Super flavourful Chicken Salad! On this post, you’ll learn how to make chicken salad with lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onions, baked chicken breast, boiled egg, plus a delicious spicy mayo dressing that brings this salad to a whole new level!
If you love chicken salads, you need to try my Easy Chopped Chicken Salad, my Greek Chicken Salad Bowls and Chimichurri Chicken Chopped Salad.
Best Chicken Salad Recipe
I know we all love chicken salad sandwich, but this Chicken Salad With Mayo recipe will make you love this new variation of chicken salad even more. It’s delicious even without the bread, because who needs the bad carbs when you have a bowl full of goodies like this one, right?
This best chicken salad recipe is a very simple and easy go-to lunch for your week busy days, but it’s awesome for potlucks and picnics on the weekend too! And you can use leftover chicken to make your life even easier.
Chicken Salad Ingredients:
What I love about this easy chicken salad recipe is the fact that you can use whatever you have in your kitchen. I added lots of veggies that made this salad super nutritious.
- Lettuce – Boston lettuces, romaine lettuces, kale, spinach or arugula (whatever is your jam)
- Cucumber
- Cherry tomatoes or any other kind of tomatoes you prefer.
- Red onions
- Green onions for garnish
- Cooked chicken breast
- Boiled egg
- Homemade mayo, hot sauce (my secret ingredient) and lime juice for the sauce (Yum!!!). If you don’t want to use mayo, you can replace it with Greek yogurt.
How to make This Chicken Salad Recipe
This recipe is so simple to make and in less than 20 minutes all will be ready for you to dig in.
- First, if you are not using leftover chicken to make this salad, you can season chicken breast with your favorite spices and bake at 425˚F for 18-20 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let it rest for 5 minutes and then slice it. Set aside.
- Second, in a saucepot bring water to a boil and add egg. It should be fine in 5 minutes or so. It’ll depend on how hard you want the yolk to be.
- Chop/slice all the veggies (cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onions) and set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together mayo, Sriracha, lime juice, and salt/pepper. Then, taste to check the seasoning. Set aside. This dressing is fantastic and adds so much creaminess to the salad. Optional: a 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard to this dressing for an extra flavor.
- In a large bowl, add lettuces and all the veggies. Top with chicken and egg. Pour the dressing all over the salad and enjoy!
If you have some fresh herbs such as fresh dill on hand, chop some and garnish your salad with them.
Expect Tips
- This chicken salad recipe is very flexible! That means you can really incorporate any type of greens preferred. Use one variety or mix and match some of your favorites. Options include: bed of lettuce such as red leaf, romaine, iceberg lettuce, butter lettuce, bok choy, spinach, kale and arugula.
- Simple ingredients such as red onion, cucumber and cherry tomatoes are my go-to veggies for this salad. Feel free to add or substitute vegetables as you please. Try broccoli, brussels sprouts, carrots, bell peppers, mushrooms, radishes, cauliflower and more!
- I find this salad to be most enjoyable when I take additional time to cut everything up into nice, small, bite-sized pieces. It’s totally worth it because you’ll get a little bit of everything in each bite, and it really doesn’t take that much longer.
- If desired, you can use light sour cream or Greek yogurt for your dressing (rather than mayonnaise). This substitution is great if you don’t love mayo, but it’s also nice if you’re just looking to cut back on calories.
How to cook chicken for chicken salad?
So many times when I make this Chicken Salad recipe, I use leftover chicken from a rotisserie chicken, or from whatever favourite baked chicken dish I have.
But if I want to make something fresh, I always bake two chicken breasts with lots of spices to add more flavor, at 425˚F for about 18 minutes.
Cooking time will depend on the thickness of the breast. This Baked Chicken Breast recipe has all the instructions you need to make the juiciest chicken breast ever. I also love using this Garlic Butter Baked Chicken Breast recipe for this recipe too.
How To Store Leftovers
- To store: Place leftover chicken salad recipe in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Be sure and store the dressing separately to avoid sogginess.
- To freeze: Chicken salad recipes aren’t really good for freezing. You can, however, separate and freeze leftover chicken for up to 3 months!
What To Serve With this chicken salad
Avocado: Slice or mash avocado to serve alongside chicken salad for a creamy and nutritious addition.
Soup: Pair chicken salad with a light soup, such as a butternut squash soup, beet soup, carrot soup or a broth-based soup.
