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Zoomed out, top-down view of a Pittsburgh salad topped with sliced chicken, french fries, and ranch dressing.

Pittsburgh Chicken Salad

mylifeinbalancegroup.com/pittsburgh-chicken-salad/
This regional classic puts a fun spin on a basic chicken salad. French fries, ranch dressing, juicy chicken, and cheddar cheese on a bed of romaine with fresh veggies. What's not to love?
Prep 15 minutes
Cook 5 minutes
Total 20 minutes
Recipe Makes (Approximate): 2 salads

Equipment

  • grill pan
  • Cutting board
  • Paper towels
  • internal meat thermometer
  • 2 Serving bowls

Ingredients

For the Chicken

For the Salad

  • 2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
  • ½ cup cucumber slices
  • ¼ cup halved grape tomatoes
  • ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup fully-cooked french fries (crispy preferred)
  • ranch dressing

Instructions

For the Chicken

  • Place 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast on cutting board. Pat chicken completely dry on all sides with paper towels, then season chicken generously on all sides with salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste.
    Seasoned chicken breast on a large white round plate.
  • Place grill pan on stovetop over medium-high heat. Place seasoned chicken breast on grill pan and grill 3 to 5 minutes. Flip chicken breast over and grill approximately 3 minutes on other side, or until internal meat thermometer inserted into thickest section of chicken breast reads 160° Fahrenheit.
    Grilled, seasoned chicken breast on a large grill pan.
  • Once temperature is reached, remove chicken from grill pan and set aside to rest 5 minutes.

For the Salad

  • While chicken rests, divide 2 cups chopped romaine lettuce evenly between 2 serving bowls.
  • Divide ½ cup cucumber slices, ¼ cup halved grape tomatoes, and ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese evenly between bowls.
  • When chicken has rested 5 minutes, slice chicken breast and divide slices evenly between bowls.
  • Divide 1 cup fully-cooked french fries evenly between bowls and finish salads with drizzle of ranch dressing. Serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

  • French Fries: You're welcome to use homemade fries for your salad if you want, but frozen french fries keep things super easy in my opinion. Standard cut fries cooked until crispy work best here since they'll hold up better to the ranch and the moisture in the veggies, but you can use any kind of fries you like.
  • Make it Dairy Free: Use a vegan cheddar cheese alternative and a dairy-free ranch dressing like our dairy-free dump ranch.
 
This recipe yields 1 very large salad or 2 smaller salads. The number of servings will depend entirely on your preferred portion sizes.

Nutrition Information (Approximate)

Serving Size: 1saladCalories: 445calProtein: 20gFat: 24gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 50mgSodium: 743mgPotassium: 934mgTotal Carbs: 39gFiber: 7gSugar: 2gNet Carbs: 32gVitamin A: 4431IUVitamin C: 14mgCalcium: 135mgIron: 2mg
Recipe By: Sam Guarnieri
https://mylifeinbalancegroup.com/pittsburgh-chicken-salad/