You can easily make this Kale Salad with Air Fryer Herb Chicken Breast using the ingredients listed or choose whatever is fresh and seasonal right now. Finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and you won’t even need to use a salad dressing.
This is one of those Air Fryer recipes that goes in the category of “Foods that Weren’t Originally Deep Fried”. While the air fryer is fantastic for cooking traditional deep fried foods, it’s also an exceptional convection oven that can cook meat without drying it out like a traditional oven. And, as a bonus, gives a crispy texture like it was finished under a broiler.
Cooking Herb Chicken Breast in the Air Fryer
Like any meat, you’ll want to give it a light coating of oil to raise the surface temperature and promote a nice crisping of the bread crumbs. To avoid setting up a traditional (yet messy) three-step battering station, this recipe mixes the herbs with the olive oil to make an herb paste.
Mix the herbs, panko and olive oil together and coat this around the chicken breast. If you place it in a covered dish in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, then it will adhere nicely.
For this recipe, I’m using a Cosori Air Fryer with a 3.7qt basket. It will easily hold 2 more chicken breasts if you need to double up this recipe. You can read more about this model in my Cosori air fryer review.
Choosing Ingredients for Your Kale Salad
As many salads go, the best ones sometimes come together based on the leftovers in your refrigerator. This one was no different in its origin.
Start with the greens that you want as a base. I happened to have 2 bags of a kale, cabbage and shaved Brussels sprouts blend to start with. It’s one of those go-to bags at the grocery since kale salad recipes are far more filling and flavorful than the average one made with a lettuce bag.
There were also two avocados in my fruit bowl that needed to be used as well as some leftover grilled corn on the cob.
The fun is to think about what will pair well with what you have to complete the salad. Strawberries were fresh at this particular time of the year. For a cheese, goat cheese is a great match for strawberries.
Assemble the Kale Salad with the Air Fryer Herb Chicken
The final piece here is the air fryer herb chicken. There are just so many benefits to cooking chicken in the air fryer as opposed to a traditional (or even countertop) oven.
- Pre-heat time is 5 minutes instead of 20 minutes or more.
- Much smaller oven means less wasted heat/energy
- Exterior is crispy, interior is juicy. You typically have to choose just one with an oven, unless you finish under the broiler or in a pan
Though, like any cooked meat, give it time to rest after it comes out of the air fryer. At least 5 minutes, 10 is preferred, before slicing and plating onto the salad.
Interested in more air fryer recipes? Check out my collection for other ideas and recipes.
This seasonal salad has juicy, crispy, herbed chicken with avocado, hard boiled eggs, corn, strawberries and goat cheese
- 1 Tablespoon Panko (Bread Crumbs)
- 2 Tablespoons Mixed Dry Herbs Use your favorite blend
- 1 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1.5 Pounds Chicken Breast Pounded Evenly
- 1 Cup Corn Kernels From about 2 ears, if fresh
- 8 Strawberries, Sliced & Quartered
- 1/2 Ounce Goat Cheese
- 2 Avocados, halved and sliced
- 2 Hard Boiled Eggs, sliced
- 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 16 Ounce Bag Baby Kale Greens (Washed & Ready)
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Combine panko, herbs, smoked paprika, salt and olive oil in a small bowl to make a paste. Apply this evenly to the chicken breast.
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Cook the chicken in a pre-heated air fryer for 20 minutes at 370 degrees. Let it rest outside of the air fryer for 5 minutes before slicing for the salad
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In a large salad bowl, or serving plate, place your bed of salad greens and then add the corn, strawberries, goat cheese, avocado, hard boiled eggs and chicken
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Drizzle the extra virgin olive oil over the top and then season lightly with salt and pepper
wow, this looks beautiful!!! going to make this tonight for the family.
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