Name: Low Fat Chicken Salad
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 rotisserie chicken, skin and bones removed, shredded; 3 celery sticks, diced; 1 small green apple, cored and diced; 1/4 cup dried cranberries or golden raisins; 1/3 cup sliced almonds; 1/2 small red onion, finely diced; 1/2 cup Greek yogurt; 1/4 cup Kewpie mayonnaise (optional, or just use more Greek yogurt); 2 tsp Dijon mustard; 1 tsp garlic powder; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp black pepper; Juice of 1/2 lemon

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This Low Fat Chicken Salad is lightened up with a Greek yogurt base instead of mayonnaise! It’s a delicious way to sneak even more protein into your chicken salad while keeping this recipe low in fat. This chicken salad recipe is highly customizable, too, so be sure to read up on my tips for ingredient swaps!

a pita pocket filled with low fat high protein chicken salad

Table of Contents

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I was a staunch hater of chicken salad for much of my life because I hate mayonnaise so much. Seriously, mayonnaise sucks (unless it’s homemade, or like… an aioli). I don’t know why I hate mayo so much, but maybe it’s because I have memories of my mom doling out globs of Miracle Whip onto plain white bread, slapping a slice of tomato on top, and calling it “lunch.” Miracle Whip was seriously traumatizing, and it’s the reason that mayonnaise became one of those foods that I always said I hated even though I had never actually tried it.

But then one day, I decided to try making a chicken salad with a Greek yogurt base instead and… oh my god??? It’s GOOD? This healthy chicken salad recipe has become a lunch staple in my household ever since. I love changing up the add-ins and ingredients slightly each time, too, to create some different flavors. This chicken salad makes a great easy meal prep recipe for lunch on the go or an east work from home lunch that takes 5 minutes to assemble with no reheating!

Higher Protein, Lower Fat Chicken Salad

You’ll be blown away by home delicious this low-calorie lunch is! It’s high in protein (with an extra boost of protein from a Greek yogurt dressing), and I guarantee it’ll become a meal prep staple in your household for an easy lunch to take to work or eat at home!

Why you’ll love this recipe

It’s high in protein. We could all use a little help getting more protein into our diets.
It’s incredibly easy. You really can’t mess up the dressing, and you can just shred up a rotisserie chicken to make this a no-cook recipe!
It’s delicious. Seriously, it’s so good. I made it for my mom, who likes mayonnaise, and she was shocked at how delicious it was!
It’s customizable. Use my recipe as a base, but read up on some of the ingredient swaps you can make to customize it to your liking!

Ingredients for this Chicken Salad

Shredded chicken. You can shred rotisserie chicken, buy pre-shredded chicken at the grocery store, or cook your own chicken breast by roasting or poaching it.
Celery. I personally feel that celery is a staple in chicken salad recipes.
Green apple. I love the bright, tart, and juicy crunch this adds to the salad!
Red onion. Adds a bit of a bite!
Sliced almonds. I like to add almonds for some texture variation in this salad.
Golden raisins. I usually use dried cranberries, but decided to switch it up with golden raisins and I loved it!
Lemon juice. For some acidity and brightness in the dressing.
Greek yogurt. The star of this recipe, Greek yogurt is a healthy, high-protein swap for a mayo-based chicken salad dressing.
Kewpie mayonnaise: I personally like to still add a little bit of mayonnaise to my dressing, but I always prefer kewpie mayonnaise for its color and taste.
Garlic powder. Season up that dressing with a little garlic powder, but you can use minced or grated garlic, too!

How to Make High Protein Chicken Salad

Keep on scrolling for the recipe card with the full list of ingredients and measurements, but here’s a step by step breakdown with photos!

Add the Greek yogurt, kewpie mayonnaise, and lemon juice to a bowl. Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Then whisk until smooth, taste, and add more seasoning to taste.
In a large mixing bowl, combine shredded chicken, diced celery, diced green apple, finely diced red onion, sliced almonds, and golden raisins.
Pour the dressing into the bowl of chicken salad ingredients and mix.
Serve in some pita or your favorite bread with some mixed greens!

greek yogurt, lemon juice, and kewpie mayonnaise in a mixing bowl — Add Greek yogurt, kewpie mayonnaise, and lemon juice to a mixing bowl.

salt, pepper, and garlic powder added to a bowl with greek yogurt, lemon juice, and kewpie mayonnaise — Add salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

a whisk whisking a greek yogurt chicken salad dressing — Whisk the dressing until smooth.

a mixing bowl full of chicken salad ingredients, including shredded chicken, celery, red onion, green apple, sliced almonds, and golden raisins — In a large mixing bowl, add shredded chicken, celery, red onion, green apple, sliced almonds, and golden raisins.

Greek yogurt chicken salad dressing added to a bowl of shredded chicken, celery, red onion, green apple, sliced almonds, and golden raisins — Add the dressing to the bowl with the rest of the chicken salad ingredients.

A mixing bowl full of high protein low fat chicken salad — Mix the dressing into the chicken salad ingredients, then serve in your favorite pita pocket or sandwich bread and enjoy!

Recipe Variations and Substitutions

There are so many different ways to can make this recipe. You might not like apples in your chicken salad, or you might prefer a different nut. A few great substitutes:

Fresh herbs. Add some fresh herbs to your chicken salad, like parsley, basil, chives, tarragon, dill, or oregano!
Fruits. Green grapes, red grapes, or green apples are my favorite chicken salad add-ins. Dried fruits like dried cranberries and golden raisins are great, too!
Vegetables. If celery isn’t your jam, you can add red bell peppers, tomato, olives, an more!
Alliums. Instead of red onion, scallions are a delicious substitute!
Spices. I sometimes like to add some curry powder. Celery seed, onion powder, or mustard seed are great, too!
Other great add-ins. I sometimes like to mix some pesto into my Greek yogurt dressing and add in things like diced tomato, mozzarella pearls, red bell pepper, and oregano for an Italian version.

Storing Chicken Salad

Store chicken salad in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. No reheating necessary, as this is best consumed cold.

Equipment

Large mixing bowl
Chicken shredder, stand mixer, or hand mixer to shred chicken
Cutting board
Chef’s knife