Ready in less than 15 minutes, this Whole30 Chicken Salad is creamy, sweet and a little smoky! This effortless Whole30 recipe is simple, addictive and can be served as a side dish or a main. It’s also paleo, keto-friendly, gluten and dairy-free!
I’ve been looking for more ways to add protein to my diet that doesn’t involve powders or just plain meat. This Whole30 Chicken Salad is just the ticket! It’s made with my ultra creamy whole30 mayonnaise recipe, grapes for sweetness, spring onions for a little bite, and then I tossed in some oregano, garlic powder, black pepper, and smoked paprika for ALL of the flavour. It tastes amazing.
I stuck to ingredients that I had on hand to make this recipe really easy. For the chicken, I shredded it in my instant pot which is my favourite way to cook chicken at the moment. I just set it in the morning and then came back to it when I was ready to cook. It fell apart perfectly and mixes into this whole30 chicken salad with ease.
You can serve this whole 30 chicken salad in many ways. I like popping it on top of sweet potatoes (like in the photo above), but it’s also excellent on a bed of spinach or arugula/rocket leaves, or even on its own as a side dish. Share it with friends at your next gathering!
Why you will love this Recipe
- Flavour: I packed as much flavour as possible using simple ingredients. Smoked paprika, spring onions, garlic, oregano, lemon and ground black pepper all sing a note in this recipe.
- Quick: I threw this together in 10 minutes. All I had to do was quarter the grapes and slice the spring onions. I had already cooked shredded chicken on hand which helps a lot with time. Even cooking the chicken yourself, however, you would only need to add an extra 20 minutes or so for diced chicken. This is a very quick recipe!
- Easy: Toss everything in a micing bowl and mix well. Adjust seasoning and mayonnaise to taste. It’s that easy!
- Pantry staples: All of the ingredients used were ones that I already had on hand, and pretty much always have on hand in my pantry.
- Meal prep: Whole 30 Chicken Salad holds up in the fridge really well so it’s perfect for meal prep at the beginning of the week for easy lunches. You can make a batch of this, plus bake some sweet potatoes to serve along with it, and your meal is sorted. Even easier, serve this chicken salad recipe with a side of greens like arugula/rocket or spinach.
- Share it! This recipe travels well and is perfect for taking along to BBQs or potlucks.
Key Ingredients
- Chicken: I shredded my chicken breasts using my Instant Pot Shredded Chicken recipe, however, you can use store-bought rotisserie chicken (check the ingredients if doing Whole30) or you can dice up the chicken breasts and pan fry them at home.
- Mayonnaise: You can use store-bought whole30 compliant mayonnaise (see my list below), or you can make your own with my Mayonnaise Recipe. It tastes amazing and is really very easy! I’ve included a video and step-by-step story in that post to make it even easier.
- Grapes: An amazing indredient to add to whole30 chicken salad: grapes! Grapes add sweetness and a little crunch. I LOVE grapes in creamy salads. I added both green and red grapes. You can use both, one or the other – it’s up to you!
- Spring onion: I wanted a little fresh onion flavour without adding an actual onion as I find them to be a little overpowering when raw. Spring onion is the perfect solution!
- Lemon: Lemon is my favourite way of adding acidity to recipes and it is perfect in this Whole30 Chicken Salad.
- Spices and herbs: Oregano and garlic powder to add a little more of a herby taste (plus garlic needs to go in most savoury recipes in my opinion!), ground black pepper for a kick of heat and peppery-ness, and then I added smoked paprika which really adds a beautiful smoky layer to this dish.
How to make this recipe (step-by-step story)
Click through this story for all of the steps!
Storage Instructions
- Store: Store in the fridge for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
- Freeze: I don’t recommend freezing whole 30 chicken salad as the mayonnaise can separate when thawing and is unpleasant. You can freeze the ingredients without the mayonnaise for up to 3 months, and add the mayo after thawing.
