Easy and low fat Healthy Chicken Salad that is a must for hot summer days, lunches and quick dinner. It is also low in calories and sodium but big on flavor.
Other favorite healthy versions of classics we love are healthy tuna salad, healthy egg salad and Thai chicken salad.
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 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 chicken chili, mac and cheese and chicken curry. Homemade versus restaurant’s always tastes and nourishes better.
Is Chicken Salad Healthy?
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. That’s a huge nutrition difference.
Also using homemade baked chicken vs. store bought rotisserie chicken reduces sodium a lot. We often skip store-bought and make our own Instant Pot whole chicken.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Cooked chicken: You can use any leftover cooked chicken. If you have Instant Pot, meal prepping chicken in batches becomes a simple task. Follow this Instant Pot chicken breast recipe for fresh chicken, or this Instant Pot frozen chicken breast recipe if you forgot to thaw chicken.
- Mayo and yogurt: Yogurt adds creaminess with less calories – I recommend to use more than 2% fat for better taste. And IMHO, a bit of mayo makes chicken salad real. 🙂
- Celery and red onion: These veggies add crunch and flavor. White or green onion are OK too.
- Nuts: I used pecans and toasting them lightly on a skillet adds more crunch and flavor. You can use any nuts like cashews, almonds, pine nuts and walnuts.
- Fresh herbs: Parsley, dill, basil or even cilantro add a lot of flavor making missing mayo unnoticeable.
Tip: Add grapes. As much as I love grapes I know they are expensive. And I would like to keep this recipe simple.
How to Make Healthy Chicken Salad
- Cook chicken breasts if you don’t have leftovers already. 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 salad tastes best cold. Just like avocado egg salad, potato salad or pasta salad.
How to Serve and Store Chicken Salad
Refrigerate salad for up to 5 days. I like to place it in a glass container or bowl with tight plastic lid.
I have not tried freezing chicken salad but I don’t think chicken salad freezes well. It has a lot of fresh veggies to go limp once thawed. But maybe because they are coated in mayo and yogurt… Let me know if you try. 🙂 We never have any leftovers to freeze.
- Chicken salad sandwich with sprouted whole grain/wheat bread like Ezekiel.
- Add greens: lettuce, spinach or kale leaves.
- Low carb on swiss chard leaves or any lettuce. Kind of like chicken lettuce wraps.
- Whole grains: Serve with cooked quinoa or brown rice.
Low Fat and Low Calorie Chicken Salad?
I cut back mayo in half and add 1/2 cup plain (Greek) 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.
Tip: Buy organic or avocado oil mayo. It goes a long way and you avoid consuming GMO canola oil that comes with “regular” mayo.
More Healthy Chicken Recipes
- Grilled chicken salad
- Chicken and tomatoes
- Healthy chicken tacos
- Chicken tostadas
- Instant Pot white chicken chili
- Lemon chicken
Healthy Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb 3 cups cooked chicken, cubed
- 3/4 cup 3 large celery stalks, diced
- 1/4 cup red onion finely chopped
- 1/4 cup parsley or dill finely chopped (optional)
- 1 cup pecans, almonds or cashews
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt 2+% fat
- 1/4 cup mayo I used avocado oil mayo
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp any vinegar except balsamic
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a small skillet, add pecans and toast on low-medium heat until fragrant and brown-ish, stirring often. Transfer to a cutting board, let cool a bit and chop coarsely.
- In a medium bowl, add 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 salad tastes best cold.
- Serve with greens, quinoa, brown rice or make a chicken salad sandwich with whole wheat bread.
Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days. I have not tried freezing the salad and am not sure fresh veggies and herbs will hold up well to it.
Video
Notes
- How to cook chicken for salad: You can use my baked chicken breast recipe. If you have Instant Pot, you can make Instant Pot frozen chicken or Instant Pot whole chicken and use breasts from it. Or just make Instant Pot chicken breasts.
- Onions: White or green onion would work well in place of red.
- Sweet addition: Add sliced grapes or chopped apple if you wish. Grapes are pricey often, so I keep them out.
- Use any mayo: I use avocado oil mayo because it is healthier and we always have it on hand. Olive oil mayo or vegenaise work as well.
- Please do not use 0% yogurt: It tastes chalky and salad will taste flat. Plain regular or Greek yogurt with fat content 2% and higher work.
