Healthy Chicken Salad Recipe (+ 4 flavors!)

Love chicken salad? In this post, we’re sharing our go-to healthy chicken salad recipe + 4 different chicken salad recipes for you to try using shredded chicken, a Greek yogurt sauce, and different add-ins.

If there is one thing our head recipe developer, Linley, has taught me — it’s that you should always make chicken salad with leftover chicken no matter the type of chicken. Grilled chicken legs – shred it and make chicken salad. Baked chicken breast – shred or dice up the leftovers and make chicken salad.

She truly is the queen of taking something boring and making it delicious. In this post, we’re sharing 4 ways to jazz up your boring old chicken salad. Of course, we put our healthy twist to it with a delicious Greek yogurt-based sauce and flavorful add-ins.

What is in classic chicken salad?

Classic chicken salad is typically made up of shredded chicken breast, celery, onion, grapes, mayo, and lemon juice.

It All Starts with Shredded Chicken

Every good chicken salad begins with shredded chicken. Feel free to make your own or buy store-bought or use rotisserie chicken (my favorite!).

If you make your own, make sure to chill the chicken before mixing it with the rest of the ingredients. If you’d like to make your own shredded chicken, we have a handful of tutorials to help you out:

What to Add to Your Chicken Salad

We are all about add-ins when it comes to chicken salad. Our classic chicken salad recipe calls for:

• apple
• red onion
• celery
• craisins
• sauce: our classic chicken salad sauce is Greek yogurt-based. It also calls for lemon juice, honey, a little garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

How to Serve Chicken Salad

We love chicken salad because you can serve it in a variety of different ways to really keep mealtime interesting.

Mason Jars: add your favorite greens to the bottom of a mason jar and top it with a serving of one of these chicken salad recipes! Screw the top on and you’re ready to go.

Bento Boxes: Glass bento boxes are the latest craze and a genius way to pack these chicken salads for on-the-go. Add a serving of chicken salad along with more veggies, fruit, and your favorite crunchy for a balanced meal prep lunch.

Wraps: Are you a chicken salad wrap fan? The good news is, all 4 of these recipes are deliciously wrapped inside your favorite tortilla! Add some greens and any other add-ins your heart desires, a serving of chicken salad, and you’ve got an epic wrap ready to eat! Pro tip: we find that classic white tortillas wrap the best and would avoid using corn tortillas.

Storage

Store chicken salad in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

If you LOVE healthy chicken salad so much that you’re looking for more recipe inspiration, check out some other Fit Foodie Finds chicken salad recipes below!

Healthy Chicken Salad – 4 Ways

Keep reading to find 4 amazing healthy chicken salad recipes that are oh-so flavorful and super easy to make!

Southwest Chicken Salad

Love southwestern flavors? Try our healthier southwest chicken salad! It’s made with a citrus-infused southwestern yogurt sauce and a little bit of hot sauce to top things off!

Classic Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad

Our Classic Healthy Chicken Salad with Apples is a classic recipe made with a healthy twist! It’s very similar to Waldorf Chicken Salad, but made with a delicious yogurt sauce, a little bit of honey, and lemon juice!

BLT Chicken Salad

Please tell me you’re a BLT lover! This BLT Chicken Salad is so yummy and healthy too! The chicken salad sauce is so yummy and made with yogurt, a little bit of ranch seasoning (secret ingredient) and lemon juice!

Creamy Pesto Chicken Salad

Healthy creamy pesto chicken salad?! Uh, yes, please! Our pesto chicken salad is made with classic Caprese ingredients and a yogurt-based pesto sauce that you’re going to love!

Best Chicken salad

Looking for the best chicken salad recipe? Here’s our go-to chicken salad made with shredded chicken, apples, dried cranberries, and a yummy sauce.

Prep:20 minutes minutes

Cook:0 minutes minutes

Total:20 minutes minutes

Fat 2

Carbs 16

Protein 28

Ingredients

• 1 lb. cooked shredded chicken breast
• 1 large green apple finely chopped
• 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
• 2 large celery stalks finely diced
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries or Craisins
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt any %
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ground pepper to taste

Instructions 

• Place shredded chicken, green apple, red onion, celery, and dried cranberries into a large bowl. Mix and set aside.

• Create the sauce combining yogurt, lemon juice, honey, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

• Add sauce to the shredded chicken mixture and mix until combined. Serve and enjoy.

Nutrition facts

Calories: 195kcal Carbohydrates: 16g Protein: 28g Fat: 2g Fiber: 2g Sugar: 12g