Super Yummy Chicken Salad

This Chicken Salad is so good! Protein-packed with a delicious creamy dressing, and perfect for an on-the-go lunch in a sandwich or wrap.

Chicken salad in a bowl with a spoon.

Chicken salad is officially the hero of my summer.

As summer activities have picked up for our family, I’ve been riding the highs of having a weekly batch of chicken salad in the fridge. I love a cold, creamy bowl of it straight out of the fridge for an high protein Summer Mom Lunch, and my girls love to eat the components (plain chicken, grapes, celery and cashews) dipped in a bit of dressing for a kid-friendly snack plate. This tuna salad wrap is on that list too.

Reasons I love it:

  • Reason A: The creamy dressing is… weirdly so good. It doesn’t taste like straight Greek yogurt (gross) but there’s enough to be in there so that you aren’t just eating straight gobs of mayo, either. Perfect creaminess achieved! The flavors from the dijon, salt, sugar, onion and garlic powder make it into a luscious little everything sauce that I’m licking off the spoon every single time.
  • Reason B: Lots of protein! It’s a super satisfying mid-day boost!
  • Reason C: Convenience, naturally. I frequently just grab a little wrap, sandwich, or bowl of it for a solidly delicious munch between chaotic mid-afternoon errands and/or kid pick-ups!

SUMMER HERO!

You might notice there are no raw onions in this chicken salad and that is very much on purpose. I prefer a substantial lacing of onion powder in the sauce to give us the good flavor… but in a smooth, creamy way, without the watery, weepy weirdness of diced raw onion. To each their own! Throw the onions in if you want. But I am a strong proponent that onion powder > raw onions when it comes to chicken salad.

The mix-ins that you’ll see here are my favorites (grapes, celery, and cashews) but you might like apples, almonds, pistachios, wild rice (!), walnuts, etc. The beauty is that this protein-rich, ultra-creamy chicken salad dressing as a base can take us to many good places.

Welcome To My House! Let’s Have a Chicken Salad Lunch.

1

Make Your Dressing.

Greek yogurt, mayo, and dijon mustard will carry you! Add some salt, sugar, onion powder, and garlic powder, and you’ll be licking this right off the spoon. It’s luxurious and savory-sweet and so weirdly good.

Mixing dressing for chicken salad in a bowl.

2

Cut Everything Up!

I like the chicken to be CUBED, not shredded, so the whole thing doesn’t get too thick and sticky.

For classic chicken salad, you want to have these three elements:

  • Something sweet (apples, grapes, dried cherries)
  • Something crunchy (celery, diced onion)
  • Something nutty (cashews, almonds, or pistachios)

My all-time favorite combo is grapes, celery, and cashews! So classic. Hits every time. But I have more fun ideas in the notes of the recipe based on your suggestions from Instagram!

Chopped chicken, grapes, celery, and cashews for chicken salad.

3

Mix it all up + season it.

After you mix the dressing with everything, you can season it with whatever you like. Salt and pepper, for starters! I typically do freeze-dried chives and white pepper (so it doesn’t make the whole thing turn dark). You do you!

Mixing chicken salad ingredients in a large bowl.

4

You’re Done! Yum!

You can put this on a croissant for a luncheon-style sandwich, or tuck it into a lettuce wrap, or a whole weat wrap, or dip into it with crackers (can recommend Everything Seasoned crackers), or just eat it plain! which I very often do.

Chicken salad in a bowl with a spoon.

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