Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad
This post contains affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad is the perfect healthy meal. Made with no mayo, high in protein, low fat and low carb. Great for weight loss, easy & yummy! Keep it keto with no fruit, or make it with apples! You can serve it on a sandwich or a salad.
If you’re like me and you hate mayo – you’re going to love this greek yogurt chicken salad. It’s everything you love about regular salad (creamy/crunchy/yummy!) but better for you!
I’m not a mayo girlie (sorry if you love it!) so I previously never really ate chicken salad. Now that I know you can make it with greek yogurt, I meal prep it almost every week!
This healthy chicken salad is protein packed, delicious and super easy to make (use a rotisserie chicken to save time!)
Here’s why we like it:
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- No mayo – Like I said before.. mayo is just not for me. Plus, it’s relatively high in fat and offers little to no nutrition value. Greek yogurt is higher in protein, low fat and low calorie
- Low fat/high protein – Greek yogurt helps to make this chicken salad low in fat and high in protein. In 3/4 cup there are 24g of protein and only 9g of fat which comes from the pecans. You can omit them if you’re looking for less fat!
- Great texture – This chicken has a mix of crunchy pecans, apples and celery, with the creamy yogurt and chunks of moist chicken breast. Lots of good texture!
- Light and fresh! – This chicken salad is super filling while tasting really light and fresh!
This greek yogurt chicken salad is also really versatile in terms of how you serve it. Sandwich, salad, lettuce wrap.. you can choose! Let me show you how simple it is to make!
Ingredients for this recipe
To make this greek yogurt chicken salad you’ll need:
- shredded chicken – you can cook it yourself and make crockpot shredded chicken, instant pot shredded chicken, or buy rotisserie chicken!
- non fat plain greek yogurt – full fat yogurt works too
- apples – we like it with dried cranberries too
- celery
- pecans are totally optional but add a nice crunch!
- salt, pepper
- fresh parsley
This healthy chicken salad is pretty easy to customize/substitute your ingredients, so check below in the green box for ideas on how to make it just the way you like!
If you like buffalo sauce, you need to try our Buffalo Chicken Salad!
Substitutions
This chicken salad is SO versatile. You can easily customize it with whatever you like/don’t like or have on hand. Here are some ideas for you:
Chicken – You can sub chicken for tuna if you’d like. We also have a Greek Yogurt Tuna Salad recipeI have not tried canned chicken in this recipe but I think it would work. You can use a rotisserie chicken that you shred to save time!
Yogurt – I like to use plain, unflavored, non-fat greek yogurt in this recipe. You can use 1%, 2%, or full fat yogurt if you like. We don’t recommend using a flavored/sweetened yogurt in this recipe.
Parsley- If you don’t have fresh parsley, you can sub with 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley. If you don’t have or like parsley you can substitute with some fresh dill, thyme or even basil! Fresh herbs do make a difference, but this chicken salad is still good even with dried herbs!
Dairy Free – I have not tried this with dairy free yogurt, but I think it would work. Make sure that your yogurt is unsweetened, plan yogurt.
Grilled Chicken – This salad is great with leftover grilled chicken. We love it with this balsamic chicken!
Fruit- You can omit the fruit if you’d like to. Apples can also be subbed for grapes or berries. If you’re going to use a dried fruit like raisins or dried cranberries – I’d recommend cutting the amount in half.
Celery– If you don’t like or don’t have celery omit it. You can also substitute with red onion.
To make lower calorie- You can omit the amount of pecans or cut back on the amount to save calories.
Keto – If you are following a strict keto diet – it’s best to omit the apples from this recipe.
Honey – If you want a hint of sweetness, add a teaspoon of honey or maple syrup
Mustard – 1-2 teaspoons of mustard is a delicious add in!
Pecans – Feel free to omit or substitute with your favorite nut. Some people like shaved almonds in their chicken salad.
Everything Bagel Seasoning – If you are a fan of everything bagel seasoning, try our Everything Bagel Chicken Salad!
Taco – For a Mexican flavor, try our Taco Chicken Salad.
How to make Chicken Salad with Greek Yogurt
Making chicken salad is REALLY easy.
- Cook your chicken and shred. There are instructions below to make it in the instant pot, crockpot, or the stove.
- While the chicken cooks, chop your veggies/nuts.
- Stir all the ingredients together in a bowl.
- Enjoy in a sandwich, on a salad or right out of the bowl!
