Easy Chicken Salad Recipes For Lunch

A Salad Blog With Easy Salad Recipes And Family Friendly Recipes

Here on Salads for Lunch not only will you find lots of healthy and easy salad recipes like this Heart Healthy Five Bean Salad, but you will also find family friendly dinner recipes like this One Skillet Mexican Inspired Rice and Beef Casserole, and this Instant Pot Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole.

Youll also find easy soup recipes like this Creamy Gnocchi Soup to keep you warm in the winter.

What Makes This Chicken Salad Special

The “secret sauce,” so to speak, of this chicken salad, is the tablespoon of plum preserves my mom adds to the mayo-based dressing. You could use any berry jelly or jam, but as we always have a lot of plum jam on hand , that’s what mom reaches for first.

Mom balances out the sweetness from the dab of jam with a bit of lemon juice.

The result? Wonderful!

The Best Chicken Salad

This Chicken Salad is truly divine. At first glance you might balk at the grapes, but trust me, they make the salad exquisite. The sweet crunch of the grapes combines beautifully with the chicken and richness of the mayo. The celery and pecans create nice crunch to the chicken salad that elevates it to the next level.

I love using this for picnics and special lunches. It is so easy to make but it is so fancy at the same time. Chicken Salad comes together in a flash so you can have this on the table in no time. And you will love how it is so versatile as well, serve it as a wrap, on a croissant, on some rye bread, or in a lettuce bowl. However you serve it, just make it! You are going to love it, it is so divine!

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How To Serve It

Sometimes I find myself eating this chicken salad by the spoonful straight out of the bowl because its that good. But to turn it into a meal, heres a few ideas.

• Sandwich: Stuff it between sandwich bread with layers of lettuce, spinach, or tomato slices.
• Wrap: Turn it into a wrap with homemade cassava flour tortillas.
• Lettuce Wrap: For a lighter, low-carb option, use large romaine or butter leaf lettuce to wrap it.
• Extra Green Salad: Pour a spoonful on top of a bed of greens such as spinach.
• Dip: Serve it with flax seed crackers or chips.

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• Three Bean Salad

Tips for Making Chicken Salad

• This recipe calls for almonds but you can use other types of nuts like pecans, walnuts, or cashews.
• Replace the mayo with pureed avocado and sour cream for an avocado chicken salad.
• Cut the calories in this recipe by using Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise.
• This recipe takes a total time of 5 minutes to throw together, but youll want to refrigerate it for at least an hour to give the flavors a chance to come together.
• Make BBQ chicken salad by adding 2-3 tablespoons of your favorite BBQ sauce in place of some of the mayonnaise.

How to Store Chicken Salad

• Serve: Dont leave it out at room temperature for more than two hours for food safety.
• Store: Chicken salad will last refrigerated for 3-4 days, wrapped tightly with plastic wrap.
• Freeze: It is not recommended that you freeze chicken salad because the mayonnaise will separate when defrosting. You can freeze the cooked chicken, then just defrost it in the refrigerator the day before you want to make the salad, and add the other fresh ingredients the day of.

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About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

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Chicken And Rice Salad

This lovely chicken and rice salad is an excellent picnic dish because it’s a whole meal in itself. Cooked rice and chicken, mayo, veggies, and olives provide lots of flavors and a rich texture. Use the salad to fill heirloom tomatoes or whole peppers. Serve it on iceberg lettuce leaves, make rice paper roll wraps, cold flour tortilla sandwiches, or stuff some pitas.

Lemon Roasted Chicken Salad Wrap

If youre the kind of person who loves a jam-packed chicken salad, this should be your go-to recipe. Not only is each layer of the dish full of flavor , but each layer is emphasized by the others. The incorporation of sweet cranberries heightens the acidic lemon in the chicken. The crisp celery and water chestnuts parallel the richness of walnuts. Each element creates balance, solidifying each ingredients role in the recipe.

Get the Recipe: Lemon Roasted Chicken Salad Wrap

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How To Build The Best Salads

The term salad doesnt just mean some lettuce drizzled with a dressing or vinaigrette. Instead, think of it as a meal that has multiple layers of flavor , texture , and color . Honestly, salads are the most wonderful blank canvas to let your creativity run wild. So have fun with it. Heres a few ideas to get you started.

• Build layers of flavor. Start with a vegetable base, mix in seasonal ingredients, add filling protein, toss in some healthy fats, and drizzle a tasty dressing or sauce.
• Get creative with textures. Aim for a variety of textures with every bite it makes the salad more interesting! For example, start with a soft spinach base, then toss it with crisp bell pepper, juicy tomatoes, and crunchy nuts and seeds.
• Make your salad colorful. While green may form the base of your salad, remember that nutrient variety comes from color variety. So try to make your salad as vibrant as can be. The more color the better!

