Healthy Homemade Chicken Salad
Who doesn’t love a quick and easy lunch, that is also healthy? This chicken salad is so flavorful and creamy, that you won’t even miss all the mayo that is typically found in a chicken salad.
This chicken salad is great as a sandwich, stuffed in a pita, on top of a bed of greens, or even on its own! It’s crunchy, creamy, and full of whole food ingredients packing tons of flavor. I’ve found that a lot of chicken salad recipes or when you order at a restaurant, are typically doused in mayo. While I do enjoy mayo sometimes, it’s definitely not the best ingredient we could be fueling our bodies with. It’s taken some time but replacing mayo with Greek yogurt has really been a great swap. And I like to add in a little bit of mayo just for that small amount of extra flavor so I’m not totally missing it. It’s all about moderation, and not totally depriving ourselves, right? I hope you enjoy this Healthy Homemade Chicken Salad, because I sure do!
- 1 lb Boneless skinless thin cut chicken breasts
- 1 drizzle Olive oil
- dash Salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano
- 1 Apple, chopped small
- 2 Green onion stalks, chopped
- 1/3 cup Carrots, chopped
- 1/3 cup Celery, chopped
- 1 tbsp Walnuts, chopped
- 1 tbsp Dried Cranberries
- 1/2 cup Nonfat Plain Greek Yogurt
- 1 tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1/2 tbsp Mayo
- 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar (Could sub with white wine vinegar or regular vinegar)
- 1 tbsp Fresh Thyme, chopped (If you don't have fresh thyme, could sub dried, but only use about 1/2 tsp)
- 1/2 tsp Onion powder
- 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp Paprika
- 1/2 tsp Dried Oregano
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 375* F.
- Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet and rub the olive oil on both sides to coat and sprinkle both sides with the salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and oregano to taste.
- Bake chicken for 18-20 minutes and let rest for 5-10 minutes after it is out of the oven.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the Greek yogurt, lemon juice, mayo, apple cider vinegar, fresh thyme, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Once combined and smooth, add in the chopped apples, green onion, carrots, celery, walnuts, and dried cranberries.
- Dice up the cooled chicken and add to the bowl to combine all ingredients together.
- Chill in the refrigerator or serve room temperature.
- To make this a quicker process, you could always use a prepared rotisserie chicken and dice up the meat and add to everything else.
- Could sub or add in different nuts and dried fruit/ add in more if you want.