Chicken salad often tops the list of quick, easy, family FAVORITE low carb recipes for lunches.
Eat it on its own, in a sandwich, or wrapped up in lettuce for low carb chicken recipes — this salad is so full of creamy flavor and protein, it’s great any way you serve it!
PLUS! It’s so stickin’ easy to make! Just like egg salad and tuna salad, all you have to do is chip and mix… my kind of recipe!
Here is our family FAVORITE recipe, plus 6 low carb salads variations we can’t get enough of… let’s dive into these low carb lunch ideas!
What I Love About This Chicken Salad Recipe
This salad is the perfect base to get creative with! I also LOVE that:
- It’s EASYYY. Literally friends, this salad comes together in 15 minutes max. Just chop and stir!
- Delicious any way you serve it — use it as a dip with chips for low carb lunch ideas, or serve it as a salad. There are just as many ways to serve this salad as there are variations to try, so there’s no time to get bored of it!
- Speaking of variations, we love this recipe SO much, we’ve worked up dozens of recipes, but below, I’ll share with you my top 6 faves!
- LOW CARB! That’s right friends, the ingredients for this salad are low in carbs, keto AND paleo (if you use the right mayo)! Guilt free and delicious?? I’ll take it!
Recipe Notes
As I mentioned, this recipe is EASY to make! Here’s what you need to know to get started:
Ingredient Notes
Chicken – the main ingredient in our salad recipe. You can use whatever kind of precooked chicken you have — Some of my personal faves are rotisserie chicken for a super juicy and flavor-packed rotisserie chicken salad or canned chicken for a convenient canned chicken salad.
You can also quickly poach chicken while you chop the other ingredients!
Mayonnaise (and subs!) – Traditionally, mayo is used to make this salad recipe, however, I love using Greek yogurt for a Greek yogurt chicken salad that’s lower in fat and (even) higher in protein! Simply replace mayo with yogurt to try this variation.
Looking for even more mayo subs??? Believe it or not, avocado is suuuper creamy… make an avocado chicken salad by subbing the mayo with 1 avocado, mashed with the back of a fork.
A little crunch – The best salad recipes have a bit of crunch in them. I like to add this in with veggies such as celery and red onions. Add even more crunch with a handful of nuts or seeds.
Herbs and seasoning – Traditionally salt, pepper, and parsley are all that’s used here — but you can get as zesty as you like! As spicy as buffalo chicken salad, or as mild as S+P. Your salad your rules.
Tools To Make
Nothing crazy! Just a knife for chopping and a bowl for mixing.
Serving Recommendations
Serve your salad any way you like! A few of my faves are:
- Enjoy it as a “dip” with chips for a lighter lunch. Check out my low carb chips for some gluten-free options.
- Sandwiched between 2 slices of bread, or low carb bread.
- Over a bed of lettuce!
- Make lettuce wraps using a large leaf of romaine lettuce.
Recipe Variations
There are a billion ways to work up this classic salad recipe, but here are my 6 favorites:
Traditional. This is the recipe shared below. It’s the classic combo of chicken, mayo, almonds, celery, and red onions.
Mediterranean. Is essentially a pesto chicken salad — simply mix in 3/4 cup of pesto, swap the almonds for pine nuts, and add in 1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes!
Curry chicken salad. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, 3 tablespoons of curry powder, 1/2 cup of raisins and 3/4 cup of cashews to the ingredients below (also, skip the salt and pepper).
Tarragon chicken salad. Add 2 1/2 tablespoons tarragon, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of lemon zested and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla to the ingredients below.
Bacon, ranch + cheddar. Mix in 1/4 cup green onions, 1/4 cup cooked and crumbles bacon, 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar. Instead of the 1/2 cup of mayonnaise below, use 1/4 cup mayo, and 1/4 cup ranch.
Dill pickle. Add 1 cup of chopped pickles, 6 tablespoons of mustard, 2 tablespoons of dill.
More Low Carb Salad Recipes with Chicken
I used to think low carb salad recipes were boring, and now? I can’t get enough! With all these delicious flavors and variations, it’s hard to get bored of them! Here are a few of my faves:
- Thai Chicken Salad
- Mexican Chicken Salad
- Chinese Chicken Salad
- Greek Chicken Salad
- Low Carb Taco Salad
Chicken Salad
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 1/2 Cup Mayonnaise or Low Carb Greek Yogurt
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
- 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 2 Cups Chicken Breast cooked and chopped
- 1/2 Cup Almonds
- 1/2 Cup Celery minced
- 1/4 Cup Red Onion minced
- 1/2 Cup Fresh Parsley chopped
Instructions
- Toss all ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined!
- Eat with a spoon, inside a lettuce wrap or on top of an avocado. Enjoy!
Fans Also Made These Low Carb Recipes:
Lindsey's Tips
- To cut out more carbs: Use mayo over yogurt (the nutritional info below is based on yogurt).
- Nutritional information is based on 1 serving if you divide this recipe into 6 servings, which is about 1/2 cup:
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