Nutrition
Recipes and images are a copyright of ifoodreal.com. It is against the law to republish recipes anywhere including social media, print and all world wide web. Nutritional info is provided for informational purposes only and to the best knowledge.
This chicken salad is the best! And like someone else here said, this is one of my go-to recipes for lunch!
This is my new go-to for healthy lunches!
Yay!
My family love it so much. I’ve been make this repeatedly.
Thanks for this great healthy recipe!!
You are very welcome Marsya!
Any thoughts on a dairy-free version? Dairy is a big no-no for me.
Only plain dairy free yogurt you like comes to mind.
I cheated and used canned chicken.. It tastes amazing so I bet it’s even better with cooked chicken!! I also added craisins for some sweetness and it was a great addition. I hadn’t ever used a dash of vinegar in my chicken salad and it’s a great secret weapon, Thanks for this!
You are welcome Sam!
This salad was the best! So creamy and yet healthy. We thouroughly enjoyed it and has been added to the other salads we have enjoyed. Will be making again!
Thrilled to hear this Josine!
We love chicken salad and I make a delicious unhealthy (with mayo) chicken salad often. Needing a healthier version I gave this recipe a try. WOW! Best chicken salad I ever had. We love it! Thank you!
So awesome to hear this Pat!
Really tasty – the toasted nuts (I used almonds) and fresh herbs (I used cilantro) really make a difference! Thanks for the healthy, tasty recipe!
You are welcome Linda!
What can I use instead the celery? I hate the flavor of it.
Thank you!!
You can omit the celery. Or try green or red pepper.
Thank you for this great recipe. I am using the SCD diet and I just have to use my homemade mayo and this works perfectly. It is so nice to find a recipe I that doesn’t require 3 or 4 replacements.
Glad that you liked this!
Easy to do and quite tasty. Thank you.
You are very welcome 🙂
Delicious and easy! Love your website and each recipe I’ve made so far!
Awe, thanks so much Liz!
Needed a healthier recipe and this is by far better than the 100% mayo based recipes. Thanks for sharing
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, JR!
Loved it! I used dill, cashews, and red grapes. I also shredded my chicken instead of cubing it. Loved it, and I’ll make it again!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Erin!
I’ve made this several times now and my whole family loves it. My 24 yo son asked for the recipe as well so he can have it in the fridge for a week at a time as an easy healthy go to for lunches. Thanks!
Awesome!!! Happy to hear, Michele.
Interesting – yogurt AND mayo.
I can’t wait to try it
Hope you enjoy! It is GOOD!
Healthy Chicken Salad: The recipe says for 6 servings and the nutrition facts says for 12 servings which means the fat content for 6 servings would be 22.2 grams and that would not be healthy. Which is correct?
Thanks for catching that Sue. It is for 12 servings and I have updated the recipe card to reflect that!
Wonderful recipe! Our favorite chicken salad so far, and leftovers were even better than day 1. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
You are welcome Crystal!
Healthy and Yummy! Thank you for sharing!
I loved this! I added some onion and garlic powder and it was amazing. My husband raved about this! I hate too cook but Olena’s recipes are helping me enjoy cooking!
Yay! That’s so great to hear Rose! Have a great day.
So simple, refreshing, and incredibly delicious!
Great recipe. I made it with rotisserie chicken & it was very tasty! I loved the flavor & it was so easy to make. This one is a keeper!
Yay! Glad this is a keeper for you Claudia!
Delicious!! Thank you for posting!
So glad I came across this recipe! Made it for myself and a granddaughter for dinner and we both loved it! I used some sliced almonds instead of pecans and she said she loved the almonds. Just made a second batch for my dinner the next few nights to use up the leftover veggies. Thanks for posting!
Happy that my salad recipe is on rotation at your house Della!
really good! And tasted healthy and fresh! I ate mine as a lettuce wrap to knock of more carbs
Yummy! Glad you like it Kari!
This was another hit!
Hubby want a traditional club sandwich with French fries but said, everything you do lately is so good, let’s try your recipe.
Wow!!! Who’s this man?
Instead had a sandwich with this delicious salad, with Mediterranean quinoa salad leftover. Now this is healthy❤️
Awesome Marie!
Best chicken salad I’ve ever had – and I’ve had A LOT! The pecans are really what MAKE this salad! But ultimately it’s the combination of all the ingredients that work so well together. To tell you the truth, I can’t stop eating it! Another one going into the permanent rotation from you – thanks so much!
