Our Healthy Chicken Salad is a sweet and delicious chicken salad that is perfect for meal prep! Made with all the best simple ingredients. Enjoy by itself, on a bed of leafy greens, on bread for a sandwich, or in a wrap!
The Best Healthy Chicken Salad
I am so excited to share this recipe with you guys! Perfect for a cookout or an amazing make-ahead meal. I either make it on a Friday so our family has it to graze on over the weekend OR I make it on Sunday so we can eat it for lunches throughout the week. It has become a new household favorite and I am excited for you guys to try it!
Looking for Another Easy Salad?
If you love simple salads as much as we do, you definitely need to try our Apple Salad!
What You Will Need
- cooked chicken breasts – option to quickly cook up some poached chicken or grab a rotisserie chicken at your local grocery store.
- celery, apple, & green onion – fresh ingredients that add the best crunch!
- mayo – a creamy salad dressing that helps hold everything together.
- kosher salt & pepper – simple seasonings that are always a must!
- yellow mustard, apple cider vinegar, & lemon juice – a little bit of each help to add all the best flavor.
- dried cranberries – perfect for adding a little bit of sweetness to the mix.
- red onion – adds a bit of crunch and so much great flavor.
- slivered almonds – option to use or omit, but these also add some delicious crunch.
- orange juice concentrate – a touch of acidity really helps to amplify all the other flavors going on.
How To Make Chicken Salad
The first steps to making this easy recipe are to toss all the basic ingredients in a large bowl. Toss to fully combine and enjoy!
Best Ways To Serve Healthy Chicken Salad
This recipe is perfect on its own as a simple meal, but it is also great for a cookout! Here are some suggestions on what to serve with it:
Storage
Simply store leftover chicken salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days! Highly recommend making a double batch to enjoy for lunch all week long.
FAQs and Tips
- Cranberries: It can be hard to find Whole30 compliant cranberries. I found some compliant ones at the store made by Patience Fruit and Co – if you can’t find any of these, I would simply sub raisins (just read your ingredients).
- Mayo: You can use any mayo that you prefer but if you are looking for a delicious and simple recipe to make your own – check out this whole30/paleo mayo.
- The Easiest Way to Shred Chicken: the recipe calls for shredded chicken. Simply place the raw boneless chicken breasts in boiling water and cook for 10-15 minutes (or until cooked through). Remove from the water and let drain. After the chicken has cooled slightly, shred with forks. Even if you don’t use it for this particular recipe, it is a really easy way to prep chicken to store to use for salads, etc. throughout the week. Check out my post on 3 easy ways to shred chicken breast!
Made this recipe and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!
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Other Recipes You Might Like
Healthy Chicken Salad
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Counter Top
- Cuisine: American
Description
Our super easy Healthy Chicken Salad is the perfect meal-prep salad for weekday lunches or to bring to your next summer cookout!
Ingredients
- 3 large boneless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
- 2 celery stalks, sliced
- 1 large apple, cubed
- 1 cup mayo (Whole30 homemade mayo or store bought)
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 3 tablespoons red onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- 2–3 tablespoons orange juice concentrate
- 2 tablespoons green onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Mix well to combine.
- Taste and add any additional orange juice concentrate (1 tablespoon at a time) or salt or pepper, as desired.
- Serve with butter lettuce, if desired, or eat as is.
Notes
- Shredded Chicken: option to cook chicken breasts in your own kitchen or purchase a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store.
- Mayo: highly recommend using this homemade mayo (paleo/Whole30) or this store-bought mayo is really good too.
- Cranberries: if you can’t find Whole30 compliant cranberries, you can sub raisins – just read the labels.
- Storage: Store in airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-5 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6oz
- Calories: 238
- Sugar: 15.6 g
- Sodium: 228.8 mg
- Fat: 12.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 21.5 g
- Protein: 12 g
- Cholesterol: 49.1 mg
Bridget Montag says
So good!!!
Diane says
I just made this for lunches for the week and it is so delicious. Definitely an elevated chicken salad! I used Thompson raisins from Trader Joes in place of the cranberries and they worked great.
Erin says
Yay! So happy to hear that, Diane! This is truly one of my favorite recipes 🙂 Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and leave a review + feedback – I really appreciate it!
Catie says
This is my favorite chicken salad! I love the touch of sweetness from the apple and the almond is the perfect addition. Thanks for sharing!
Erin says
So happy to hear that, Catie! And thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review – I really appreciate it!
Nicole says
So good! Definitely a keeper for quick and easy lunches!
Erin says
Hi Nicole! yay!! So glad you liked it! It is honestly one of my favorite recipes on the blog – sooo good! Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback, I really appreciate it!
Amyjo says
Why do you use orange juice from concentrate?
Erin says
Hi! Good question! I use orange juice from concentrate because it is a great way to lightly sweeten the chicken salad that is also Paleo + Whole30 compliant (plus its just a great refined-sugar-free way to sweeten things). Plus, if I used actual orange juice it would make the salad too watery. Finally, I love the combo of the orange/citrus flavor with the chicken!). Hope that answered your question! This is one of my all-time favorite recipes! 🙂
Cortnee says
Where do you find compliant orange juice concentrate?
Erin says
Hi, Cortnee! So a lot of the orange juice concentrate I have found is actually compliant – as long as the ingredients are simple “orange juice concentrate” without any added sugars you should be good. I found the one I used here at Aldi!