This healthy paleo chicken salad is packed with so many goodies like crunchy apples and celery, onions, cranberries, fresh herbs and tossed with an easy homemade mayo. It’s perfect over a salad, wrapped in greens or on its own for lunch or a snack! Family approved, sugar free, dairy free and Whole30 compliant.
Chicken salad is definitely one of my family’s favorite foods! This recipe disappeared right away, and Adam even claimed it was the best chicken salad I’ve ever made.
Which is why I boldly decided to give it the “best” label which I try to use very sparingly on this blog ;).
I truly think the key to a great homemade chicken salad is using homemade mayo. When I take the extra few minutes to make my easy homemade mayo, the flavor instantly goes to another level!
If you’re new to making homemade mayo, don’t be scared. With an immersion blender, it takes literally a minute and the result is well worth it!
What You Need to Make This Paleo Chicken Salad
I packed all my favorites into this chicken salad and it paid off!
The apples and celery give it a nice crunch and the pecans give it a nutty touch. The fresh herbs add to the flavor and the cranberries give it some sweetness and a “harvest” sort of feel which I love!
Here’s everything you’ll need to prepare the chicken salad:
- 3 cups cooked chicken, chopped or shredded (I used a rotisserie chicken)
- 1/4 cup onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 small apple, diced
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries, apple juice sweetened, or raisins
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 2/3 cup homemade mayo (you can also use store bought paleo mayo)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- rosemary leaves minced
- thyme leaves
- sage leaves, minced
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
How to Make the Best Paleo Chicken Salad
Once you have all your ingredients prepped, tossing together the salad is a breeze!
In a large bowl, toss together the chicken, onion, celery, apple, cranberries and pecans. Sprinkle the mixture all over with a little salt and pepper.
In a small bowl, whisk together the mayo, garlic, herbs, and lemon juice. Toss with the chicken mixture, then season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.
Once it’s seasoned to taste, simply serve over a salad, alone, or in lettuce wraps. Or make a chicken salad sandwich on gluten free bread or my sandwich bread!
You can store leftover chicken salad in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
I hope your family loves this flavor packed chicken salad as much as mine does!
Grab all your ingredients and start chopping because it’s time for a healthy, seriously yummy salad that you’ll want to make over and over – let’s go!
Best Paleo Chicken Salad {Whole30}
Best Paleo Chicken Salad {Whole30}
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked chicken (leftover, rotisserie, etc.) chopped or shredded
- 1/4 cup onion diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1 small apple diced
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries apple juice sweetened, or raisins
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 2/3 cup homemade mayo or use store-bought paleo mayo
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp fresh rosemary minced
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tsp fresh sage leaves minced
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
-
In a large bowl, toss together the chicken, onion, celery, apple, cranberries and pecans. Sprinkle all over with a little salt and pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayo, garlic, herbs, and lemon juice. Toss with the chicken mixture, then season to taste with sea salt and black pepper. Serve over a salad, alone, or in lettuce wraps. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Want More Paleo and Whole30 Lunch Ideas? Try One of These!
Roasted Delicata Harvest Kale Salad
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This was so yummy,tried it today with leftover cranberry sauce instead of actual cranberries
This is my favorite chicken salad recipe I’ve ever tried! Thank you so much for sharing!
Love your blog!! I made this for dinner tonight with some leftover smoked chicken and added pomegranate seeds instead of cranberries!! So delicious… thank you for all your posts!
i love everyones modifications!! admittedly i made one of my own 😛 (subbed green pepper for the celery) but this recipe is the bomb – i’m eating it for my lunches this week and it has such a dope range of flavor. thank you
Delicious! I can’t say enough good things about your recipes! When I found out I had to give up all the foods I love, I was devastated. I honestly thought I’d never enjoy eating again. Your creations are amazing! I actually prefer eating this way now. Thank you so much for sharing all your hard work!!
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Wow! This is really a great recipe. I’m not usually big on fruits or nuts in my chicken salad but going keto/Paleo I figured I’d try it. Wow! This is good stuff. Everyone loved it. I’ve passed around the recipe and everyone who makes it says they love it and so do their friends and family. Easy to make relatively. The hardest part is boning the chicken. Lots simpler than other keto/Paleo meals and doesn’t need any special ingredients – a bonus!
Absolutely fantastic.
Is the nutrition facts for the whole salad or per serving? and what’s the serving (example cups)?
I love your recipe! So incredibly yummy! Just trying to add this to my fitbit food count. This is really 301,000 calories (301kcal-listed in nutritional facts)??? Also these nutritional facts are for the whole amount or just one serving? What is a serving size? Thanks again for your input on the questions and for the yummy recipe!
Great old fashion chicken salad turned classic Paleo.
Thank you Michelle!
I used Primal Kitchen “Avocado Mayo” and it was great tasting.
Delicious salad! The homemade mayo is the best part!! Love it! Love it! It is my “Go to” recipe now!
Made this for lunch all week…added grapes and it was amazing!!! Thanks for the recipe
This is One of the best chicken salad Thank you so much for sharing!
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I’ve passed around the recipe and everyone who makes it says they love it and so do their friends and family. Absolutely fantastic.
This is absolutely amazing. Shared with some co-workers and everyone wanted the recipe. I doubled the recipe and made it exactly as written. The fresh sage and rosemary made this!
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I added some finely diced bacon to this and this chicken salad is my new favorite 🔥🔥🔥
It’s perfect over a salad, wrapped in greens or on its own for lunch or a snack!
So Tasty! I am newly committed to Paleo, and a brand new visitor to your site. I was looking for something tasty, easy and healthy, and this is definitely it. While I’ve never been a fan of mayo, I went ahead and made the Paleo Mayo linked in this recipe. Man, was that easy! I’m actually a little embarrassed that I haven’t been making mayo forever for my family members who do like it. The salad came together easily, is such a great base for add-ins or substitutions, and I don’t feel weighed down after eating it. (Just finished my first serving, and I couldn’t stop “mmmm”ing!). Can’t wait to try other recipes (hello, Paleo brownies!). Thank you so much for sharing your talents!