Bread or Crackers: Serve chicken salad on a bed of dinner rolls, in a sandwich, or with a side of low-carb crackers.
Extras: Chopped nuts such as almonds, pecans, walnuts, celery and even grapes.
Recipe Variations
Protein: You can replace your chicken breast for a steak bites, seafood like garlic butter shrimp, baked cod, baked halibut and even ground beef or turkey.
Dressing: If you don’t like mayo dressing, you can use only lemon juice and olive oil to season your salad.
Mix-up the veggies: Add your favourite green, veggies such as broccoli, green beans and asparagus.
Recommended Tools
- Mason jar: I just love the ease of making salad dressing in a mason jar! If you don’t have one, you can also use a small bowl and a whisk.
- Large bowl: I recommend you choose a bowl with plenty of space to give everything a good mix.
- Sharp Chef Knife: A sharp chef knife is an essential tool for effortlessly preparing your fresh vegetables and slice your chicken breast.
More Chicken Salad Recipes
In the mood for more chicken salad? I have so many options! You can’t go wrong with any of the following:
Frequently Asked Questions:
In my opinion, one of the most important parts of making a good salad is cutting all ingredients up nice and small! It might sound silly, but if you take some extra time to chop veggies into bite-sized pieces, you’ll get a little bit of everything in each bite! Plus, this makes salad more enjoyable because it’s easier to eat.
My simple chicken salad recipe includes a fabulous, homemade spicy mayo dressing that is to die for! But chicken salad is really versatile and you can totally use any dressing you prefer. So, feel free to experiment and try different options if you want to.
Absolutely! Pretty much any alternate protein will work. You can use salmon, tilapia, shrimp, bacon, bacon bits, steak, shredded beef or even pulled pork. I love making this salad after we barbecue because it’s a great way to use up extra meat.
Add fresh herbs, season well with your favorite spices, salt and pepper to taste and add lots of the spicy Mayo dressing. You can also add some dried cranberries for extra flavor.
Want another easy dinner recipe? Try my Asparagus Stuffed Chicken Breast or Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Lettuce Wraps. They’re so quick and easy to make!
Watch the Chicken Salad Web Stories.
Did you make a recipe? Tag @primaverakitchen on Instagram so we can find you!
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Chicken Salad with Spicy Mayo Dressing
Video
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 4 cups lettuce — chopped
- 1 cup cucumber — sliced
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes — sliced
- ½ cup red onions — sliced
- 1 medium baked chicken breast.
- 1 boiled egg
For the dressing
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise I used homemade mayo
- 2 tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce or any other hot sauce you prefer
- 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large salad bowl, add first the lettuce, and then top it with cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onions, baked chicken breast and boiled egg.
- In a small bowl, mix together mayo, Sriracha, lemon juice, and salt/pepper. Then, taste to check the seasoning and pour over the salad. Enjoy!
Tips
- The nutrition information was calculated using only 1/4 cup of the spicy mayo sauce.
- You can use any type of lettuce such as Boston lettuces, romaine lettuces, kale, spinach, or even arugula.
- Use different veggies if you’d like!
- Make sure to cut everything into bite-sized pieces so you can have a bit of everything in one bite.
- Use Greek yogurt as a substitute for mayonnaise, if desired.
- To store: Store the dressing in a separate container to avoid the salad getting soggy. Everything will keep for up to 4 days.
- To freeze: I don’t recommend freezing the salad but you can freeze the chicken for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
Eliza says
Such dishes really are all-time hit in the Indian region as they are indigenous to spicy food. Good recipe!
sheenam @ thetwincookingproject says
YUM!! So happy to have subscribed to your blog. can not wait for more amazing recipes 🙂
Olivia says
Happy to hear that 😉
Stacy says
Hello
Your recipe. Ingredients list says lemon juice but Instructions say lime. Which juice is correct? TY!
Olivia says
Sorry it was a typo. It’s lemon juice. Thanks for pointing it out! I just fixed it on the recipe box to avoid further confusion.
Netty says
This salad was really good, never thought of making a spicy mayonnaise, will definitely making this again and again, Netty
Olivia says
Happy to hear that!!!
Karen Marquette says
Love this !! Next time I will set the timer when I boil the eggs, I ended up getting busy and burned the, not the first time 😂
Olivia says
hahahahah that’s a good idea.