Pomegranate Salad: Best Recipe You Ever Made

This delicious pomegranate salad is fresh, tasty, and cleverly shaped like half of a pomegranate. It’s beginner-friendly and comes together in less than an hour! It’s a twist on a classic chicken salad with pomegranate seeds, including chopped walnuts, prunes, and other simple ingredients to create this satisfying dish. Whether you’re making a healthy lunch for yourself or looking to impress guests, this pomegranate salad recipe will be your new go-to.

Instructions for Making Pomegranate Salad

Step 1: Add chicken breast to a medium pot or saucepan

Add chicken breast to a medium pot or saucepan. Cover the chicken breast halfway with water and add the bay leaves, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and black peppercorns. Cover with the lid and allow it to simmer for 30 minutes until the chicken is completely opaque and cooked through. See the table below for cooking larger quantities of chicken.

Step 2: Remove the seeds

While the chicken is cooking, carefully cut the pomegranate open and remove the seeds, making sure to remove the core and any pieces of white pith. Save the stem and set aside.

Step 3: Shred the chicken

When the chicken is done cooking, use tongs to remove it from the pot and transfer it to a medium mixing bowl. Remove the bay leaf. Use two forks or a hand mixer on low speed to shred the chicken.

Step 4: Add pomegranate seeds, garlic, walnuts, prunes, mayonnaise, salt and black pepper

Next, add most of the pomegranate seeds (reserving a few tablespoons for later), minced garlic, walnuts, prunes, mayonnaise, the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt, and ½ teaspoon of ground black pepper to the bowl with the chicken. Stir to combine.

Step 5: Remove the juice from a peeled beetroot

After that, use a mesh strainer to remove the juice from a peeled beetroot, saving the pulp.

Step 6: Spoon the pomegranate salad mixture into the plastic wrap

Then, line a small round bowl with plastic wrap. Spoon the pomegranate salad mixture into the plastic wrap, pressing it in and compacting it so it takes the shape of the bowl.

Step 7: Release the plastic-wrapped pomegranate salad from the bowl

Turn the bowl upside down on a small plate and release the plastic-wrapped pomegranate salad from the bowl. It should be dome shaped.

Step 8: Spoon the beetroot pulp onto the salad

Remove the plastic wrap from the salad and spoon the beetroot pulp onto the salad. Use the back of a fork to spread the beetroot pulp around to cover the dome of pomegranate salad.

Step 9: Place the stem of the pomegranate on the top of the salad

Next, place the stem of the pomegranate on the top of the salad and cover the edges slightly with the beetroot pulp. Smooth the pulp down with a silicone spatula.

Step 10: Spoon to spread the remaining mayonnaise on the cut sections of both the removed quarter

Use a sharp knife to cut a quarter section of the pomegranate salad. Use the back of a spoon to spread the remaining mayonnaise on the cut sections of both the removed quarter of the salad and the salad dome.

Step 11: Press the remaining pomegranate seeds

Press the remaining pomegranate seeds into the mayonnaise-covered sections of the pomegranate salad on the removed quarter and the dome.

Step 12: Enjoy!

Enjoy your delicious pomegranate salad! It’s best served cold like other chicken-based salads.

How Long to Boil Chicken Breast for Pomegranate Salad

Quantity of Chicken Breast	How Long to Boil (in minutes)
1 breast (500 grams)	25-30 minutes
2 breasts (1000 grams)	30-35 minutes
2 pounds of chicken breasts (900 grams)	30 minutes
5 pounds of chicken breasts (2250 grams)	45 minutes

Useful Tips for Making Pomegranate Salad

Remove Pomegranate Seeds the Easy Way

To remove pomegranate seeds easily for use in this pomegranate salad, cut a thin slice off the bottom of the pomegranate (the side opposite the stem). This should expose some of the seeds (but not many) and show the structure of the pith. Then, make approximately 6 shallow vertical cuts along the ridges on the side of the pomegranate from the bottom that was just sliced to the crown, stopping about ½ to 1 inch away from the stem. Finally, hold the pomegranate in both hands, crown side down, and use your thumbs to pull apart the pomegranate between the cuts that you made. Use the side of a spoon or a small rubber spatula (or your fingers) to gently pry the seeds from the shell over a bowl.

Make Pomegranate Salad Ahead of Time for an Easy Meal

All of the ingredients for this pomegranate salad can be prepared ahead of time and stored for easy assembly within two days of preparation. You can also fully make and assemble the pomegranate salad up to two days before you’re ready to eat it. Just be sure to refrigerate it in an airtight container or cover it tightly in plastic wrap before refrigerating. Serve cold from the fridge.

Use Pre-Shredded Chicken for Faster Preparation

If you’re craving this recipe but are short on time, use leftover cooked chicken or pre-cooked chicken purchased from the grocery store to get a head start. Using pre-cooked chicken shortens the preparation time of this pomegranate salad by half an hour, giving you plenty of time to make and enjoy it!