Recipe Notes and Tips
- If you’re not doing whole30, regular mayonnaise is absolutely fine to substitute and will work well in this recipe. I always will advocate for making your own mayonnaise though! I haven’t bought mayonnaise in years because it’s so easy to make at home and tastes much better than store-bought!
- This Whole30 Chicken Salad is a great way to use up leftover turkey or chicken from holiday dinners and sunday lunches.
- Any colour of grape will work in this recipe! Green, red, black, pink, yellow or purple.
- You can omit the spring onions and swap it for a teaspoon of onion powder if necessary.
- Add a little Whole30 compliant hot sauce or 1/2 a teaspoon of hot paprika if you like heat!
What brands of mayonnaise are Whole30 compliant?
• Primal Kitchen (UK link) (US link)
• Hunter & Gather Food’s Avocado Oil Mayo (UK link)
• Dr Will’s (UK)
• Tessemae’s (US link)
• Sir Kensington’s (US link)
• Chosen Foods (US link)
• Ojai Cook Lemonaise (US link)
• Real Mayonnaise by Trader Joe’s (US)
Vegan Whole30 Mayonnaise:
• Hunter & Gather Vegan Avocado Oil Egg Free Mayonnaise (UK)
• Avonaise (US)
What goes well with chicken salad?
• Baked Potatoes
• Baked Sweet Potatoes
• Roasted Vegetables
• Salad greens like rocket/arugula, spinach and romaine lettuce.
• Fruit: strawberries, blueberries, mango, apples, pears, etc.
• Other fresh vegetables: celery, cucumber, carrots, cherry tomatoes, radish, broccoli, cauliflower.
Is Chicken Salad good for you?
I think so, yes, especially when paired with a vegetable or two! Whole 30 chicken salad is mostly protein (chicken) with mayonnaise (healthy fat depending on the oil), spices, herbs and fresh grapes (carbs). It is a well-rounded recipe that is low carb and keto-friendly, coming in at 4g net carbs per portion. You can skip the grapes to make this recipe even lower in carbs if needed.
Do you eat chicken salad hot or cold?
You eat it cold! Salads are generally cold recipes, and whole30 chicken salad is no exception. After preparing the chicken salad I store it in the refrigerator until I’m ready to serve.
More Whole30 recipes you will love
- AIR FRYER CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS
- WHOLE30 CHICKEN RAMEN RECIPE
- EASY WHOLE30 BREAKFAST SAUSAGE
- WHOLE30 RANCH RECIPE
- THE BEST ROASTED TURKEY
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Whole 30 Chicken Salad
Ready in less than 15 minutes, this Whole30 Chicken Salad is creamy, sweet and a little smoky! This effortless Whole30 recipe is simple, addictive and can be served as a side dish or a main. It's also paleo, keto-friendly, gluten and dairy-free!
Ingredients
- 4 cooked chicken breasts (1kg/2.5lbs), shredded or diced (click for my easy instant pot shredded chicken recipe)
- 2 cups whole30 compliant mayonnaise, store-bought or homemade, plus more to taste (click for my recipe, see notes)
- 130g grapes quartered (24 grapes, any colour)
- 4 spring onions, finely sliced
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- plenty of ground black pepper to taste
- salt to taste (I like pink Himalayan or sea salt)
- chopped fresh parsley to garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Add the chicken, mayonnaise, grapes, spring onions, lemon juice, oregano, garlic powder, smoked paprika and ground black pepper to a mixing bowl and mix well.
- Add extra mayonnaise, salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley if desired.
Notes
Mayonnaise: If you're making my mayonnaise recipe, either skip the garlic in the mayonnaise (fresh garlic) or skip the garlic powder in this recipe.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 490Total Fat: 43gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 35gCholesterol: 74mgSodium: 468mgCarbohydrates: 5gNet Carbohydrates: 4gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 20g
Nutrition information and calculations will vary with the use of different brands or ingredients. These figures are estimates. Please get in touch if you have questions!
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