How to make Shredded Chicken:
The only ‘cooking’ this recipe requires is for the chicken. You can cook your chicken in instant pot, crockpot, or by boiling on stove top. Even better – buy rotisserie chicken to save time! Here are different methods for cooking your chicken:
Instant Pot: Cook 1 lb chicken with ¼ cup water on manual for 14 minutes. You can also follow this instant pot shredded chicken recipe if you need help
Crockpot: Cook 1 lb chicken with ¼ cup water on low for 6 hours. You can also follow this crock pot shredded chicken recipe if you need help
Stovetop: Boil 1 lb of chicken in water for 10-14 minutes until thoroughly cooked
Rotisserie chicken : Simply buy a cooked chicken and pull the meat off with forks to save time! (Make sure to save the bones and make bone broth with it!)
Tip for shredding chicken: You can pull apart chicken breasts with two forks – but if you want to save time – place your cooked chicken breasts in your kitchen aid mixer and give a few quick turns with the paddle attachment. You can also ‘mix’ them with the beaters of a hand mixer.
Storage
This healthy chicken salad is great for meal prep because it lasts for a while in the fridge!
How long does chicken salad with yogurt last in the fridge? : You can keep this chicken salad in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days. After that it will lose it’s freshness.
Can you freeze chicken salad? We do not recommend freezing this chicken salad. The fruit/yogurt will get funny after freezing.
Will it be okay out of the fridge in a lunch box/on the go? Because this has cooked chicken in it and dairy, we wouldn’t recommend leaving it out of the fridge for more than 2 hours.
How to Serve Healthy Chicken Salad
You can serve this chicken salad however you like! We like it:
- on a sandwich or a strawberry goat cheese salad with a healthy salad dressing or some chips on the side
- on top of apple slices
- in lettuce wraps
- as a healthy ‘dip’
- with Simple Fruit Salad
FAQ for Low Calorie Chicken Salad
Greek yogurt can be used instead of mayonnaise pretty much interchangeably. It’s great in baked goods, savory recipes and especially chicken salad.
Greek yogurt is better for you than mayo. It’s higher in protein, lower in calories, and lower in fat!
The easiest way to make greek yogurt taste like mayo is to add a little bit of fat to it, or buy a higher fat greek yogurt. Adding a little olive oil to your greek yogurt will help thin it out and give it a similar ‘mouth feel’ to mayo.
Chicken salad really isn’t bad for you, but it could easily be made healthier with a few swaps. Using greek yogurt in place of mayo considerably cuts down on the fat content. Using chicken breasts/lean meat instead of dark meat can also help make chicken salad better for you!
Love chicken? Check out our favorite healthy chicken breast recipes!
Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups cooked shredded chicken about 1 lb
- 1/2 cup plain nonfat greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped finely
- 1/2 cup celery diced finely
- 1 cup apples chopped
- 1/4 cup pecans chopped
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Cook chicken. Bring a pot of water to a boil and boil chicken for 10-14 minutes. You can also cook chicken in the instant pot, crockpot or buy a rotisserie chicken and shred it.
- While chicken is cooking, chop parsley, celery, apples and pecans.
- Once chicken is cooked, shred the chicken by pulling apart with 2 forks.
- Add chopped ingredients, spices, greek yogurt and shredded chicken in a bowl.
- Toss together using a spatula until all ingredients are thoroughly coated with yogurt.
- Serve on a sandwich or over a salad.
Everything on hand- used rotisserie chicken- fantastic salad. Threw in some dried cranberries. Definitely a keeper!
Really like this recipe. Will be making this often. In fact making again today. Only change was craisins for apple. It is what I hf on hand.
Really enjoyed this salad.
Made as written. Did not have an apple so used craisins.
Already shared recipe with friends.
I,too, have never had chicken salad because I, too, am repulsed by mayo! 🙂 I have made this recipe twice in one week already, and find myself craving it. It is SO good, and so full of protein! I love eating it on crackers. Thank you!
Can’t wait to make this! If I am keeping fat intake low as well and delete the pecans, would the fat content be close to Zero?
Yes! You can put this into my fitness pal or any other calorie tracker to get the exact fat content.
Incredible! The best homemade chicken salad I have EVER made! Thank you for including yogurt in the base. The apples add a crunch and the fresh parsley is key. So good! You need to make this.
This is a great meal prep lunch. I used leftover grilled chicken that was seasoned. I wasn’t sure I could do a chicken salad without mayo, but I didn’t miss it at all.
