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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 1/4 cup of mayonnaise.
- Sweet relish: Then, add even more flavor with 1/2 cup of sweet relish.
- Dijon: Throw in 1 tbsp of dijon mustard next. Dijon is a must โ regular mustard will change the taste a bit.
- Spices: Last but not least, finish off with the following spices: 1 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of pepper, 1/2 tsp of sage, and 1/2 tsp 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!
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 1/2 tsp, 1 tsp, 1 tbsp, 1/4 cup, 1/2 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 1/3 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.
- BLT Chicken Salad
- Dill Pickle Chicken Salad
- Healthy Buffalo Chicken Salad
- Pesto Chicken Salad Recipe
All recipes by Erin Morrissey and Photos by Sierra Inn
Fall Chicken Salad
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!
Ingredients
- 3 medium cooked chicken breasts
- 2 cups finely diced apple
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 2 cups diced celery
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup diced red onion
- 1 cup 5% plain greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup sweet relish
- 1 tbsp dijon
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp sage
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- To finely shred chicken, add to food processor and pulse for 10 seconds. Alternatively shred by hand.
- Add shredded chicken to a large bowl, and then add apple, pecans, celery, cranberries, and red onion. Mix it all up.
- In a small bowl, whisk together yogurt, mayo, relish, dijon, salt, pepper, sage and garlic powder. Pour over chicken salad mixture and mix until well incorporated.
- Serve on bread, with chips, in a wrap, or on a salad!
There may be affiliate links in this post!ย By purchasing a product I recommend, I may receive a small compensation. However, I only recommend products I absolutely love and use myself. Thank you for supporting Erin Lives Whole, it helps keep this blog afloat ๐
April says
This is so delicious and filling! Making it again soon!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi April, so glad you loved it!!
Jess M says
Sooo so good! The perfect meal prep for the week during the fall. Great in wraps or with crackers – making again this week!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Jess, so glad you loved it! ๐
Trudie says
Amazing – best chicken salad
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Trudie, so happy you enjoyed it!!
Felicia says
I canโt stop eating this! Delicious.
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Felicia, so happy you loved it so much! ๐
Beckie says
Delicious! First time using the food processor to chop the chicken and that is a game changer! Also use it to chop the other ingredients too. I can see why Erin was always eating chicken salad every day. Itโs sooooo good! This one is great for fall with the cranberries and pecans.
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Beckie, so glad you loved it!!
Jen says
One of the best chicken salads Iโve made! โShreddedโ the chicken in my KitchenAid stand mixer and it worked great.
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Jen, so happy you loved it so much! ๐
Katie P says
Iโve been obsessed with chicken salad the last few months and this has been my favorite one Iโve made to date!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Katie, so happy you loved it so much! ๐
Catherine S. says
Omg this is SO DELICIOUS! I used dairy free almond greek yogurt (for any fellow DF peeps!) and it worked great! Also tried the food processor trick and it truly does create the BEST most perfect texture! 10000% adding this recipe into the rotation
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Catherine, so happy you loved it and made it your own!!
Elise says
★★★★★
Erin says
Thank you!!
Mallory says
So delicious! Making it again for the second week in a row.
★★★★★
Allison says
Really good! Great early fall lunch. Forgot cranberries, made with rotisserie chicken, and didnt have sage but was still great.
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Allison, so happy you liked it and made it your own!! ๐
Kate says
Your chicken salads never fail! So delicious and perfect for going into fall.
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Kate, so happy you love them so much! ๐
Megan Smith says
Just saw the recipe earlier this morning and happened to have leftover rotisserie in the fridge. Absolutely delicious for lunch!! Just what I was in the mood for
Erin says
Hi Megan, so happy you enjoyed it! ๐