Grilled Harissa Chicken Salad with Cilantro Sauce

 

This grilled harissa chicken salad is spicy, it's healthy it's fresh and it's definitely summer in a bowl! If you're like me and think you don't like pineapple in savory dishes, I urge you to try this one! It really is amazing and the sweetness goes so well together with the spicy chicken, creamy avocado and lime cilantro sauce.

 

 

Loaded salads are my jam, and if you want to venture into Mexican, I've got this Mexican Inspired Mango Chicken Salad with Avocado Dressing, more Middle Eastern with this Lemon Chicken Salad with Pomegranate or Halloumi and Garlic Veggies & Quinoa Salad. No particular cuisine, but delicious nonetheless is this Green Spring Salad with Lemon Chicken.

 

For more like side dish salads, I can recommend this grilled peach and bacon salad, watermelon salad or strawberry arugula salad. Seems like I love my salads! They are all so fresh, sweet and savory and so easily customizable.

 

This harissa chicken recipe is adapted from JoyfulHealthyEats, but I'm making my own harissa, and roasted bell peppers are really easy to do yourself, so I've included that as well. May take a little longer, but homemade harissa guyssssss.

 

 

What is harissa?

 

Harissa is a roasted pepper and/or chilli paste from Northern Africa. The spicy chilli paste can be used in so many different ways, such as in marinades as in this recipe, or as a condiment for grilled meat, with rice or in soups. I have even put it in a bolognese - don't kill me, Italians! Depending on what kind of peppers you use, this can go from extremely spicy to pretty mild.

 

I'm all about making things from scratch. You get much more control over what you put in it, and more often than not it tastes a lot better. Especially condiments and spices, such as homemade mayo, sun-dried tomato pesto, Italian seasoning and Za'atar seasoning.

 

 

How to make harissa chili paste from scratch

 

Making your own harissa can be a bit tedious, but you could also see the de-seeding of the chilis as therapeutic. Right?

 

Soak the dried chiles in a bowl of boiling water and cover, let sit for 30 minutes to rehydrate. I use roughly 80% bird's eye chiles (super spicy) and 20% Guajillo chiles (a sweet, mild chili). This yields a pretty, ok super spicy, harissa paste.

 

 

For a milder harissa paste, swap bird's eye chiles with either: jalapeño, serrano, poblano or anaheim peppers. If you want it super mild, go for bell pepper!

 

For an even spicier harissa paste: do not remove the seeds, and go for ALL bird's eye chiles. I love LOVE spicy food, but this is even too spicy for me. I never de-seed chilis, except for in this recipe, so trust me!

 

Roast all the delicious Moroccan spices and grind them in a spice grinder or in a mortar. Drain the chiles and begin de-seeding them - pro tip: use gloves for this step! I do not de-seed the guajillos, but about 90% of the bird's eye chiles. Place them in a spice grinder or food processor.

 

When you've done this, you can place all the other ingredients in the food processor and let the magic begin. The desired result would be a smooth and thick paste, along with the chiles and spices. Taste and adjust the seasonings. If you want to store it for later, place it in a jar and top with a layer of olive oil on top and use within a month.

 

Pro tip: I also use this same harissa paste in my harissa chicken and butternut squash!

 

 

How to roast bell peppers at home

 

While the chiles are soaking, place two red peppers, sliced in half, on a lined baking sheet. Place in an oven pre-heated to 450F (230C) and roast for 30 minutes. When these are done, cool them down in a covered bowl before you remove the skin. Slice or julienne the peppers and then they're done and ready for assembling.

 

 

OK, harissa done, roasted red peppers done! Let's move on to the actual recipe.

 

Grilled Harissa Chicken & Cilantro Dressing

 

Marinate the chicken in all of the marinade ingredients. Let sit for 10-20 minutes in the fridge. Don't forget to heat up the grill. I often use a grill skillet inside when the weather is bad! If you don't have either of these, you can of course pan fry it (7 minutes on each side on high heat).

 

 

Then it's time for the delicious creamy and tangy cilantro dressing. Just mix all the sauce ingredients in a blender, taste and adjust seasoning accordingly. If you don't like cilantro (I've talked about this before), feel free to use parsley instead.

 

 

Assemble this Grilled Harissa Chicken Salad!

 

Grill the chicken and 8 rings of pineapple (yes, you need it all). Slice up two avocados, spinach, arugula, and crumble some feta cheese and then you're ready to assemble this beast of a healthy dish.

 

It may or may not look something like this:

 

 

Enjoy!

 

Did you like this Harissa Chicken Salad? More healthy dinner recipes:

 

• Lemon Chicken Winter Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing
• Healthy Crispy Baked Falafel with Za'atar Roasted Vegetables
• Halloumi Quinoa Salad with Garlic Vegetables
• Ginger Coconut Lentil Curry
• Moroccan Butternut and Chevre Soup
• Chicken Shawarma + Tabbouleh
• Vietnamese Summer Rolls with Peanut Sauce (Vegan)

 

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This recipe was originally published on Aug 21st 2017, but updated on Apr 7th 2020 for better photos and content.