| | | | |

Jennifer Aniston Salad with Chicken {Viral Recipe}


The Jennifer Aniston salad with chicken is the ultimate lunch salad that blends delicious flavor with healthy eating. This salad is so light and fresh and includes tender chicken, crisp veggies, fresh herbs, nutrient-packed quinoa, all tossed in a light, lemon vinaigrette! It’s one of my favorite light salad recipes–no wonder this salad went viral!

Need more healthy salad ideas? Don’t miss this quinoa salad with asparagus, this crunchy, cold asparagus salad, my favorite detox salad, or here are 36+ healthy salad ideas!

Backstory on the “Jennifer Aniston salad”

YEARS ago Jen described this salad in a post on Living Proof’s Instagram account saying it was her “perfect salad.” SOMEHOW this simple comment morphed into this salad being the salad she ate everyday on the set of “Friends” and went viral (thank you, Internet)!!

Jen debunked this rumor in this interview with Allure and you can make the REAL Jennifer Aniston salad here! Either salad is delicious, healthy and I would eat them any day of the week! Here’s how you make the viral Jennifer Aniston salad (not to be confused with the salad she ate everyday on the set of Friends!)

In this salad, I added chicken to make it more of a hearty salad, but you easily skip the chicken and enjoy it as a side dish!

Recipe Ingredients

You’ll need the following ingredients to make this Jennifer Aniston salad with chicken:

For the dressing:

  • Lemon juice
  • Olive oil
  • Sugar
  • Salt
  • Pepper

For the salad:

  • Dry quinoa
  • Water or chicken stock
  • Cucumber
  • Parsley
  • Mint
  • Red onion
  • Pistachios
  • Chickpeas
  • Feta cheese
  • Cooked chicken

Ingredients to make the viral Jennifer Aniston salad.

Ingredient Notes, Substitutions & Additions

Quinoa: The original recipe that was described had bulger instead of quinoa. I just happen to like quinoa more, and most people make this salad with quinoa. You can absolutely use bulger, too. This recipe includes making the salad from dry quinoa, but you can use microwave quinoa as a shortcut!

Fresh herbs: DO NOT skimp on the fresh herbs (mint and parsley). They really make this salad shine.

Feta cheese: Personally I don’t like feta cheese but most people say it “makes” this salad. I either use crumbled cotijia cheese, Parmesan shavings or gorgonzola. Goat cheese would be great too if that’s your thing.

Pistachios: Sliced almonds work well, too! You can also use pumpkin seeds.

Additions: Add any extra veggies you like. Celery, bell peppers, and tomatoes are all great additions. Kalamata olives are also yummy for a nice, salty bite and adding avocado….well, you can’t really go wrong!

Expert Tips

  • How to serve: With chicken, this salad is the perfect light meal all on it’s own! Without the chicken, it makes a great side dish to serve alongside chicken, shrimp, or fish.
  • Storage: This salad will stay fresh 2-3 days when stored in an airtight container.
  • Dressing: I like to reserve a little of the dressing to spruce up any leftovers. You can also add a a squeeze of lemon juice.
  • Be flexible! This salad has exact measurements in the recipe, but use more or less or whatever you prefer. That’s one of the reasons I love this salad–you really can’t mess it up!
A plate of the viral Friends salad.

Did you try this recipe?

Let us know your thoughts on this Jennifer Aniston salad with chicken by leaving a star rating below or sharing it on Instagram!

Thank you! ~ Casey

Jennifer Aniston Salad with Chicken

Casey Rooney
The Jennifer Aniston salad with chicken is the ultimate lunch salad that blends delicious flavor with healthy eating. This salad is so light and fresh and includes tender chicken, crisp veggies, fresh herbs, nutrient-packed quinoa, all tossed in a light, lemon vinaigrette! It's one of my favorite light salad recipes–no wonder this salad went viral!
5 from 1 vote
Save the recipe form – SALAD

💌 Save to your inbox!

Enter your email and send this recipe straight to your inbox. As a bonus, you’ll receive more easy recipes every week!

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course Main Course, Salad
Cuisine American
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

For the dressing

  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice juice from 3-4 lemons
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp coarse salt (sea salt, kosher salt)
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • freshly ground black pepper

For the salad

  • 1 cup dry quinoa
  • 2 cups water or chicken broth chicken broth adds more flavor but cooking the quinoa in water is fine, too.
  • 2 cups cucumber, diced one English cucumber
  • 1/3 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup fresh mint, finely chopped
  • 3/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
  • 1 15 oz. can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 cup roasted and salted pistachios, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese can substitute cotija, Parmesan, or gorgonzola
  • 2 cups cooked chicken, diced optional for extra protein

Instructions
 

  • Cook quinoa: Place quinoa and water/chicken broth in a pan. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, according to package directions. Set aside to cool.
  • Make the dressing: Whisk together dressing ingredients and set aside.
  • Assemble: Add cooled quinoa, cucumber, parsley, mint, onion, pistachios, chickpeas, cheese, and chicken to a large bowl. Toss with the dressing. Top with more freshly ground black pepper and serve.

Similar Posts

One Comment

  1. Casey Rooney says:

    5 stars
    The fresh herbs in this salad MAKE the salad! It’s the perfect healthy salad recipe! XO ~ Casey

5 from 1 vote

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating