Fill your plate with this delicious Fall Chicken Salad recipe made with crisp apples and celery, savory pecans, sweet cranberries, and a creamy, flavorful dressing. It's a fall staple!

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Recipe Name: Fall Chicken Salad
Ready In: 20 minutes
Serves: 16 ½ cup servings
Main Ingredients: cooked chicken breasts, finely diced apple, chopped pecans, diced celery, dried cranberries, diced red onion, 5% plain greek yogurt, mayonnaise
Why You'll Love It: Fill your plate with this delicious Fall Chicken Salad recipe made with crisp apples and celery, savory pecans, sweet cranberries, and a creamy, flavorful dressing. It's a fall staple!

Kick off autumn with the most delicious chicken salad

As the weather gets chillier, the cozy recipes come out of hiding. It's one of the best parts of fall! This fall chicken salad is a must-try this season. It combines chicken breasts with both sweet and savory ingredients, as well as a mouth watering dressing. Diced apples provide a crispy crunch, while chopped pecans bring in a rich, nutty flavor. But, that's not all! With ingredients like celery, red onion, cranberries, relish, mayo, and spices, there's loads of flavor in every single bite.

This nutritious and satisfying recipe makes the perfect healthy meal or snack. It's great as a main dish, a side, or a filling for sandwiches or wraps!

Ingredients in this fall chicken salad recipe

Each ingredient in this recipe provides loads of flavor. Below is everything you'll need:

Chicken breast: This recipe kicks off with 3 medium sized cooked chicken breasts. You could also use a rotisserie chicken!
Apple: Next, we'll add a bit of sweet flavor with 2 cups of finely diced apples. Any variety is fine.
Pecans: Add some more sweet and savory flavors with 1 cup of chopped pecans. You can used glazed pecans or regular.
Celery: No chicken salad is complete without celery! Use 2 cups, diced to add a nice crunch.
Cranberries: Then, throw in 1 cup of diced cranberries.
Red onion: Following the cranberries will be 1 cup of diced red onion. Using red is going to add the most flavor to the dish.
Greek yogurt: 1 cup of 5% plain Greek yogurt is going to thicken up the chicken salad.
Mayonnaise: Follow the Greek yogurt with ¼ cup of mayonnaise.
Sweet relish: Then, add even more flavor with ½ cup of sweet relish.
Dijon: Throw in 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard next. Dijon is a must — regular mustard will change the taste a bit.
Spices: Last but not least, finish off with the following spices: 1 teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon of pepper, ½ teaspoon of sage, and ½ teaspoon of garlic powder.

Note: Additional mix ins that taste great in this chicken salad include other nuts like sliced almonds or chopped walnuts, goat cheese, or even feta cheese!

Photo of ingredients for Fall Chicken Salad with labels.

Tools used to make this easy chicken salad

To create this dish at home, you will need a few kitchen tools. These include a food processor, large mixing bowl, stirring utensil, small mixing bowl, and a whisk!

For measuring out ingredients, you will need ½ tsp, 1 tsp, 1 tbsp, ¼ cup, ½ cup, and 1 cup sized measuring cups.

How to make fall chicken salad with apple and pecans

Ready to get started? This autumn chicken salad comes together easily, requiring only around 10-15 minutes of prep time. No cooking required!

First, finely shred the chicken by adding it to a food processor and pulsing for 10 seconds. Alternatively, shred by hand.

Add the shredded chicken to a large bowl, and then add the apples, pecans, celery, cranberries, and red onion. Mix it all up.

Next, grab a small bowl and whisk together the yogurt, mayo, relish, dijon, salt, pepper, sage and garlic powder. Pour the mixture over the chicken salad and toss until well incorporated.

Serve on bread, with chips, in a wrap, or on a salad!

Recipe Tips

Does chicken salad use mayonnaise?

This chicken salad uses ⅓ cup of mayonnaise.

Is chicken salad actually healthy?

The ingredients used in this dish provide a wide variety of nutrients like protein, complex carbs, fiber, vitamins C, B6, B12, and K, manganese, calcium, and more! The meal is well rounded and satisfying.

What is the best way to each chicken salad?

This recipe can be enjoyed a number of ways. Eat it as-is, or serve on bread, with chips, in a romaine lettuce wrap, or in a salad!

Storing leftovers

Wondering how long will chicken salad keep in the fridge? When stored in an airtight container, this salad should say tasty and fresh for around 3-4 days.

If you liked this recipe, you'll want to try these!

If you're looking for some more chicken salad recipes, we've got you covered! Here are some yummy renditions to try.

All recipes by Erin Morrissey and Photos by Sierra Inn

fall chicken salad in bowl with crackers

Erin Antoniak