says

      March 22, 2019 at 12:39 am

      I made mine with Brie and it was fantastic!

      Reply
  6. Heather Christo says

    July 17, 2016 at 4:39 pm

    wow- this is gorgeous!

    Reply
  7. Flank Stew says

    September 12, 2016 at 7:32 pm

    I swapped feta

    Reply
  8. Dawn Alva says

    May 31, 2017 at 2:21 pm

    Wondering what I could swap out the flour with?

    Reply
    • Lynda Kennedy says

      June 18, 2020 at 7:58 pm

      Instead of using flour, I used almond flour and for the bread crumbs, I used pulverized pork rinds. I put them in a baggie and used a rolling pin until they they looked like bread crumbs. Delicious!

      Reply
      • kevin says

        June 19, 2020 at 8:09 am

        Great idea to use crushed pork rinds!

        Reply
  9. kevin says

    May 31, 2017 at 8:32 pm

    Dawn Alva: Rice flour would work.

    Reply
  10. Deb Kelner says

    September 3, 2017 at 2:41 am

    WOW! This was dinner tonight and it was a winner. I've got blackberries growing in the yard at the peak of ripeness and put them to good use. Thank you it was absolutely scrumptious.

    Reply
  11. Unknown says

    October 14, 2017 at 7:43 am

    Hi Kevin ! 😀
    I have an idea it will be a great value added to ur web site , to add quick videos to long not more than 1:30 to 2 minutes like using snapchat maybe or u prefer .

    preparing to make ur salad ; excited to serve it to my family ! 🙂

    Reply
  12. Anonymous says

    November 10, 2017 at 5:37 pm

    I cannot wait to make this.. Do you crush up the berries/blend them?

    Reply
  13. Katy says

    May 15, 2018 at 9:48 pm

    This was AMAZING!! The goat cheese was pretty hard to fry though, the log I bought was wet and smooshed when I tried to cut it. I managed to fry them though, and man, were they tasty! The dressing is delicious. Will definitely make again 🙂

    Reply
  14. Jamie Mileto says

    May 17, 2018 at 8:05 pm

    Love this salad so much! I never realized how easy it is to fry goat cheese! Thank you so much!

    Reply
  15. Lisa says

    July 18, 2018 at 1:02 pm

    So I ended up using an emulsifier for the dressing. The recipe did not specify how to get the dressing that is shown in the pictures. Rather than just keep the blackberries whole, I chose to emulsify mine with the other ingredients to get a smooth vinaigrette. Then added the extra whole blackberries to the salad. This worked out much better for me, so it’s just a suggestion. Otherwise this was a great recipe! 🙂

    Reply
  16. Melanie says

    September 5, 2018 at 7:35 pm

    This is the best salad I have ever had in my life. Hands dow.

    Reply
  17. Vicki says

    November 5, 2018 at 4:29 pm

    One of the best and easiest main course salads EVER. Omg, the vinaigrette is to die for! The only things I did differently were: 1) added some cooked farro to beef it up for my hollow-leg husband and 2) pan fry the chicken instead of grilling it. Oh, and I sprinkled on some pomegranate seeds because I had them! So so so so SO good.

    Reply
  18. Kristin says

    March 18, 2019 at 4:29 pm

    I’m making this salad later on this week for dinner, but I have a question first. Do you have any tips on slicing the goat cheese so it doesn’t crumble and stays in nice little discs? I was cutting goat cheese recently for another recipe, and it IS rather crumbly. BTW, I think this salad looks absolutely beautiful with the purple and green. It’s so pleasing to the eye. I can’t wait to try this!

    Reply
    • kevin says

      March 19, 2019 at 12:47 pm

      The brand that I get usually holds together pretty well when slicing and I can push it back together into a disc if it does crumble. If your crumbles too much, you can always just form it into balls (or another shape).

      Reply
      • Kristin Hawkins says

        March 23, 2019 at 10:15 pm

        I wanted to report back about the salad since I made it for dinner tonight. This salad is not only beautiful to look at, it is incredibly delicious! I loved everything about it. All the salad ingredients paired well together. The blackberry vinaigrette is SO good! One thing I did was strain the seeds after making the dressing to cut down on the number of seeds in the salad. Totally worth doing, IMO. The fried goat cheese is amazing! I appreciate your suggestion about pushing the goat cheese back together if it crumbles apart. This may not be an appetizing comparison, but it’s almost like playdough where you can just form it into shape with your fingers. That’s what I had to do, because I was not getting neat slices, and the slices were rather large anyway, so I made them into smaller round slices. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you!

        Reply
    • Lynda Kennedy says

      June 18, 2020 at 8:01 pm

      My goat cheese was not crumbly but wet so I put my log of goat cheese in the freezer for just a short time and I was able to slice it nicely. This salad is to die for by the way. Outstanding!

      Reply
  19. Stacey says

    June 3, 2020 at 2:35 pm

    How do you get the dressing to look like the picture? I realized after blending it, that the dijon mustard makes it much more cloudy looking. Also I think my clove of garlic was a little too large as it made it quite pungent.

    Reply
    • kevin says

      June 5, 2020 at 7:20 am

      Did you use a blender to puree? A high powered blender can leave it cloudy; this is due to it incorporating tiny air bubbles into the dressing. It does not affect the flavour and it will clear up if you let it sit for a while (or overnight); just shake it up or mix it again when ready to use.

      Reply
  20. Stephanie says

    April 21, 2022 at 10:15 pm

    Love all things balsamic. I think I’ll like the blackberry twist. Great way to change up our regular grilled chicken.

    Reply
  21. Paulette says

    June 24, 2022 at 12:21 am

    5 Stars. Great salad, especially the dressing/marinade. I love that it’s easy to switch up the berries, nuts, cheese-whatever. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

    Reply
  22. Jean says

    July 22, 2022 at 7:10 pm

    Delicious! The fried goat cheese puts this over the top, but overall we loved it. We’ll make this again.

    Reply

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Kevin: I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.
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