Last summer at my sister-in-law’s bridal shower we had the most AMAZING chicken salad. Truth be told, I’ve never been a fan of chicken salad as I found it too full of mayo for my own liking (don’t tell Abra), and I was never a fan of the grapes either.
After getting a taste of chicken salad at the party for the first time in many years, I kept thinking about how delicious it was and knew my own chicken salad recipe needed to happen! We put an AK twist on chicken salad that’s a bit healthier than the traditional version and packed with unique spices and tons of flavor.
When I first posted this greek yogurt chicken salad last year it was such a huge hit with AK readers that I knew I had to share it again. Get this on your weekday lunch menu ASAP!
The AK take on traditional chicken salad
If you grew up on the mayo-and-grape-filled chicken salad, you know what I mean when I say chicken salad could use a little upgrade. We lightened up this healthy chicken salad recipe by using protein-packed greek yogurt instead of mayo, which adds the perfect creaminess and tang.
Delicious, Moroccan-inspired spices like cinnamon, turmeric and cumin take the flavor of this greek yogurt chicken salad to the next level. It’s super fresh while have that cozy, comforting flavor. AMAZING.
What’s in this greek yogurt chicken salad?
This greek yogurt chicken salad recipe is made with minimal, fresh ingredients and is packed with protein thanks to plain greek yogurt. There are also dried cherries, crunchy pecans and of course, cilantro! You can feel free to mix and match ingredients as you so choose, but personally, I really love the recipe as is. It’s a great way to use up grilled chicken or even extra roasted shredded chicken. Here’s everything you’ll need to make this healthy chicken salad recipe:
- Chicken: you’ll need some cooked, diced or shredded chicken breast. Try one of our easy ways to cook chicken before making this recipe!
- Yogurt: you’ll need some plain greek yogurt, which will act as the base (and traditionally, the mayo) in this recipe.
- Tahini: this is optional, but I love the flavor and extra creaminess it gives the chicken salad. Soom is my favorite brand — use the code ‘ambitiouskitchen’ for 10% off your order!
- Mustard: a little dijon mustard adds the perfect tangy element.
- Spices: we’re adding some warming, Moroccan-inspired spices like cinnamon, turmeric and cumin to create a wonderful flavor. Add some cayenne if you want a hint of spice, and don’t forget a plenty of fresh ground black pepper and salt to taste!
- Herbs: for a lovely freshness you’ll need parsley, cilantro and green onion.
- Mix-ins: finally, we’re swapping the traditional grapes for sweet dried cherries and crunchy pecans or toasted almonds! SO GOOD.
Customize your healthy chicken salad
As I mentioned, this greek yogurt chicken salad is absolutely delicious as-is, but feel free to customize with what you have on hand:
- Make it vegetarian: if you want to keep the recipe vegetarian you can swap the chicken for chickpeas or even cubed tofu.
- Make it dairy free: simply use your favorite plain, dairy free greek yogurt.
- Use mayo: if you are a big mayo lover (like Abra), no shame! Feel free to use it in place of the greek yogurt, or do half and half.
- Choose your mix-ins: feel free to also use toasted, sliced almonds, dried cranberries or raisins.
Healthy chicken salad in 3 easy steps
This healthy greek yogurt chicken salad recipe is incredibly easy to make, which makes it the perfect meal prep lunch.
- Mix the base. Combine the yogurt, tahini, mustard and all of those spices. Mix until they’re well combined.
- Add the mix-ins. Add in the chicken, herbs, tart cherries and nuts until everything is well coated. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper as you like.
- Serve & enjoy! Serve the greek yogurt chicken salad with crackers, in lettuce cups, on bread and more.
It’s a great way to get in a good amount of protein for lunch. You can also double the recipe and bring it to potlucks, BBQs and picnics!
Our fav ways to enjoy greek yogurt chicken salad
As I mentioned, the options are truly endless for serving and enjoying this healthy chicken salad! Here are some of our fav ways to do it:
- Serve it at your next BBQ with your favorite crackers like these 4-Ingredient Paleo Crackers or chips
- Add it to lettuce cups or even a collard wrap for a low carb, grain free lunch option
- Top your go-to sandwich bread (homemade, anyone?) or add it to a bun
How to store chicken salad
This healthy greek yogurt chicken salad should last 3-5 days in the fridge. After you make it, just be sure to cover it and place in an airtight container. Once ready to serve, simply place in lettuce cups, on a bun or in a sandwich! Yum.
