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Long-time readers of our blog will recognize this little number. Whenever the topic of favorite Best Bites recipes comes up, whether it be with friends, family, on-line forums, parenting boards, etc. Spicy Honey Chicken is one of the things that’s almost always mentioned. It’s something I posted really early on before we had more than 14 readers, so I thought it could use a refresher with new pictures. On that original post I talked about how much I love it in a salad, and I love it so much that I decided the salad needed its own post! I also re-worked both the chicken recipe, and the dressing recipe, so if you’ve tried this before- give it a shot again and tell me what you think. When I made this recently, my husband said this is his favorite of all of the entree salads I make. It’s seriously good folks!It combines 2 of my most favorite things: Spicy Honey Chicken, and Honey-Citrus Vinaigrette
And a big shout-out to one of you. I believe it was a reader, Leah, who mentioned on our very first mango giveaway post that she liked to add mangoes to this salad. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of that before and I’ve been making it with mangoes ever since. So Leah, if you’re still around and checking in here, thanks girlie!
Spicy Honey Chicken Salad
1-2 heads Romaine or Red Leaf Lettuce
2 ripe but firm mangoes, chilled
2-3 ripe but firm avocados
optional: thinly sliced red onions
Spicy Honey Chicken
Honey-Citrus Vinaigrette
This serves 4 large salads or 6 smaller sized ones.
While chicken is grilling, wash lettuce and divide among serving plates. Slice avocados, onions, and mangoes and place them on top of the lettuce. When chicken is finished, let it sit for 5 minutes before slicing to preserve the juices. Then slice it up and divide among the salads. Drench it all in the Honey-Citrus Vinaigrette and pretend you’re at a fancy restaurant!
And when you’re done, you’ll definitely want to lick the plate. The left over dressing combined with the drippy honey glaze and spices from the chicken is yummmmmy.
I made it yesterday.. it was SO good. This dressing is delicious! It is perfect with this Chicken. Everyone loved it. Thanks so much for all these awesome recipes it’s been so fun to find my inner chef!
Looks delish–I’m all over main dish salads! Does it work with the boneless chicken breast tenders I get at Costco??
Cindy, you can use any cut of chicken, but I’ll tell ya right now it’s best with thighs. Drumsticks would be awesome too. Personally I don’t think breasts or tenderloins turn out quite *as* good, but I have lots of friends who make it that way and are perfectly happy with it, so give it a shot if you want!
Probably the best salad I’ve ever had!
Spicy Honey Chicken has become a staple at our house – can’t wait to try it on a salad – yum!
Thanks!
Not kidding….BEST CHICKEN EVER! So yummy! I served it on a South-Western salad with salsa ranch and black beans and corn and tomatoes and cheese and green onions and avacado…DELICIOUS! Thank you! 🙂
I am making this tonight! It looks so yummy! I can’t wait! I love this blog. It’s definitely my favorite cooking blog!
I’m not a big fan of mango, but I wanted to say that your pictures are stunning! Beautiful!
I made this salad tonight…it was FANTASTIC! I loved it and will make it many, many more times.
This looks fantasticd, the kids are craving salads now that the weather is warming up . This is perfect!
Oh! ME! I’m out there! LOL
I actually saw the spicy honey chicken on http://www.yourhomebasedmom.com — and she’d gotten it from you! Now I follow your blog as well as hers.
We’ve had the chicken twice, but we’ve never had enough leftovers for it to make it to my lunch salad. I’m going to have to do something about that!!
Can’t wait to try this one!
This looks amazing and I will definitely be trying this for our summer dinners!
Yes, I am still around. My husband loves this salad still and will always pick this over any other suggestion. Try it if you haven’t, super yummy!
i would love to try this and add feta cheese and tortills strips to it! i love all your recipes.
This salad is awesome!!!
Just a note: when making the chicken, don’t get distracted by small children and forget the honey glaze. The small children will thank you.
I just tried this last night and I’m in love! Everything combines so well. The flavors go together perfectly but don’t compete. Love your blog and I’ll be back often!
I recently found your blog and I have loved looking around and writing down recipes. This is the first one I’ve tried and even my “meat and potatoes” husband, loved it!!! Thank you for sharing your recipes! I can’t wait to try more! We also use a lot of boneless skinless chicken thighs and I think they make a big difference!
That honey chicken looks so good and it would go great in a salad with mango and avocado!
Thank you so much for this recipe! It's SO good. I made it for the first time tonight and my parents devoured it within minutes. My dad who hates spicy food ate 3 helpings of the stuff!!! I also used lemon juice instead of lime and it turned out great!
My husband does not like mangos, but still liked this salad. We had the chicken for dinner and the salad for lunch the next day. It was a big hit, both days. Thanks for the recipe!!
This salad is awesome! The chicken is so tasty and the dressing pairs perfectly. Add the mango & avocado and it just puts it over the top. Thanks for the great recipe!!
This salad was absolutely delicious! Thanks for all your wonderful recipes!
Wonder how strawberries would work instead of or along with mangos?!
