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Panera Strawberry Poppyseed Salad (Copycat)

Panera strawberry poppyseed salad recipe with grilled chicken, romaine, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, mandarin oranges, pecans, and poppyseed dressing.
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An easy copycat Panera Strawberry Poppyseed Salad with grilled chicken, romaine, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, mandarin oranges, toasted pecans, and a sweet poppyseed dressing. Ready in 15 minutes, and available in any month — unlike the original.

Ingredients

For The Salad

  • 6 cups chopped romaine lettuce
  • 1½ cups cooked chicken, sliced
  • 1 cup sliced strawberries
  • ½ cup blueberries
  • ¾ cup pineapple chunks, drained if canned
  • ½ cup mandarin oranges, drained
  • ⅓ cup toasted pecans
  • ¼ to ⅓ cup poppyseed dressing

For the Homemade Poppyseed Dressing

  • ½ cup neutral oil
  • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
  • 3 tbsp honey
  • 2 tbsp fresh orange juice
  • ½ tsp orange zest
  • 1 tbsp grated onion
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp poppy seeds
  • ½ tsp salt

Instructions

  1. Add the chopped romaine to a large bowl or divide between individual bowls.
  2. Top with chicken, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, mandarin oranges, and toasted pecans.
  3. For the dressing, grate the onion over a bowl to catch the juice. Add it to a jar with the vinegar, orange juice, zest, honey, Dijon, and salt, and shake until the honey dissolves. Add the oil and shake hard for 20 seconds, then add the poppy seeds and shake again.
  4. Drizzle over the salad and toss gently.
  5. Serve immediately.

Notes

  • Meal prep: Store romaine, chicken, fruit, pecans, and dressing separately. Assemble right before eating. Three days. A batch of crockpot or Instant Pot shredded chicken makes this trivial.

  • Citrus-pepper chicken: Rub the chicken with lemon zest, cracked black pepper, and salt before cooking. This is what makes it taste like the restaurant version.

  • The grated onion: Not optional, and not chopped. Dried onion is on Panera’s actual label — it’s what keeps the dressing from tasting like syrup.

  • Bottled dressing: Completely fine. Panera’s own is the exact flavor and genuinely lighter than the homemade version. Brianna’s Rich Poppy Seed is the Amazon pick — richer, not a Panera match, still very good here.

  • Drain the fruit. Canned pineapple and mandarin oranges will water the salad down if you don’t.

Find it online: https://reachwellth.com/panera-strawberry-poppyseed-salad-recipe/