Healthy Chicken Salad Recipes

Looking for a clean, packable lunch for work? This healthy homemade chicken salad served inside an avocado instead of with bread is just the ticket. Plus, this recipe makes enough for ready-made lunches for the week! If you have leftover cooked chicken on hand, skip Step 1 and use about 2 1/2 cups shredded chicken in Step 2.

Shaving the vegetables for this easy salad recipe makes them deliciously tender-crisp without having to cook anything and helps them stand up to the bright homemade vinaigrette and salty Parmesan cheese.

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.

This healthy chopped salad is a great way to use up leftover cooked chicken. You can reserve the remaining hard-boiled egg half for a snack.

Poaching chicken in turmeric-infused milk for this healthy salad recipe yields tender results with a golden hue. Bright yellow turmeric has been used for centuries in traditional Indian medicine. The early spice's potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound, curcumin, shows promise in fighting certain cancers, including breast, pancreatic, colorectal, lung and prostate. (See Tip to learn more about turmeric's health benefits.) Don't toss the cooking liquid: some of it goes into the salad dressing and you can use what remains to cook grains or as a soup base. Make sure to use whole milk and don't go beyond a bare simmer, otherwise it may curdle.

Avocado makes an exceptionally creamy and healthful dressing for this chicken salad. A bit of ranch dressing with pickled jalapeño adds a tangy spin to the lunchtime classic. Serve it on a slice of whole-wheat toast for an open-face sandwich or in a lettuce cup for a low-carb lunch.

Everything you need (just 4 ingredients!) to prepare a week's worth of healthy, low-carb lunches can be found at your neighborhood grocery store. A bag of prechopped red and green cabbage serves as the crunchy low-carb base in these chicken salad bowls, which only require 10 minutes to assemble. Top with sesame-flavored almonds and a sesame dressing and you have one irresistible lunch you'll look forward to all week. Shopping at Trader Joe's? See Tip (below) for our product recommendations.

In this Buffalo wings-inspired chicken salad, Greek yogurt replaces more than half of the mayonnaise. We like the flavor of Frank's RedHot hot sauce, but Sriracha and Tabasco are delicious options too. Serve this healthy chicken salad as an open-face sandwich or scoop it on top of fresh salad greens.

We're pairing two shortcut products you can likely find at your local specialty grocery store--Middle Eastern bean salad and microwaveable farro--to add protein, fiber and satisfying texture to these high-protein lunch bowls. To cut down on prep time, we're also using preseasoned grilled chicken breasts from the refrigerated section, bottled balsamic vinaigrette and a few other ready-to-use ingredients to make these quick and easy meal-prep lunches.

A simple dressing, using yogurt rather than mayo, moistens the chicken in this tasty lightened-up chicken salad. Plus, it's flavor-packed thanks to a quick-to-fix honey mustard. Whip up a batch while you're meal prepping for easy, packable lunches.

The buttermilk dressing for this easy and healthy chicken salad recipe calls for using dried herbs, which gives you a more intense flavor blast and cuts down on prep time. But if you prefer the flavor of fresh, use 3 tablespoons fresh for each 1 tablespoon dried. Using leftover cooked chicken further speeds prep in this 20-minute dinner recipe.

This vibrantly colorful and healthy make-ahead salad is sure to become a go-to weekday lunch, though it's pretty enough to serve to guests. Fresh ginger gives a pleasant bite to the toasted sesame salad dressing, which is inspired by the dressings served at Japanese hibachi restaurants.

Reduced-fat sour cream and mayo make a sumptuous, creamy dressing for a considerably lightened take on chicken salad. Oven-poaching the chicken in broth intensifies its flavor and keeps it moist and succulent. Combined with sweet grapes and aromatic tarragon, this is an elegant version of chicken salad that's wonderful on a bed of mixed greens or a sandwich with nutty whole-grain bread.

Looking for a yummy lunch or dinner salad? This 30-minute, one-bowl meal combines citrusy chicken, sweet pineapple, creamy avocado and full-of-fiber brown rice with nutritious spinach.

This Asian-inspired chicken salad has a tangy soy-ginger flavor which is complemented by the sweet pineapple-sesame dressing. Ready in just 35 minutes, this recipe is perfect for a busy weeknight dinner or a weekend lunch with friends.

A healthier twist on a classic, this recipe uses Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise. Serve over fresh greens to make it a delicious lunch or simple dinner.

This healthy chicken salad recipe is sweet and crunchy thanks to the addition of heart-healthy pecans and fiber-rich dried cherries. If you have cooked chicken breast on hand, skip Step 1 and use about 3 cups chopped chicken in Step 3.

Need something to bring to a party or backyard barbecue? This make-ahead chicken pasta salad recipe is classic and completely adaptable-you can swap in whatever veggies, herbs or cheese you like.

In this salad, mâche is tossed with spring ingredients--new red-skinned potatoes and fresh peas--and a lemony tahini dressing and chicken.

Packed with seven kinds of veggies, this salad will make a dent in your daily vitamin recommendations. Top your veggies with lean juicy chicken, tangy feta, and roasted red pepper hummus.

No cooking necessary and ready in just 25 minutes, this Southwestern-inspired recipe is a great choice for a quick lunch or dinner. Don't have leftover chicken? No problem--use turkey!

Crunchy vegetables and tender chicken breasts tossed in a tangy vinaigrette make a refreshing main-dish salad. If you poach the chicken yourself, reserve 3/4 cup of the cooking liquid to make the dressing.

Tandoori chicken is a traditional Northern Indian dish of spiced yogurt-marinated chicken cooked in a clay oven. In this tandoori chicken salad recipe we grill chicken and toss it in a salad with grilled tomatoes and cucumber.

Leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken gets put to good use as a boost of protein in this healthy salad to pack for lunch. The classic chicken salad combines all the basics of a great house salad--greens, tomatoes, cucumbers and croutons--all tossed with a tangy red-wine vinaigrette.