Paleo Chicken Salad

A recipe for Paleo Chicken Salad made with simple ingredients that pack some serious flavor? Sign me up!

To this day, I still remember my first encounter with chicken salad. It was in front of the deli case at Kroger, while grocery shopping with my mom. Monumental, huh?

I was a terribly picky eater growing up, and I can’t imagine what would have drawn me to trying chicken salad on such a whim….Oh yeah, probably the fact that it was in a sample case. YOU KNOW what I’m talking about – those displays that have free samples speared on toothpicks or stored in small cups. Yep, that was my first experience with chicken salad, and from that moment on I was hooked. I remember my mom being so surprised that this child, who had sustained herself on deli ham and strawberries for years, actually liked something new.

Other meaningful encounters I’ve had with chicken salad? I’ve had a few… My hometown’s hospital cafeteria actually had really great chicken salad that my mom would pick up from time to time to bring home. And in college I found great satisfaction in the chicken salad at Marti’s at Midday in Athens, Ga. I still dream about that one, honestly.

The most ironic part of it all is that I actually don’t love mayo. It was a condiment I never cared for and never consumed, and I used to pride myself in that. Oh, you don’t like mayo, Clara? NOPE. NEVER HAD IT, NEVER CARE TO HAVE IT. So, imagine my surprise when I found out what the main ingredient in chicken salad was besides the chicken itself…. Ha. Joke was on me. After the initial shock and time spent reevaluating who I was as a person, I grew to accept the fact that maybe I didn’t hate mayo, so long as it was only in chicken salad and nothing else.

And yes, I even went through that phase when people started to realize that Greek yogurt could be used in place of mayo in recipes, but then had a bout of time where I couldn’t tolerate dairy and thus had to drop the ol’ Greek yogurt swap.

After once again reevaluating who I was as a person, I decided to revert back to mayo. You know, give it a second chance. We all deserve second chances, right? However, rather than using your ol’ run of the mill mayo made with soybean oil, I opted for a “Paleo” version, made with avocado oil from Primal Kitchen Foods! It has a really fresh, light flavor that I’ve found I prefer over typical mayo, and I love that it’s made with whole food ingredients that don’t require excessive processing and help to balance our intake of omega 6 fats and seed oils.

I’m not trying to puff myself up, but I will say that this recipe is the single most popular recipe on my blog. So, ready to dig in this Paleo Chicken Salad for yourself?

Paleo Chicken Salad

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

  

• 1 lb chicken breast
• 1/3 cup avocado-oil mayo
• 1/3 cup grapes or apple chopped
• 1/4 small red onion finely diced
• 1/4 cup almonds or pecans finely chopped (optional)
• 3 stalks celery finely chopped
• 1 lemon zested
• 1 tbsp dried chives
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp dried dill

Instructions

 

• Bring a pot of water to a boil on the stove. Add in chicken and cook until internal temp reaches 165F. Once fully cooked, remove from pot and finely chop with a knife. Alternatively you can also pulse in a food processor.
• Add chicken to a large mixing bowl with all remaining ingredients. Use a large rubber spatula to mix everything together. Add additional mayo to reach desired consistency, and adjust seasonings to taste.
• Serve on sourdough, with crackers and carrot sticks, in a lettuce wrap, or in a small bowl with additional sides. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Notes

You can also cook chicken in a crock pot on low for 6 hours, or roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes before chopping. 

I suggest using avocado-oil mayo, my favorite brand is Chosen Foods, but any one that uses only avocado oil (no seed oils).

You can sub in whatever mix-ins you like! Grapes, apple, dried cranberries, raisins, celery, walnuts, pecans, etc.

I love making this a curry chicken salad by adding in 1 tbsp curry powder and raisins instead of grapes.