The biggest challenge with eating healthy if finding a recipe you enjoy enough to make over and over again. Even if you find a recipe you love, chances are you might cater to a crowd that has specific needs and restrictions. In a new recipe series, I want to give you the tools to be able to mix and match your favorite ingredients and options with the setting of the day. These 3 Easy Chicken Salad Recipes for Different Crowds allows you to adjust ingredients based on what you have available, people’s taste preferences and nutritional needs. You can dress this recipe up or keep it light and simple.
With options available, this recipe can easily take 20 minutes or less. Whether you are making this recipe for one or a crowd, chicken salad can be a delicious treat and an easy way to sneak in extra summer fruits or veggies when you get a chance. It can be a perfect and easy meal prep staple to grant you more time to spend outdoors, doing what you love during the summer. I personally think this recipe tastes better a day or two later but it never lasts that long in my household.
The options of this recipe can feature added healthy fats in your diet from avocado or organic mayo, probiotics from yogurt, extra vitamins and minerals from added fruit and spices. The beauty of eating a balanced diet means that you add extra nutrient dense ingredients to your favorite easy recipes and when you don’t have the resources or time, you can easily dress it down but keep certain staples that build it’s healthy foundation.
This 3 part recipe breakdown is part of a new series featured in my True Balance Basics Method which helps you move past trying to figure out balancing healthy food and focus on balancing your options within in it with flexibility so you can work towards balancing your complete health.
3 Recipes for Healthy Chicken Salad
The Chicken
This recipe is great because you can use leftover chicken or pick up a rotisserie to make this extra easy. If you want to prepare your chicken while making this recipe, here are my super simple instructions and ingredients:
- 1 pack Chicken Breast Tenders
- avocado oil drizzle
- salt
- pepper
- onion powder, garlic poweder, chili powder, turmeric, oregano, cayenne to taste, optional
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
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Pat chicken dry and toss with desired spices and oil. Bake for 20-35 minutes until desired doneness for the thickness of your chicken pieces. I prefer to bake mine until it is crispy and drier because it adds flavor and soaks up the dressing better.
Dressings Options
Traditional
- 1-2 tbsp mayo or smashed avocado
- 2-3 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/2 tbsp Apple cider vinegar
- 1-2 tsp raw honey
- salt
- pepper
‘Lite’
- 1-3 tbsp plain yogurt Or 1/4 avocado smashed yogurt (Siggi's, Nancy's, GT's coconut, Anita's coocnut)
- 1/2 lemon juice if using avocado
- 1-3 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/2 tbsp Apple cider vinegar
- 1-2 tsp raw honey
- Salt
- Pepper
- Green onion topsÂ
The Salads
The Simple
- Celery thinly sliced
- Shredded or chopped up chicken- leftover grilled, rotisserie
- Pickle diced
-
Green onion, red onion or sweet onion finely chopped (can use green onion tops for garnish)
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Mix with dressing and add chopped or shredded chicken
The Classic
- Celery thinly sliced
- Chicken
- Sliced grapes
- Pickle
- Green onion, red onion or sweet onion finely chopped (can use green onion tops for garnish)
- traditional or lite dressing
The Fancy
- strawberries
- dried apricots
- chopped pecans
- Green onion, red onion or sweet onion finely chopped (can use green onion tops for garnish)
- 'lite dressing'
- added spices (turmeric, onion powder, salt, pepper, oregano)
- celery
Serving Options
Making one of the 3 Easy Chicken Salad Recipes for Different Crowds means you want options for how to serve your dish. Chicken Salad is traditionally delicious to have as a sandwich but here are some healthier serving options for your chicken salad:
Pita Pockets
Open faced sandwich on local made whole grain or gluten free ancient grain toast
Boston Lettuce Cups
Tortilla cups: take whole wheat or white corn tortillas, rip in the middle 1/3 of the way through. Place in muffin tin and bake at 400 degrees F for 5-10 minutes until toasted. May get soggy or leak if you serve chicken salad in the cups and leave out. I recommend serving the salad in the cups when ready to eat.
Thank you for this post. I’ve always believed that chicken had to be cooked to 180 using an instant read thermometer to be safe. Always dry. I do more grilling outdoors, but I’ll definitely have to look for one of those pans. Should be good for any type of meat.