More healthy packable lunch recipes you might like
- Honey Mustard Apple Tuna Salad on Sweet Potato Toast
- Crunchy Rainbow Thai Peanut Chicken Wraps
- Pumpkin Seed & Avocado Pesto Chicken Salad Sandwiches
- Farmer’s Market Spicy Tuna Wraps
- Vegan Curry Chickpea Salad Collard Wraps
- Greek Salad Pinwheels
Get all of our delicious lunch recipes here!
I know you’re going to love this healthy greek yogurt chicken salad recipe, please let me know if you make it by leaving a comment and rating the recipe below. I’d love to hear from you and it helps encourage others to make the recipe too! xo.
Moroccan Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups (12 ounces) diced cooked chicken breast (feel free to use rotisserie or shredded chicken)
- ½ cup whole milk greek yogurt (or 2% or nonfat)
- 1 tablespoon tahini (optional, but I love the addition of it!)
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- Optional if you like it a little spicy: 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Lots of freshly ground black pepper
- Add-ins:
- ½ cup dried cherries (or sub cranberries)
- ⅓ cup diced green onion
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- ⅓ cup chopped toasted pecans (or sub toasted sliced almonds)
Instructions
-
In a large bowl, add yogurt, tahini, dijon mustard, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, salt and pepper. Mix until smooth.
-
Fold in the diced chicken breast, tart cherries, green onion, parsley, cilantro and chopped pecans. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more salt and pepper, if necessary. Serve as is, or in lettuce cups or on a sandwich or bun! Serves 4.
Recipe Notes
How to toast almonds or pecans: add nuts to a saucepan and place over medium heat, stirring occasionally for 2-5 minutes until they are are slightly golden brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
If you want to use mayo instead of greek yogurt, feel free to! I prefer an avocado oil or olive oil based mayo.
How to store this chicken salad: This healthy greek yogurt chicken salad should last 3-5 days in the fridge. After you make it, just be sure to cover it and place in an airtight container. Once ready to serve, simply place in lettuce cups, on a bun or in a sandwich!
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on June 28, 2020, and republished on July 25, 2021.
78 comments
Thanks for the delicious recipes!
Just wanted to let you know that the print button doesn’t seem to work on my iPad using Safari browser. Don’t know if others have the same problem.
Absolutely! And thanks for the heads up – we’ll look into it!
so good! I have to admit, i hate mayo! so whenever i see a chicken salad with greek yogurt instead i get so happy! love the flavors in this!
This one’s perfect for you!! Such great flavors.
This was SO good! So much flavor and very unique.
Thanks for sharing!!
Glad you loved it!! One of my fav lunches this summer 🙂
Just made this and it was delicious and extremely easy. I had leftover rotisserie chicken and took the skin off and cut it up. I didn’t have dried cranberries but subbed for grapes which were a good.
Perfect! Such a great lunch.
Awesome!!! Loved this recipe. We enjoyed it with fresh bread, roasted Brussels sprouts, and sriracha aioli. We even spread the aioli on the bread and then put the chicken salad on the bread. Wow. Thank you!
Love that! Sounds delicious 🙂
Monique does it again! I am a loyal AK follower and still haven’t found a recipe that I don’t love and recommend to literally everyone. I added pomegranate seeds because I didnt have any nuts and wanted a crunch. It was delicious! Monique, you are truly the best
Amazing! So happy to hear that, Lauren. Pomegranate seeds sound delicious in here 🙂
I meal prepped this for my lunches for the second time. I love it! The first time I ate it on lettuce leaves. This time I kept the dried cherries on the side and add them daily with chopped romaine. Very tasty. It’s going to stay in my lunch rotation.
Delicious! Love this one for a quick & easy lunch, too!
Healthy, flavorful, and easy! What more could you ask for in a lunch?
Right?? So good!
Wow, I’m so grateful for this delicious AND super healthy recipe! I didn’t change anything and flavors were truly awesome. I served in lettuce cups as suggested, with a side of plain rice.
Amazing! So glad you loved this one 🙂
Thanks for another yummy recipe! I made this with poached chicken and used green onions, dried cranberries, and toasted walnuts for the add-ins. I included a about 1/2 of a tablespoon of tahini and I think I might try almond butter next time just out of curiosity. The only thing I’d change is that I’ll add about half the recommended amount of salt next time (my chicken was already well seasoned so 1/4 tsp was a bit too much). Other than that it was a delicious recipe and I will definitely be making it again!
So easy to make, travels well for lunch, and no mayo…SIGN ME UP, love this recipe!
Absolutely! Such a great lunch!
Such an amazing twist on traditional chicken salad!! Love it!!
So good!!
