There are chicken salads, and then there are chicken salads that you want to eat over and over again. This chicken salad is one of those salads that you are going to crave on a weekly basis. It’s full of flavor and texture and the spicy sweet serrano honey mustard really brings it all together. This is the salad that no one will ever be able to call boring and is easy to make on any night of the week. This recipe for my crispy chicken cutlet brussel sprout salad with serrano honey mustard dressing is going to delight your tastebuds in the best way!

This salad has a base of thinly sliced romaine lettuce and shaved brussel sprouts and is topped with crunchy almond slices, apples, blue cheese, a little red onion, and the best crispy chicken cutlets. The dressing is a spicy honey mustard that has roasted serrano peppers, honey, two different mustards, a little mayo, and vinegar. It might sound odd, but trust me this dressing is going to blow you away when you try it out! It’s amazing on this salad with all of the other flavors, but it is so good that you might want to keep it in your fridge at all times for a dipping sauce too.

You can customize the heat of the dressing by removing the serrano seeds, reducing the amount used, or you can also swap a jalapeno instead which is milder in heat. I personally love the kick that the dressing has with each bite of salad, but it is also balanced out with a little touch of sweet from the honey. The combo is epic!

Some variations of this recipe to try:

1. Instead of pan frying the crispy cutlets, cook them in the air fryer or oven.

2. Use a jalapeno instead of a serrano pepper for a milder heat.

3. If you aren’t a fan of brussel sprouts, simply use all romaine lettuce.

4. Instead of blue cheese, try goat cheese.

5. Omit red onions if desired, or you can soak them in water for 10 minutes before adding to the salad to make their flavor more mild.

6. Use any variety of apple that you prefer. I like a granny smith, pink lady, or envy apple in this mix personally.

7. Instead of almond slices, you can also rough chop whole almonds. The slices do give it a perfect texture.

Ingredients:

• 4 Chicken Cutlets

• 2 Cups Panko Bread Crumbs

• 1 Cup All Purpose Flour

• 2 Eggs

• 1 Tsp. Salt

• 1 Tsp. Black Pepper

• 2 Cups Thinly Sliced Romaine Lettuce

• 1 Cup Thinly Sliced Brussel Sprouts

• 1 Cup Diced Apples

• 1/4 Cup Thinly Sliced Red Onion

• 1/4 Cup Gorgonzola or Blue Cheese Crumbles

• 1/2 Cup Sliced Almonds

• 1/2 Cup Avocado Oil

For the Serrano Honey Mustard Dressing-

• 1 Serrano Pepper

• 4 Tbsp. Yellow Mustard

• 1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard

• 2 Tbsp. Mayonnaise

• 2 Tbsp. White Vinegar

• 3 Tbsp. Honey

• 1/2 Tsp. Salt

• 1/2 Tsp. Black Pepper

Directions:

• Roast the serrano pepper by placing over an open flame on gas stove or place in a skillet and char on all sides.

• Make dressing by combining 1/2 of the serrano pepper (remove seeds for less spicy), yellow mustard, dijon mustard, mayonnaise, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper in a food processor and pulse until well combined.

• Set dressing aside in the fridge until ready to serve.

• Prep the cutlets by placing the flour, eggs, and panko bread crumbs in three separate bowls.

• Season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides and then one by one dip the cutlets into flour and cover lightly, then into eggs, and lastly covering with panko bread crumbs.

• Pour oil into a cast iron skillet and heat over medium high heat. Let it heat until you can place the back end of a wooden spoon into the oil and little bubbles form around the wood. This means the oil is hot enough. If no bubbles, keep heating.

• Once oil is hot, add two cutlets at a time so you don’t overcrowd the pan and cook on each side about 5-6 minutes until golden brown and chicken is cooked through.

• Remove from the oil, place onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with a little extra salt while hot.

• Assemble salad by combining romaine lettuce, brussel sprouts, apple, red onion, gorgonzola, and almonds in a large bowl.

• Slice the chicken cutlets and place on top of the salad and then drizzle with desired amount of dressing.

• Serve immediately.

How good does this salad look? I promise you that you are going to love these flavors and will happily eat a salad for dinner any night of the week.