Thank you to Chick-fil-A and Mom It Forward for providing me the opportunity to host a meetup for sampling Chick-fil-A’s new premium salads.
Chick-fil-A’s® entrée salad line is getting a makeover.
A few week’s ago, I was happy to host a mom’s night out to sample three new premium salads now being offered. I arrived a little early to meet with Kim, the Restaurant Marketing Director of the Chick-fil-A at Alpharetta Commons. This location was right around the corner from me, so I was overjoyed to not have to drive into the city for an event for once, and so were the multiple OTP friends that arrived shortly after me.
We were welcomed with an adorable Spring themed table scape complete with mini cows and place cards! So cute! After we all chatted for a few minutes, and were served our favorite Chick-fil-A beverage (I am addicted to their diet lemonade), Kim started to share all the details on the new salads. We enjoyed hearing about the new salad ingredients and flavor combinations, but also the direction of the chain to offer healthier options on their menu. Chick-fil-A also plans to add calorie counts to the posted menus in the restaurants. It’s a great idea for patrons looking for the information right up front in the restaurant, and not wanting to ask.
While we listened to the description of the first salad in our three salad line up, our mouths were already starting to water. The staff brought out our salads and you could hear the ooohs and aaahs. Our first salad was the Chick-fil-A Grilled Market Salad.
The large bowl was filled with fresh chopped romaine lettuce and baby greens. I like that the salads are offering a more nutritional lettuce instead of iceberg. And if the combination of the grilled, sliced chicken breast, shredded veggies, and crumbled blue cheese, wasn’t enough, they threw in a mixture of crunchy red and green apples, strawberries and blueberries. The Grilled Market salad has big flavors all complementing each other with the extra pop of the Zesty Apple Cider Vinaigrette. In addition too of the previous components, the salad is served with a tasty side package of Harvest Nut Granola to add some extra crunch if you so desire.
Next up was the very colorful Chick-fil-A Asian Salad.
This second bowl was brimming with fresh chopped romaine lettuce and baby greens, topped with shredded red and green cabbage, carrots and mandarin orange segments, and get this…here’s the kicker…it was topped with warm, sliced Chick-fil-A Nuggets! Chick-fil-A nuggets are the best in my opinion! I never have issues getting my son to eat all of his chicken before he get up from the table. The Asian salad is served with a topper pack of Honey Thai Almonds, Chinese Garlic & Ginger Wontons, and delicious Honey Sesame dressing. The toasted sesame flavors in the dressing put this salad over the top for me! The chatter of the table was about how each salad was harder to stop eating than the last. We still had one salad left to taste.
Last, but certainly not least, we were served the Chick-fil-A Cobb Salad.
Holy yum, Batman! I love a good Cobb salad, but this one had some twists! This third salad was topped with more sliced Chick-fil-A Nuggets (served hot) on on a fresh bed of chopped romaine lettuce and baby greens, topped with shredded red cabbage and carrots, roasted corn kernels, a blend of shredded Monterey Jack and cheddar cheeses, crumbled bacon, diced eggs and grape tomatoes. What a salad! This salad also had a tasty crunchy side of Charred Tomato Crispy Red Bell Peppers, but not being the pepper fan, I passed them along to Trina, who was a huge fan! The Avocado Lime Ranch dressing was totally unique and I would definitely suggest trying it with the salad. It was a wonderful symphony of flavors when all the ingredients were combined. This salad would be my favorite if I was going for a dinner salad, but a close second would be the Asian salad for lunch. I just can’t resist those crispy, crunchy wontons on top!
In addition, Chick-fil-A is now offering a side salad option that is offered to guests as an alternative to Waffle Potato Fries in any Chick-fil-A Meal combination. I’m not sure it’s the choice I would make though. Those waffle fries are pretty darn tasty as a splurge! And don’t worry if you are not in the mood for a salad, Chick-fil-A also gave a lift to their Grilled Chicken Cool Wrap by increasing the veggie serving and wrapped it all tightly in flax bread.
After we packed up the remains of our last salad, we were surprised with one last sweet treat…a tasting of the seasonal peach milkshake! If you have never had a Chick-fil-A milkshake, I highly suggest you go now. Go fast and get yourself one. Mmmmmm….milkshake. Oooops…sorry. Kind of lost my focus there for a minute drooling over milkshakes.
We even lucky enough to have a special visitor stop by our party – the Chick-fil-A cow himself! I know my kids are totally jealous of this picture! What a fun evening we had! All of us certainly left stuffed, satisfied, and with leftovers of our three salads…and maybe a milkshake or two. I want to share a big thank you to Kim, and the amazing staff at our host Chick-fil-A restaurant. We all had a wonderful time, talking, tweeting, and Instagramming! With such rave reviews on the salads from all the attendees, I think we already have a location in mind for our newly inspired monthly blog meetups!
Want to see more about the new Chick-fil-A salads? Check out this video for a “Behind the Scenes” look! It will have you heading out to try one for yourself!
Disclosure: Participants were provided food and drink for the new salad tasting as described. Each participant received a digit card good for one of each of the new salads. No other compensation was received.
