This chopped salad is loaded with veggies, tender rotisserie chicken, and all the crunchy add-ins like crispy bacon and sunflower seeds. All of it is tossed in a simple homemade honey-mustard dressing. Make it for lunch, make it for dinner or make it for meal prep! You will love this fast and fresh salad.

Easy Chopped Salad

If it’s summertime it’s salad time and this summer crunch chopped salad is one I’ve made on repeat the last month or so. This isn’t a wimpy side salad – no, this is a main dish that can stand all on its own without anything else to go with it.

It has all the crunchiness from broccoli slaw, sunflower seeds, crispy bacon, and cool crisp romaine.
It’s loaded with rotisserie chicken, one of my favorite shortcuts.
And, just so we feel like we made something “homemade”, there’s a tangy honey-mustard dressing to pull it all together.

Not gonna lie – the inspiration for this salad came from a store-bought salad kit. After I bought a few I thought, “I can make this myself!” and you know what? So can you, my friend.

overehad photo of the ingredients in a bowl

Use Short Cuts to Make it Easy

Despite the name, there is not a whole lot of chopping required to make this salad because we are going the shortcut route.

For the romaine lettuce, I buy the bagged kind and give it a few extra chops so there aren’t any large non-bite-sized pieces.
I use broccoli slaw which you can find in the bagged lettuce section. It’s extra crunchy but if you can’t find it feel free to use regular coleslaw mix.
Look for shelled sunflower seeds in the produce department. They’re usually hanging out on a display with the nuts. Buy them because no one has time to shell their own sunflower seeds for this salad.
For the rotisserie chicken, you can buy a whole bird and shred it yourself or look near the deli for rotisserie chicken already shredded for you to make it even easier.

All of these shortcuts go into the bowl with shredded cheddar cheese, chopped cooked bacon, and sliced green onions. Pro tip: Use a rustic bowl to make this an extra special experience.

Homemade Honey Mustard Dressing

Yes, you can absolutely buy your favorite bottled dressing for this salad – it doesn’t even need to be honey mustard. The flavors in this salad will go with pretty much anything.

But, I encourage you to make your own – you probably already have all of the ingredients on hand:

Dijon mustard
Honey
Apple cider vinegar
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Whisk them together and – voila – you get homemade dressing. Pro tip: You can also shake all the ingredients together in a rustic jar for an extra special experience.

Fun fact: This homemade dressing will keep for several weeks in the fridge.

Why I Love this for Meal Prep

You can gather the ingredients for the salad, prep the ingredients that need to be prepped, and store them separately in the fridge for easy lunches during the week. It’s like a homemade salad kit!

When it’s time to eat, give the dressing a few shakes, pile everything in a bowl, and give it a toss.

This recipe makes two large chopped salads, which is about the total number of salads I like to eat in a week. I believe in moderation for all things, not just desserts.

Anyway, feel free to double it to serve more or halve it to serve less. It will work either way.

Happy salad-making,