Thanks for sharing an awesome salad. I'm not really a salad-for-a-meal kind of girl, but this looked delicious and did not dissapoint. My 4 kids – who are not picky eaters on the whole, but do turn up their noses at new things – devoured this also. I'm looking forward to the next time we have this!
Just had this salad tonight and it was fabulous! Even my pickiest eaters loved it. Thank you!
I had to laugh – I made this when my mother-in-law was in town, and she literally licked her plate. It was that good.
I made this for a Girls night dinner and it was GREAT….everybody loved it, and it made a wonderful presentation!! At the last minute I added pecans to the top, and since I had the dressing on the side, it was still yummy leftovers today! Thanks!
My family tried this a whil ago and loved it! My picky 2-year old asked for THIRDS.
Tonight I am making it for my dinner/book group and making the chocolate mousse crunch cake for dessert. Thanks for the awesome recipes!!
I just found your blog and this is the first recipe I've tried. FANTASTIC! The sweet and spicy combo is wonderful, and the dressing is a perfect compliment. Our whole family loved this. I especially liked the dressing…both my kids ate it happily which is a bonus.
Goodness gracious! Yummm-ersssss!!
I can’t find the recipe for the dressing! Where is it hiding?!
It’s right here Danielle!
https://ourbestbites.com/2008/06/honey-citrus-vinaigrette/
Mmm. Turned out fantastically. The mangoes were absolutely the perfect pairing with the spicy chicken and the citrus from the limes! I wanted a bit more limey tang on mine, but my husband said his was perfect for him–I think next time I’ll buy an extra lime and serve wedges on the table for everyone to personalize their own. SOOOO good! Thanks!
Thanks, Danielle for asking where to find the dressing! The link wouldn’t work for me, either. My husband and I are living in Africa, so I’m always on the lookout for new things I can try w/ ingredients I can get here. We had this for dinner last night and it was SO good! I’m eating the leftovers for lunch right now. 🙂
This was SOOOO delicious! Now one of my favorites, thanks for the great recipe :]
I made this last night and it was awesome! My Italian husband, who very much dislikes sweet salad dressings, said he liked it (but I have to wait a while before making it again ;0). I’ll be having the leftovers for lunch today.
Love it. Love it. Love it. My husban grilled some corn on the cob and then shaved the corn onto the salad—A-MA-ZING!
Thank you for sharing!
I just made this tonight and it is delish! I want more! I think this will be my new favorite salad. You are right, the chicken rub and the dressing are amazing together!!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I tried it for dinner tonight and it was sooo delish! I knew my boyfriend and his grandmother would love the chicken, but I only made a small portion of the salad because my boyfriend hates salad and his grandma never tries yummy things like mangos or avocado. Much to my surprise he and his grandma both loved the salad too! I barely got to eat any because they kept picking it off my plate! lol : ) Anyway, thanks so much for this great dish! The chicken was phenomenal, and any salad that my picky eaters will try is obviously something great : )
I made this last night as a “thumbing-our-nose-at-winter” meal (because it was 30 degrees and snowing…I broiled the chicken!) and it tasted like summer on a plate! Delicious and fresh – thanks for a great chicken, salad, and vinaigrette recipe!
SOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD. Just made it tonight, and it was delicious, big hit with my dinner guest, too!
“Summer on a Plate” (Joni’s words (comment 41) ) makes a perfect name for this amazingly delicious, easy meal. We had it for our Valentine’s Day dinner tonight. So flavorful and light.
So good!!! I never knew I liked mangoes till I had them in this salad!
I made this for dinner tonight. I used chicken tenders, nectarine instead of mango, added strawberries and sauted asparagus in with the mix of onion and avacado. All of this with the honey-citrus was a beautiful medley of flavors. Some slides almonds would’ve been nice too. This turned out to be a very fresh and light salad. Perfect for summer and my 7 month pregnant self 🙂 Will be making this on a weekly basis!
I stumbled across this recipe a week or so ago and knew I had to make it. Even my dad who hates salad ate this and had seconds. I told him where the recipe came from and he wanted me to write and tell you how much he liked it. The rest of us loved it too!
So glad I serendipitously came upon your site in my search for chicken thigh recipes. This is absolutely AWESOME. The flavors are incredible and the chicken has just the right amount of sweet and spice. Also, it melts in your mouth. Just mouth watering delicious. I added some chopped sweet almonds which added just the right amount of additional crunch!! Can’t wait to make this for our bbq party this summer. Incredibly easy and you can do most of the prepping beforehand. I assembled the dressing,spice rub and the vinaigrette 3 days ahead. Arriving home, all that was needed was the chicken prep and cooking. Salad assembly was quick and easy. Thank you!! Ohhh…my grill did well…cleaned easily!!!
What happened to the spicy honey chicken recipe?? the link no longer works 🙁
Oh no, I came back to use this recipe (because my husband wants to take it with us for New Years) but the spicy chicken is gone?? I have made this a ties with big success but cant imagine it without the spicy chicken : HELP
Hey Maria! No fear, it’s not gone- it’s right here! https://ourbestbites.com/2008/06/spicy-honey-chicken/ If you ever come across a link that’s not working for you, or missing, just google, “our best bites [recipe name]” and it will pop right up. Hope you had a great new years!