Delicious Cobb Salad Recipes

• Classic Cobb Salad with Buttermilk Dressing. Crispy chicken, crumbled bacon, creamy avocado, jammy eggs and sharp blue cheese all on a bed of Romaine topped with a pour of homemade buttermilk dressing. Meet the ultimate, official TMP Cobb salad recipe.

• Southwest Style Cobb Salad with Smoky Chipotle Dressing. A smoky chipotle mayo and a little time on the grill transform classic cobb salad ingredients into our new favorite summertime dinnera hearty Southwest-style Cobb salad.

• Spring Cobb Salad. Organic lettuce, peas, radishes, asparagus and everything else that spring has to offer makes this riff on Cobb salad absolutely light and delicious.

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Healthy Chicken Salad Recipe

My goal with this healthy chicken salad was to keep it super simple, so we can pull it off any time. Cold and creamy, with celery and red onion, this healthy salad recipe is flavorful, protein packed and tasty.

During our Southern California road trip I had chicken salad for lunch at Legoland. While an 8 oz serving cost US $10 and made my teeth cringe from sodium, it was extremely satisfying in 115 degrees F heat. Of course, I kept thinking we can do better, of course. Same goes for healthy white chicken chili, mac and cheese and chicken curry. Homemade versus restaurants always tastes and nourishes better.

Traditional chicken salad with mayo contains 310 calories, 25 grams of fat and 700 milligrams of sodium per 1/2 cup serving. Yikes! iFOODreal chicken salad is only 145 calories, 11 grams of fat and 186 grams of sodium. Thats a huge nutrition difference. Swapping Greek yogurt with just a touch of mayo for all mayo makes this a healthified Greek yogurt chicken salad that has authentic taste while at the same time easy on your waistline!

Also, using homemade chicken vs. store bought rotisserie chicken reduces sodium a lot. We often skip store-bought and make our own Instant Pot whole chicken.

Springy Easy Salad Recipes

• Radish Salad with Yogurt Dill Dressing. Blushing radishes, cool cucumber and smoky roasted chickpeas make this gorgeous butter lettuce and radish salad with yogurt-dill dressing an absolute celebration of all things crispy-crunchy.
• Spring Salad With Barley and Lemon Chive Vinaigrette. Dressed with a chive vinaigrette, crunchy sunflower seeds and tart cranberries, this barley salad is an edible celebration of the cusp of spring, and makes a wonderful, hearty vegetarian dinner, too.
• Easy Fennel Salad. This sophisticated raw fennel salad is dressed simply with bright citrus, good olive oil, a sprinkling of parmesan and fresh mint to let the lightly anise-like flavor of the shaved fennel shine.
• Chopped Salad With Herb Yogurt Dressing. This fresh, crunchy chopped salad recipe is studded with bacon, dates and feta then doused in a yogurty, herby salad dressing. If you make it you might have a hard time not eating the whole bowl yourself.

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How To Make Quick And Easy Chicken Salad

Letting this sit in the fridge for a bit, helps meld the flavors together. Shoot for at least an hour. In a medium sized bowl combine the chicken, grapes, pecans, green onions, celery, mayonnaise, lemon, and mustard. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with croissants, romaine, or with crackers. This chicken salad is always so fun for everyone to make their own sandwich or add it on top of green lettuce.

Serving Suggestions To Make The Ultimate Chicken Salad Meal Prep Lunch

This simple and delicious chicken coleslaw salad is amazing by it’s self, but it’s also great served:

• rolled in a tortilla with lettuce, black beans, corn, cherry tomatoes and avocado
• topped on a pulled chicken salad
• as a dip for pita, tortilla or veggies
• topped on a chopped salad with lettuce, chickpeas, avocado, cucumber and cherry tomatoes
• as part of a burrito bowl with your favourite sauteed vegetables, rice and toppings

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Quick Black Bean And Corn Salad

Hereâs a hack to make a kickin fresh black bean and corn saladin just 5 minutes, no chopping required. Sure, its a bit of a shortcut. But if this shortcut gets you to eat more vegetables and plant-forward meals: how could it be bad? Well admit: were wary of recipes that claim to be the easiest, best thing youve ever tried.

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Easy Side Salad Recipes

These quick and easy side salads will complement just about any meal. And bonus, most of them only require 10 minutes to make cant beat that!

