Healthy Avocado Chicken Salad

  This Healthy Greek Yogurt Avocado Chicken Salad recipe has no mayo and is made with a handful of nutritious ingredients! It takes 5 minutes to prepare and is a great way to use leftover chicken! Perfect for a healthy lunch or light dinner! 

It's starting to feel like summer, and with the change in the seasons also comes a change in the foods we crave! Light, fast, and fresh meals seem to be our norm in the warmer months, like this Avocado Chicken Salad!

This recipe comes together in mere minutes, is packed full of nutritious ingredients and is the perfect dish to pack for a picnic in the park - also try this classic chicken salad and this egg salad - YUM! It is an all-time favorite savory recipe of mine. Whenever I make it I have a hard time letting it chill without sneaking bites from the fridge!

Avocado Chicken Salad: Ingredients & Substitutions

There are a few ways you can tweak this recipe to make it your own! Here are a few that I have personally tested!

• Plain Greek Yogurt: All plain Greek yogurt varieties work excellently in this recipe, regardless of fat content. Obviously, a higher fat content will yield a richer, creamier chicken salad. You can also use sour cream in place of Greek yogurt. 
• Fresh Dill.  Freeze-dried dill works well in this avocado chicken salad recipe. I always keep this Litehouse freeze-dried dill on hand in the winter when fresh dill is harder to come by so I can make this recipe (oh and this tzatziki sauce too)!
• Onion powder. For a little extra crunch and flavor you can substitute 1-2 TBS of real onion for the onion powder. I cook for kids, so I opt for the powder instead!
• Garlic powder. You can substitute fresh minced garlic for the garlic powder. 

Cooked Chicken

I recommend using cold, leftover, chicken to make this recipe. But if you don't have any on hand you can simply boil 2 pounds of chicken breasts in chicken broth (with your favorite spices/seasonings) until fork-tender (see full directions in the recipe below). If you do this you must let the chicken cool before mixing it into the rest of the ingredients! So plan accordingly if you need to cook the chicken first.

How to make Avocado Chicken Salad

This healthy chicken salad recipe is a breeze to make, especially if you have leftover rotisserie chicken (or cooked chicken of any kind). It only takes 5 minutes of active prep (and then 30 minutes of chilling in the fridge). We'll walk through the process together, and don't forget to watch the video. 

Make the avocado sauce

To begin, make the avocado sauce. Start by mashing the avocado and then mixing it thoroughly with the Greek yogurt (or sour cream). 

Next, add the spices and fresh dill and stir to combine. 

Add Chicken

Next, add the cooked and chilled chicken to the avocado sauce. Stir until the mixture is homogenous (uniform throughout). 

Chill

Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 hours. Just be sure to cover it tightly to prevent air from getting to the avocado! Chilling really helps the flavors blend and deepen in this avocado chicken salad!

Serve

There are many ways you can serve this healthy chicken salad! Here are a few suggestions: 

• As a sandwich. I suggest making homemade burger buns, pretzel buns, homemade wheat bread or homemade dinner rolls to make it an even more delicious meal!
• As a wrap. Serve in in your favorite tortilla or wrap to make it low carb or gluten-free. 
• Over a salad. I love serving this avocado chicken salad on top of a bed of greens, like this kale salad and this Greek salad, drizzled with a little homemade balsamic vinaigrette! 

How to store avocado chicken salad

Store this avocado chicken salad recipe in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Since there is avocado in this recipe it will likely turn brown if it's not all consumed the day it's made.

The greek yogurt & lime juice help preserve it's color, but be forewarned that while it will still taste amazing, it might become an off-putting color by day two. To prevent this, drizzle extra lime juice over any parts of the salad exposed to the air, then tightly cover the surface with plastic wrap before putting the lid on the container. 

Recipe FAQs

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The photos in this recipe were taken by the talented Jamie from Dishing Out Health. 

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