Holy moley! This is amazing!!!
So good! I love the greek yogurt substitute for mayo, can’t even tell the difference. Will definitely be making this again!
This was the easiest chicken salad recipe I’ve ever made. Best of all it was a healthy version. I had to most of the time opt out of eating the chicken salad I would make for my family because I knew it was made with mayo and was full of calories. And for some reason my stomach always felt uncomfortable after eating it. However, this chicken salad to my surprise had a great taste full of flavor! I Loved it! It is definitely the only way I’ll be making my chicken salad from now on. Thank you for coming up with the Perfect Chicken Salad Recipe!
I don’t cook. I don’t prepare food. When it comes time for office parties, I bring cups and plates and ice. I made this and brought it for lunch. People thought I had bought this at a restaurant. I’m a little insulted. Easy and good.
I made this recipe today exactly as the recipe. Absolutely scrummy will definately be making again.
Loved it and really tasty and so easy and versatile.
The thing I did different instead of makining it into a sandwich or having with salad. I had celery, cucumber and carrot sticks and put the chicken filling inside slices of ham and made wraps. Had quite a few comments at work and have passed your recipe on.
Thanks for sharing.
Ruth
I make shredded chicken every week for salads that I bring to work so I thought I would use some of the chicken to make your chicken salad. I was not disappointed. This was so good! I didn’t use the celery but I also added in some dried cranberry with the apples and pecans. Ate it on Ezekiel toast. Delicious.
I love your recipes. I love how you turn unhealthy foods healthy. I will definitely be making this again. Thank you!
This is the BEST chicken salad! As always quick & easy to make too.
This recipe is amazing! To echo another reviewer, I don’t like Greek yogurt by itself or the way it smells, but love this chicken salad. I only had dried parsley in hand and it worked well. I will be making this regularly!
Could you use plain dairy free yogurt substitute rather than Greek yogurt?
All of our blog posts have a green substitutions section. Here’s what this one says: Dairy Free – I have not tried this with dairy free yogurt, but I think it would work. Make sure that your yogurt is unsweetened, plan yogurt.
Super easy and very tasty. I like onion so I added a little finely chopped red onion. Used whole milk greek yogurt.
I never really liked chicken salad before, but this one was great! I hate mayo, so the greek yogurt replacement was a life saver. I put a scoop over a bed of greens and added chopped strawberries on top—it’s my new favorite lunch!
Going to make this Greek Yogurt
Chicken Salad.
My Family love’s Chicken Salad
Thank You
Hope you love it!
I agree with you that mayo is super gross! I’ve been making a chicken salad with a rotisserie chicken, greek yogurt, lawry’s seasoning and a little bit of lemon juice. I’m excited to try it with apples too!
That sounds so great! Hope you love this!
Very similar to my own recipe. I add just a dollop of Dijon mustard as well for a little kick!
That sounds delicious!
I just made this recipe and it was so delicious! The only thing I did different was toast my pecans. Thanks for all your delicious recipes!
Great idea, Maurita! I need to try that!
I also find mayo to be repulsive, so have never been a fan of chicken salad – Until now! This was so so good! I left out the apple and nuts, but added in some dried cranberries. Will definitely make again!
Thanks, Shelley! Mayo is the worst, LOL! I swear I never ate chicken salad until this!
This was the easiest chicken salad recipe I’ve ever made. Best of all it was a healthy version. I had to most of the time opt out of eating the chicken salad I would make for my family because I knew it was made with mayo and was full of calories. And for some reason my stomach always felt uncomfortable after eating it. However, this chicken salad to my surprise had a great taste full of flavor! I Loved it! It is definitely the only way I’ll be making my chicken salad from now on. Thank you for coming up with the Perfect Chicken Salad Recipe!
I made shredded chicken in my quick-cooker (super easy) & then added fresh dill & dried cranberries to this recipe!
I love the greek yogurt in place of mayo. I used it on salad & sandwiches. One of my new lunch favorites.
So glad you liked it, Clara! Thank you so much!
I was a little skeptical about this recipe because I’m not a huge fan of Greek yogurt, but this is delicious. I make a batch at the beginning of the week and have enough for two or three lunches. I put it on top of mixed greens and add carrot and dried cranberry (maybe not the healthiest, but I like the little sweetness). Defiantly recommend this recipe.
So glad you liked it, Jessica! Love those additions!