Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad

If you aren’t a fan of chicken salad, it might be because you think of chicken salad as a big gloopy mess with finely diced chicken and mostly mayonnaise for the dressing. This can feel like a heavy sandwich filling. To change it up and lighten it up a bit, I use Greek Yogurt for this Chicken Salad version which is tangy and zippy and still has plenty of binder to make a good dressing for chicken salad.

Of course, the key to any good chicken salad is the add-ins and I like to use a good mix of some very crunchy vegetables and also fresh fruit for a little sweetness.

Let’s dig in and make this great chicken salad!

Looking for a more traditional chicken salad? Check out my ultimate chicken salad recipe!

What kind of chicken works best for chicken salad?

I think lean chicken cuts works best for chicken salad. You really don’t want a lot of fatty pieces in the chicken. This means three solid options for the chicken.

Option 1) Use a rotisserie chicken and shred the white meat up and use that for the chicken salad. Works great and is very easy!

Option 2) Blanch a few boneless skinless chicken breasts in lightly salted water until they are cooked through and shred easily. Then let them cool slightly, shred them, and mix them into the salad.

Option 3) Canned chicken. Works okay in a pinch and is very easy, but loses some flavor. My least favorite of the three, but I’ve definitely used it with success.

I use all of these for chicken salad depending on the scenario but I probably use rotisserie chicken the most.

Greek Yogurt vs. Mayonnaise

Most chicken salad recipes rely on mayonnaise for the binder for the salad. Mayo is very fat-forward and if you use too much it can feel very heavy.

Greek yogurt has much less fat in it and is dairy based. It has some tang to it and is more flavorful than mayonnaise.

Both work fine as a binder though and can be used for salads like this.

One note on Greek Yogurt. In salads like this, it can tend to separate a bit in the fridge so give it a stir before serving if you are serving it out of the fridge.

Ingredients for this chicken salad

We already talked about some of the ingredients but let’s review:

• Chicken – Pick one method from above and go with it.
• Carrots, celery, red onion – My trinity of crunchy vegetables for chicken salad.
• Greek yogurt – The binder for the dressing.
• Lemon juice – Adds some freshness.
• Mustard – More flavor to the party.
• Spices – I like salt, pepper, and smoked paprika.
• Grapes – Might sound weird but fresh grapes add some crunch and sweetness to the salad.

Tips for making a great Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad

There are a few tips for making a good Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad.

• Fine dice – Try to take time to dice your ingredients well. You don’t want any huge chunks of red onion or anything.
• Taste and go – This is very important, but even though I give a recipe below, chicken salad should be something you taste and adjust as you make it.
• Don’t forget sweetness – Good chicken salad has sweetness to it which I use grapes for but you can also use dried fruit like cranberries.

Ways to serve this chicken salad

This chicken salad can be served in lots of ways, including via spoon straight out of the bowl!

Personally, I like it on toasted sandwich bread with some arugula.

You can also make a traditional salad out of it on a bed of lettuce.

An alternative idea is to go all-out dip for it and serve it with crackers! If you are planning to make it a dip, dice your ingredients even finer.