I’m kind of obsessed with chicken salad lately. It’s easy to prepare, super filling, and the perfect cold meal during these hot summer months. I especially love this chicken salad with apples because it’s full of sweet and crunchy apples, sweet-tart dried cranberries, and a simple homemade dressing that has a bright fresh flavor thanks to the addition of yogurt. And as usual, there are plenty of ways you can add to or swap out ingredients in this recipe. So keep reading for ideas!
What Kind of Cooked Chicken to Use
I cooked up some fresh chicken breasts just before making my chicken salad (see the step by step photos below the recipe). But you can use any pre-cooked chicken like, poached chicken, baked chicken, or rotisserie chicken. If using rotisserie chicken, simply pull the meat from the bone, remove the skin, and give the meat a rough chop. You’ll need about 3 cups of chopped chicken for this recipe. You can also use canned chicken breast, if needed, although that option will have the least desirable texture and flavor of the three options.
What Else Can I Add to My Chicken Salad?
Chicken salad is so flexible. Nuts pair really well with the flavors of this salad, so you can try adding some almonds or chopped pecans. Finely diced celery adds a nice crunch and fresh herbs make the flavor nice and lively (basil, terragon, chives). And if you don’t have dried cranberries, golden raisins or red grapes also work really well in this recipe.
How Long Does it Last?
This salad is usually good in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, but it can vary depending on the freshness of your chicken and the conditions inside your refrigerator. This salad should not be frozen.
How to Serve
You can serve chicken salad several different ways. The most common is as a chicken salad sandwich and you can do this on your favorite bread, on a croissant (like in the photos), or in a wrap. It’s also a great topper for a green salad, or you can serve it with crackers and a delicious dip (you might want to chop the chicken and apples a little smaller in that case).
Love chicken salad? You might also like Curry Chicken Salad, Broccoli Cheddar Chicken Salad, or our Traditional Chicken Salad.
Chicken Salad with Apples
Servings 4 1 cup eachIngredients
- 3 cups chopped cooked chicken ($7.97)
- 1 apple (1.5 cups chopped) ($0.76)
- 1/4 cup diced red onion ($0.20)
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries ($0.22)
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise ($0.53)
- 1/3 cup plain yogurt ($0.35)
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard ($0.18)
- 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar ($0.10)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
Instructions
- Chop the cooked chicken and the apple into small pieces. Finely dice the red onion.
- Place the chicken, apple, onion, and dried cranberries in a large bowl.
- Combine the mayonnaise, yogurt, Dijon, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Stir until smooth.
- Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients in the bowl and stir until everything is coated. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
Video
How to Make Chicken Salad with Apples – Step By Step Photos
You’ll need about 3 cups chopped cooked chicken for this recipe, so if you’re not using rotisserie chicken, you’ll want to cook some chicken first. I used two chicken breasts (about 1.3 lbs. total). I filleted each breast in half to make two thinner pieces, which helps them cook more quickly and evenly. Then I just cooked them in a skillet with a little oil over medium heat until they were golden brown on each side and cooked to an internal temperature of 165ºF.
Allow the chicken to cool for 5-10 minutes before chopping it into small pieces.
Chop one apple into small pieces (about 1.5 cups). You’ll probably want to use a variety of apple that is sweet or sweet-tart, like a Fuji or Gala. Also finely dice about ¼ cup red onion.
Add the chopped chicken, diced apple, diced red onion, and ¼ cup dried cranberries to a bowl.
To make the salad dressing, combine ⅓ cup mayonnaise, ⅓ cup plain yogurt, 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard, 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar, ¼ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp freshly cracked pepper. Stir until evenly combined and smooth.
Pour the prepared dressing over top of the salad ingredients.
Stir until the salad ingredients are combined and coated with dressing. Serve immediately, or refrigerate until ready to eat.
Just made this and boy is it delish! Love how the flavors just explode in your mouth… yum! Beth you are an artist with food!
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Ohai chicken, have you met my friend, waldorf salad? NOW KISS.
Err… ziplisting this so hard.
Hahah, that was the best comment ever :)
It’s not a 5. You forgot to finish the line down in the T
Yup, you’re right. Sometimes I leave off letters or partial letters when writing by hand :P I’m much better at typing!
Prepared this last night for a family get-together and they absolutely loved it. All your hard work is worth it when you see your family enjoying what you’ve fixed for them. Made the wrap and it was fabulous. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
pinned this earlier this week, just made it tonight. definitely a keeper. also made your cumin-lime chickpea salad tonight (also love it!). had made your peanut thai sauce a few weeks ago and ate it for every meal ’til it was gone. great recipes!!
Just made this last weekend for my lunch all week this week. This is so freaking delicious and healthy! I agree with you completely, I can eat this everyday for the rest of my life. Thanks for posting this recipe!
This was really good Beth! Yum!
Made this last night with my kids and they really liked it!
I made this today and it’s very good!! Really enjoyed the combination of flavors. I was hoping to pair it with the pita bread, but that was a bust. (I’m going to try again though)
My friend sent me this website last week-we both love to cook and I’ve already tried five things from here. Thank you for such great recipes and detailed information!
I just made this for the second time in as many weeks, and I *love* it. I first made it last week when a friend was in town so we could have something easy and quick in the fridge for lunches & not have to go out. We each ate one wrap and then quickly went for another. The texture of the chicken and apples and dried cranberries together is really interesting, and I love the tangy dressing. I didn’t change a thing in the recipe & it was perfect. We ate it for a couple of days for lunch & this week, I was already craving it again.
I work from home, so being able to have something healthy, fresh, tasty & quick waiting in the fridge for lunch really helps me keep from getting sucked into the computer and then skipping lunch, only to chow down on junk food later. I’ll be making this often! Thank you!
I whipped this up for lunch today after coming home from class and while I was a little nervous about how it would turn out (I didn’t really start cooking until I found this blog), it was amazing! I left out the dijon mustard, used a yellow onion instead of red, and left out the cranberries (I forgot to get them at the store, I’ll be sure to remember next time) but I can’t imagine that it tastes too different from the original. This is really yummy.
I just made this recipe for dinner tonight, to eat with some spinach in whole wheat wraps. (I did already sneak a few bites right out of the bowl after I made it…I couldn’t help myself). Tastes awesome! Can’t wait for dinner :P
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe :)
I love you
i came across your blog a little while ago….and the other day decided to search for it again. i just made this recipe using leftover chicken breast from a cornflake chicken recipe (i scraped off the soggy cornflake – apparently i didn’t do a good job on that dish. this was really easy, delicious and healthy! i used greek yogurt to give it a thicker, creamier consistency. thanks so much! can’t wait to try other recipes.