• Easy Cucumber Salad: This light, cooling salad is as easy as slicing up some cucumbers and red onions, and tossing them with fresh dill, and a lightly sweetened vinaigrette.
• Massaged Kale Salad: Wonder how to get your kale super soft in a salad? Just massage it with olive oil! Then pair it with some lemon juice, salt, and fresh parmesan for the perfect winter side salad.
• French Carrot Salad: Dig into a pile of grated carrots tossed with green onions, parsley, and a spiced honey Dijon dressing.
• Israeli Salad: Inspired by my travels to Israel, this vibrant, fresh salad is always my go-to for a summer side. Its a mound of fresh tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, onion, and loads of fresh herbs. Just how I like it.
• Lentil Salad with Cucumber: This throw-together salad is a combo of fresh veggies and lentils, with hints of sweet dates. A sweet and savory combo!

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How To Poach Chicken

I love to use poached chicken in this recipe as its easy, healthy, and flavorful. It also means you dont have to turn your oven on if its a hot sunny day outside. A definite bonus.

If done correctly, poaching can yield one of the most tender pieces of chicken youve ever had. To nail this every time, follow the simple steps below.

Can you use baked chicken or store-bought rotisserie chicken? Of course. While I prefer poached chicken, almost any chicken works in this recipe. Just make sure you have about four cups of diced or shredded chicken.

Massaged Kale Salad With Winter Fruit

This Massaged Kale Salad is perfect for fall and winter when seasonal produce is scarce. Pomegranate, orange and toasted almonds coated in delicious orange ginger dressing. I make this salad idea often at the holidays with sirloin tip roast.

Massaging kale softens the tough fibrous leaves, which can often be a turn off when people try it. Try massaging it a few hours before you plan to eat it, one of the best things about kale is its ability to stay fresh even after dressed!

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Chicken Salad With Apples And Cranberries

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Chopped walnuts or pecans and chunks of apples and cranberries add crunch and texture to this savory-sweet chicken salad. Curry powder and lemon juice form a tangy mayo-based dressing. Make it lighter by skipping the mayo and using only olive oil as a binder. Serve it in ciabatta bread as a sandwich, or on flour or cauliflower tortillas with sesame seeds on top.

How Long It Keeps How To Serve It Etc

Once dressed, the leafy greens will start to get a bit soggy after around 30 minutes due to the oil in the dressing. So if youre making ahead, keep the dressing separate and cut the avocado just before serving .

If youre transporting half an avocado to work, just drizzle the cut face with lemon juice and tuck it into your salad lunch box, or put it in an airtight container with half an onion .

As for serving it, I think youll find this is substantial enough as it is to have as a main course. But of course, if you want to fill it out, nobodys going to say no to some freshly made crusty bread, right?? Nagi x

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Low Fat And Low Calorie Chicken Salad Faqs

How is this chicken salad healthier?

To make low fat and low calorie chicken salad, I cut back mayo in half and add 1/2 cup plain yogurt to make salad creamy, reduce saturated fat and calories. I recommend to use 2% and higher fat content yogurt because non-fat yogurt lacks flavour and is flat. Healthy fats are good for you, in moderation.

Is it healthy to eat chicken salad everyday?

Really, this is somewhat of a loaded question! I would not recommend eating original chicken salad everyday as the fat, calories and sodium content are quite high. Eating healthy chicken salad everyday, might be acceptable, but I still believe in everything in moderation. Its good to mix it up with other easy healthy lunch ideas.

Can you substitute Greek yogurt for mayo in chicken salad?

You can and we did! We added a touch of mayo to the Greek yogurt to keep the authentic chicken salad taste you can use all Greek yogurt, but you might miss that authentic taste. Sorry, not sorry, that taste is key for me same story in healthy shrimp salad.

Can I used grilled chicken for this salad?

You could use grilled chicken for this salad or you could just make our perfect formula grilled chicken salad with poppy seed dressing actually just put both on your lunch list for this summer!

How To Make Healthy Chicken Salad

• Cook chicken breasts if you dont have leftovers already from meal prepping. Air fry chicken breast or make Instant Pot shredded chicken breast. If you love dark meat, you can make baked chicken thighs or Instant Pot chicken thighs.
• Toast nuts in a small skillet on low-medium heat just until fragrant and brown-ish. You will smell them. Cool and chop.
• Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl: Toasted pecans, chicken, celery, onion, parsley, yogurt, mayo, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper. Stir gently to mix and adjust salt to taste, if necessary.
• Refrigerate for at least 2 hours as this salad tastes best cold. Just like avocado egg salad or healthy potato salad.

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Why This Chicken Salad Healthy Works

• Authentic taste: By still using a touch of mayo, you retain classic chicken salad taste.
• Fresh ingredients: Herbs such as parsley or dill add loads of flavor you would be missing if you used dried.
• Easy: By using leftover chicken, this salad recipe can be on the table in 15 minutes.
• Healthy: No guilt here as this salad only contains 145c and 11g of fat compared vs. 310c and 25g of fat in the original!
• Budget friendly: I omitted grapes as they tend to be a costly fruit and you can use whatever nuts you have on hand in your pantry!