Starting with shredded rotisserie chicken makes this copycat Wendy's apple pecan salad super simple to make at home! And the pomegranate vinaigrette is a dead ringer for their salad dressing.
This post brought to you by Marzetti Simply Dressed. All opinions are 100% mine.
Wendy's Pecan Apple Salad At Home
I love Wendy's apple pecan salad, but our closest store has a less than stellar track record of making them properly. I can't even count the times we've brought lunch home only to discover that they left a key ingredient out of my salad.
Uh, where's my blue cheese?!? Or the packet of pecans were left out of the bag. Or even worse, the pomegranate vinaigrette salad dressing... I mean just how hard is it to get a simple salad right? Very disappointing!!
So I've started making my own apple pecan chicken salads at home where I can control the amounts and quality of the ingredients. Plus I have a couple of simple shortcuts to share that make prepping this salad faster than a trip though the drive-thru!
Salad With Rotisserie Chicken
Shortcut #1: I replaced the grilled chicken with shredded rotisserie chicken.
I'm sure you've heard it before, but rotisserie chickens really are a fantastic meal shortcut. And talk about budget friendly... I mean a Costco rotisserie chicken is priced at just $4.99, and most grocery stores are only slightly higher. That's less than a whole fresh chicken!
While you can buy pre-shredded rotisserie chicken these days, it's far more economical to buy a whole cooked chicken and shred it yourself. I promise you that it's actually very easy to do and way less messy than you might think.
Method: How To Cut A Rotisserie Chicken (along with the easiest way to shred it!)
For reference, a 3-pound rotisserie chicken yields about 3 cups of shredded chicken. AND you can also make a quart of homemade chicken stock with the carcass, some aromatics, and water!
Quick Microwave Toasted Pecans
Shortcut #2: Swap chopped roasted pecans for Wendy's sweet and spicy pecans.
For small batches of toasted nuts such as this, I recommend toasting them in the microwave! It's a huge timesaver over waiting for your oven to heat up.
Method: How To Toast Pecans In Microwave
Assembling The Salad
While the nuts are toasting, place a few handfuls of mixed greens on a plate. Top with the shredded chicken, sliced apples (red or green or both), blue cheese, and dried cranberries. Drizzle with Marzetti Simply Dressed Pomegranate salad dressing, which is a dead ringer for the pomegranate vinaigrette Wendy's offers.
Finally, sprinkle the roasted pecans over the top, and you've got a delicious chicken pecan apple salad for a fraction of the fast food price!
Printable Recipe ↓
Copycat Wendy's Apple Pecan Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups mixed greens
- ½ cup shredded rotisserie chicken
- ½ small Honeycrisp apple, sliced
- dried cranberries, to taste
- crumbled blue cheese, to taste
- roasted pecans, to taste
- Marzetti Simply Dressed pomegranate salad dressing
Instructions
- Spread mixed greens out on a plate.
- Arrange shredded chicken, dried cranberries, crumbled blue cheese, sliced apples, and toasted pecans on top.
- Drizzle on Marzetti Simply Dressed Pomegranate Salad Dressing to taste.
More Copycat Recipes
If you like this Wendy's pecan apple salad recipe, you might also enjoy these other delicious copycat recipes:
- First Watch Tomato Basil Soup
- Chipotle Slow Cooker Mexican Beef Barbacoa
- Cracker Barrel Rotisserie Chicken And Dumplings
- Chi-Chi's Mexican Corn Cake
- Olive Garden Cappellini Al Pomodoro
Did you make this recipe?
I'd love to see how your apple pecan salad turns out... Tag me @Unsophisticook on Instagram or use the hashtag #Unsophisticook so I can check it out. Enjoy!
Jera Alcorn says
Costco has jars of praline pecans. Mighty fine with this recipe.
Tara Kuczykowski says
Ooh, good call! I will have to look for them.
Garry says
My kids loved the Dressing