The perfect make ahead lunch option for any occasion!
Lunch never looked so good! With simple, wholesome ingredients, this Healthy Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad is versatile, easy and down right scrumptious. Serve it over lettuce, with crackers or on a few slices of bread and you’re set for meal prep or a weekend picnic!
Hey there! 🙂 You all know my love for Chicken Salad. It’s on repeat every week for meal prep in our house. Like seriously every week.
We have it so often that I’ve burned Nick out, and now he refuses to have it 😂
I’ll never get sick of it. Especially when there are endless possibilities for ingredient mix-ins. It’s simply the best.
My go-to option is with crackers because you get the best of both worlds – creamy and crunchy.
I hopped on the chicken salad bandwagon when I discovered how delicious it was with plain greek yogurt. I (like many) was skeptical, but it’s THE best replacement for mayo, you can’t tell a difference and it’s 10x better for you.
Plain Greek yogurt is filled with protein and good-for-you probiotics. Double whammy. Paired with the rest of the ingredients, you can chalk this lunch recipe up as a protein-powerhouse.
Healthy Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad Ingredients
- Chicken breast, shredded or cut
- Avocado Mayo
- Plain Greek Yogurt
- Dried Cranberries
- Chopped Pecans
- Green Apple
Even though the base of the chicken salad is greek yogurt, there is still a touch of mayo in the recipe. I use Primal Kitchen’s avocado mayo or Sir Kingston’s. Both brands use quality ingredients and taste great.
Next up, the dried cranberries. As you know a lot of dried fruit has added sugar, so be sure to read the label before buying. Made in Nature is a great brand for all things dried fruit – you can buy them online or in store at Target or Walmart.
How to Make Chicken Salad
- Cook the chicken in either the oven or instant pot. (I cook 2 lbs of chicken breast for about 15 minutes depending if it’s thawed or frozen in the instant pot almost every week. It’s practically the only thing I use my instant pot for).
- Once the chicken is cooked, it’s time to shred. Shredding chicken should not be a hassle. For the longest time, I avoided all recipes that had shredded chicken because it hurt my hands and took too long. Now shredding chicken is as easy as cutting butter.
If you have a food processor (or even a single serve smoothie maker), you’re golden. Rip the chicken into 3 – 4 pieces, throw it into the food processor and on low speed shred the chicken. It doesn’t take long – maybe 15 – 30 seconds.
- Next, cut the green apples into 1” pieces. I use my apple slicer first and then cut the slices into cubes.
- Now for the easy part, add all the ingredients – shredded chicken, mayo, plain Greek yogurt, dried cranberries, chopped pecans and green apples – into a bowl and stir until all the ingredients are combined.
- Grab some crackers, toast some bread or throw the chicken salad in a couple of romaine lettuce leafs and you are set.
Whether you’re making it for meal prep or enjoying a weekend meal, chicken salad is a great healthy, protein-packed lunch that everyone in your family can enjoy.
P.s. – if you’re making it ahead of time for the week, don’t mix in the mayo/greek yogurt. Just place it in the container with the rest of the ingredients. If you do mix it, the chicken soaks up the dressing and makes it dry.
- • 8 oz chicken breast, shredded or cut into ½ inch pieces
- • 2 tablespoons avocado mayo
- • ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
- • ¼ cup dried cranberries (no sugar added)
- • ¼ cup pecans, chopped
- • ½ Green apple (4 slices), chopped into 1" pieces
- • pinch of salt and pepper
- Cook chicken and let cool (see cooking methods above in post).
- Shred the chicken in a food processor or with two forks and place in medium to large bowl.
- Next, cut ½ a green apple into 1” pieces and then add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl – 2 tablespoons avocado mayo, ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt, ¼ cup dried cranberries, ¼ cup chopped pecans and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Stir well until all the ingredients are combined. Serve with crackers, on bread or in romaine lettuce leafs. Enjoy!
Looking for other lunch ideas? Try some of these afitcado favorites:
