Description
This Easy Cranberry Chicken Salad is a creamy, flavorful dish packed with tender chicken, sweet dried cranberries, crunchy celery, and toasted nuts. Made with a simple yet delicious creamy dressing, it’s perfect for sandwiches, wraps, lettuce cups, or a quick refreshing lunch.
Ingredients
For the Chicken Salad
- 3 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded or diced
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup celery, finely diced
- 1/3 cup red onion, finely diced
- 1/2 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Creamy Dressing
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Combine Salad Ingredients: In a large bowl, mix together the cooked chicken, dried cranberries, celery, red onion, toasted nuts, and fresh parsley until evenly distributed.
- Prepare the Dressing: In a separate bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, honey, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt, and black pepper until smooth and well combined to create a creamy dressing.
- Mix Dressing and Salad: Pour the creamy dressing over the chicken mixture, then gently stir until all the ingredients are thoroughly coated with dressing.
- Chill to Blend Flavors: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a lid and refrigerate the salad for at least 30 minutes, allowing the flavors to meld and the salad to chill.
- Serve: Enjoy the cranberry chicken salad chilled, perfect for stuffing into sandwiches, wraps, lettuce cups, or serving over a bed of fresh greens for a light meal.
Notes
- Rotisserie chicken is a convenient and quick option for this recipe.
- Swap pecans with almonds, walnuts, or sunflower seeds for different nutty flavors.
- Add diced apples or grapes to introduce an extra sweetness and crunch to the salad.
- For a lighter version, substitute some or all of the mayonnaise with Greek yogurt.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and consume within 3 days for best freshness.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: No-Cook
- Cuisine: American
