I love spinach artichoke dip at restaurants. However, like many other restaurant favorites, I’m not too crazy about some of the ingredients used (like corn chips made with vegetable oils).
Luckily, one of my favorite hobbies is to figure out how to make these recipes at home using ingredients that are more wholesome. I love my version so much I decided to turn it into a salad as well! This spinach artichoke chicken salad has all of the flavors of the dip but is so much lighter and healthier.
Turning Spinach Artichoke Dip Into a Salad
For the salad version, I use fresh leafy spinach instead of the frozen spinach I use for the dip. If you’re feeling sad that you didn’t get around to planting anything this year, it may not be too late! Spinach loves cooler weather and can be planted in late summer for a nice fall crop. If you’d like to give it a try, but don’t want to dig up your backyard, try building a planter box.
After getting the spinach ready, I chop up leftover pre-cooked chicken (grilling extra when cooking for another meal is always a great strategy). Since it’s leftover, it’s already cold, which is perfect for this meal. Then I toss in artichoke hearts, feta, and cubed mozzarella cheese. I drizzle it with nice, creamy, Caesar dressing and it’s done.
If I already have cooked chicken on hand this salad only takes me ten minutes to make!
Spinach Artichoke Chicken Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 cups fresh spinach
- 2 lbs cooked chicken (chopped)
- 15 oz marinated artichoke hearts
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese (optional)
- ¼ cup Caesar dressing (or balsamic vinaigrette)
- ½ cup feta cheese (optional)
Instructions
- Divide spinach evenly between four plates.
- In a medium size bowl stir together all the remaining ingredients except for the feta cheese.
- Divide the chicken mixture evenly between the plates of spinach.
- Sprinkle with feta and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
More Salad Entrees
Salad as an entree makes a frequent appearance at our house, both for lunch and dinner. Even though we have salads so often, it really doesn’t get boring because I’ve acquired such a variety of recipes over the years. Here are some of our favorites:
- Avocado BLT Salad
- Chicken Fiesta Salad
- Fish Taco Salad
- Fresh Spring Salad With Berries
- Steak Fajita Salad
- Tuna Nicoise Salad – this one is a lot of work but sooo rich and filling
Check out the full salad category here.
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Ever adapted a restaurant recipe? Tell me about it below!
My husband really enjoyed this… We had it over quinoa noodles and it was a hit. Also very easy in the oven. 🙂
Do you let the spinach thaw out first or do you put it in still frozen?
I guess this couldn’t really be dairy-free, could it… 🙁
what temp if i’m using oven instead of crock pot?
Sorry…. 325 🙂
haha… thanks :}
Low
I made this last night, and everyone loved it! Thanks!
Can you specify the size of package of spinach? Also you can get artichoke hearts in the freezer section at the grocery store!
I have everything I need for this recipe. Hello, lunch!
Can you substitute something else for cream cheese? ie. cottage cheese?
You probably could without a problem or even just leave it out.
This sounds delicious…and I always love a new crock pot recipe!
You had me at the title. Crock pot just put this over the top! can’t wait to try.
I couldn’t decide what to make for dinner tonight, until now! Thanks for the recipe!