Yay! Thanks for the awesome feedback Jane 🙂
Very easy and delicious!
Yum!
Nice
Taste so good
Fantastic flavor!
Yay!
Healthy & Yummy!
The recipe is great (I removed nuts and added apple), but when you scale the recipe up, the number of cups of chicken remains the same.
Love this chicken salad!
Wonderful dinner served on lettuce leaves. The toasted pecans were a welcome added taste.
Thank you so much for the positive feedback Judy! Have a great day!
I found this recipe yesterday and made it today. It is really delicious and great alternative to traditional chicken salad. Even my picky eating pre-teen liked it. The pecans were different for us and we will probably omit the next time, but other than that, it was great!
Glad this recipe was enjoyed by your family! And of course, adjust to your taste (pecans or not!)
I want to thank you for your delicious recipe for the healthy chicken salad!!!
I just made it with one of my homegrown. I’ll tell you what Ukrainian people really know how to cook! I had a neighbor that was from Ukraine. After several years of writing her to be husband that she met on a train. They finally married. He saved enough money to go and pick her up from Ukraine! That is how she became my neighbor. She was very talented cook and could bake cakes that looked like artwork. She worked hard in the yard. And built all kinds of sculptured things with plants and walkways out of stone. She made a room full of curtains. That again was amazing because they weren’t just any kind of curtains. So God bless Ukraine! God bless you for putting your recipe on there for the chicken salad. I just had it on some healthy bread!
Awe, thanks Debbie and what a great story! It is very true. Many Ukrainian women are women of all trades – they can cook, paint, saw, mend chickens and silicone windows lol. Life wasn’t easy so we had to learn it all. I am grateful to have gained many life skills during not so comfortable years of my young life. I cherish them, enjoy every day and hope to pass on many to my children. Now back to painting baseboards and caulking windows in our major reno haha. But I do enjoy my Canadian life now A LOT too hahahahahaha. It’s just so much easier!!! Glad you liked the salad!
I’m completely head over heels in love with this recipe. Well down on the talent. My word. The best I literally have ever had!!!!!
Haha thanks so much Nikki for your amazing review. Enjoy!!!
I am so happy I found this recipe! I can’t cook and I am tired of the same stuff when I try to cook. I am 24 years old, and these easy healthy recipes have been amazing! Not too many ingredients and everything comes out right. I just made this dish yesterday and it’s amazing! Thank you for this. Can’t wait to see what’s next!!
Yay. You are very welcome!!!
What do you mean by pale colour vinegar? I goggled it and no help :/
I’m not too savvy in the kitchen … still learning the lingo! But excited to try the recipe!
Any light colour vinegar will work. I mean any vinegar as long as it’s not balsamic. White, white wine, apple cider, rice or red wine vinegar. You are cute.:) I will change that so it’s not confusing.
This recipe is perfect, so yummy.
Discovered the recipe yesterday afternoon and ran to the store to grab chicken, yogurt and celery to make this. Let me say that this is the best recipe I have seen around the web.
Did not add pecans but loved the result anyway.
Glad the drive to to the store was worth it.:) So happy to hear you loved this healthy chicken salad recipe!
I made this using my Ninja, no nuts or salt and pepper added, so consistency is more like tuna salad. Add chunks of chicken, onion, and celery – mix and chop at the same time! mixed mayo, yogurt and other ingredients in a bowl till combined then mixed in the chicken, onion, celery from Ninja. Can also add the “sauce” to the Ninja and let it combine it all. I do not like yogurt but know I need to eat it – this recipe is great! Thank you for making me a little healthier! Husband suggested dried cranberries or cherries….I’ll be grabbing them on my next trip to the store.
Husband’s suggestion is a good one.:) Glad you liked it!
YUM! Great recipe, and love the pecans in it. I used your frozen chicken breasts in Instant Pot recipe to cook the chicken and then followed the salad recipe substituting yellow onion for red – my wonderful husband doesn’t like the red ones. It tastes.great and is now chilling for dinner when it will taste even better! Question – will this freeze well? Probably I should have halved the recipe since it is such a big batch…Thanks!
Hi Amy. So happy to hear! I haven’t tried but I think it will because there is mayo. Worth a shot. It keeps well in the fridge for days though, so lots of lunches?! LOL
Delicious healthy chicken salad I have been taking to work for the past 2 weeks.
Easy and delicious salad! Approved by my family☺️
Thank you!
You are welcome Kateryna!