Italian Pesto Chicken Salad

Rating: 4.83 stars
6 Ratings
  • 5 star values: 5
  • 4 star values: 1
  • 3 star values: 0
  • 2 star values: 0
  • 1 star values: 0

Prepared pesto is the secret ingredient in this lightened-up, healthy creamy chicken salad recipe. For the prettiest dressing, go for a bright-green colored pesto. Serve the salad open-face on toasted bread or scoop it on top of fresh salad greens.

EatingWell Test Kitchen
Source: EatingWell Magazine, May/June 2016

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Recipe Summary

total:
20 mins
Servings:
6

Nutrition Profile:

Nutrition Info
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Ingredients

Directions

  • Combine yogurt, mayonnaise, shallot, pesto, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Stir in chicken, arugula and tomatoes. Top with pine nuts. Serve at room temperature or refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours.

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Tips

Make Ahead Tip: Refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 3/4 cup
Per Serving:
209 calories; protein 13g; carbohydrates 3.4g; dietary fiber 0.6g; sugars 1.5g; fat 15.7g; saturated fat 2.6g; cholesterol 32.1mg; vitamin a iu 292.9IU; vitamin c 3.6mg; folate 11.3mcg; calcium 73.4mg; iron 0.9mg; magnesium 28.5mg; potassium 216.9mg; sodium 357.6mg; thiamin 0.1mg.
Exchanges:

1 1/2 lean meat, 3 fat

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Reviews (4)

Read More Reviews
6 Ratings
  • 5 star values: 5
  • 4 star values: 1
  • 3 star values: 0
  • 2 star values: 0
  • 1 star values: 0
Reviews:
Most Helpful Most Positive Least Positive Newest
chantalle nugent
Rating: 5 stars
12/28/2016
starting to eat healthy looking for healthy fresh and bright filling meals for a diet and weight loss. the creamy yogurt and mayo with the bright tangy taste from the pesto was beautiful and rich the peppery taste from the 'rocket salad leaves' and freshen from the tomatoes was brilliant. would have this again in a heart beat. Read More
Julie L
Rating: 5 stars
04/06/2019
So delicious a real keeper! Read More
Pontefractious
Rating: 4 stars
06/04/2021
This was pretty good. Used what I had available so - boneless, skinless chicken thighs, regular non-fat yoghurt and spring mix salad along with the rest of the ingredients. In making the dressing I added half as much again of pesto. I served this up as a main salad course for dinner so I threw in cucumber as well as some cooked carrots and french beans I happened to have left over. I took half the non-chicken salad ingredients and made a bed on each plate and then put the rest of the salad into the mixture with the chicken, which I then piled up in the middle. This made for a visually attractive plating and also provided some relief from what with the extra pesto had become a very rich mixture. Will dial back the pesto and use Greek yoghurt next time. Good for inclusion in the Summer rotation. Read More
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Mandy E.
Rating: 5 stars
04/13/2021
This chicken salad is delicious. Even though the dressing is made predominately from Greek Yogurt, it tastes exactly like mayo. And the Pesto flavor is amazing. This is a dish that I will make on a regular basis. It is simple to throw together and so much tastier than I expected. Read More
EatingWell User
Rating: 5 stars
04/18/2016
Tasty and healthy! The pesto and lemon juice together with the low fat Greek plain yogurt made this. I am glad the recipe didn't want too much mayo. It is light and refreshing great on a salad on top of a halved baked potato or in a sandwich so quite versatile. Pros: Quick to make Cons: A few ingredients I had to buy Read More
Tracy E
Rating: 5 stars
08/25/2019
This is absolutely delicious! Read More
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