Just made this tonight! I bought some pre shredded chicken from Whole Foods because I was lazy. I really liked it-so easy and healthy and perfect for throwing together on a week night. I think next time I will halve the spices—it ended up being a little much for me. I also added a couple tablespoons of raisins and served on a pita.
The recipe is awesome and i like it thanks for sharing.
Absolutely! 🙂
Made this last night and it was great
Quick and easy👍
So glad you enjoyed!
So good! And super easy! The dressing was a little thick (probably the yogurt I got) so I added juice from a half lemon and threw in some feta I needed to use up. This one’s bookmarked!
Perfect! And yes feel free to adjust/thin with a bit of lemon juice or water 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed!
This recipe was SO GOOD! I didn’t have any tahini so I subed with sesame oil and added lots of cayenne pepper. Super flavorful, instead of bread or lettuce did napa cabbage and it was delicious. I’m sure it would be great on anything or even alone!
Perfect! Love that idea!
One of my go-to Monique recipes for a high-protein, low fat, full flavor lunch. I usually forego the mustard because I don’t like it, but I can’t tell the difference when I have added it. Love this on top of a slice of Dave’s bread.
Perfect! We love Dave’s bread here, too 🙂
This recipe is AMAZING for a quick weekly lunch. So fast and delicious! I usually buy Bibb lettuce and bread so I can mix it up throughout the week.
Absolutely! Love that idea 🙂
Meal prep this for weekday lunches at least once a month. LOVE! We’ve had to with crackers, on bread, on salad, even inside of an avocado half. Cannot go wrong!!
The best! Glad you love it!
One of my favourites to prepare at the start of a week and eat for lunch or snacks over a few days. But it also works great for a summer bbq or lunch . Love the lighter take on a chicken Mayo salad and the spices give it a nice hint of heat.
Absolutely! Such a great lunch. Glad you love it!
So good!! I did find the portions to be a bit more than I thought and I had quite a bit of leftovers. I skipped the green onion (personal preference) and added some other chopped veggies I had on hand (bell pepper, carrots) and this was a fantastic lunch option!
Perfect! Feel free to have it serve a few more meals, too 🙂
Very yummy and easily adaptable to what you have on hand. I use raisins and almonds if I don’t have cherries and pecans.
Absolutely! Perfect lunch.
This looks delicious. I came across your website through another website and just wanted to let you know that it appears as though dozens of your recipes have been re-posted verbatim with photos, ingredients, and instructions included. https://www.loragrace.com/post/15-minute-healthy-moroccan-greek-yogurt-chicken-salad
Thank you so much for the heads up, Pat! We will look into this. Hope you enjoy this one!
I used this recipe to repurpose leftovers and it was absolutely delicious. I added in all of the optional ingredients other than the cayenne and the salad was delightful. I also used cranberries instead of cherries. Definitely recommend!
Love that! Such a great lunch or dinner.
Love the recipes. Going to the grocery store today
Enjoy! 🙂
Very tasty and light! I added raw cashews as that’s all I had on hand. Great for a light, quick meal/snack. Currently just eating it out of the bowl (it’s that yummy!), But I could see how tasty it’d be in a wrap on maybe in a pita!
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed!
I love this site. I have made several dishes from here and they are absolutely wonderful. I wish there was a way we could have our own accounts within the site so we could save recipes that we want to try for later. Thank you for making great recipes to keep our families full and healthy!
So happy to hear that! And great idea – we’ll keep that in mind 🙂
Saw this on your IG and happened to have left over grilled chicken and all the ingredients on hand so just made for lunch. SO good! I’m just bummed I had to half it because I only had 6oz chicken.
Love that! Perfect lunch 🙂
This was so good and so easy!! I ate it in lettuce cups topped with avocado. It kept well for lunch throughout the workweek!
Love it! Glad you enjoyed!
Delicious! This really did take just 15 minutes and was so flavorful. We didn’t have tahini, but I bet it would be even more delicious with it. This would be excellent for meal prep as the leftovers were just as good as the first night we made it. We enjoyed it with croissants, but it was great on its own too. Another Ambitious Kitchen winner!
So glad you enjoyed! Sounds amazing on croissants!
So easy and delicious!!! Will definitely be making again,
Glad you enjoyed!
So good!! Ate with crackers. Looking forward to having for lunches this week
Love it! Such a great lunch 🙂
Made this tonight and YUM! Thx for a great Monday recipe!!
So happy you tried and enjoyed it, Rachel! 🙂
This chicken salad is delicious! Made for a gathering with friends and everyone loved it. Only slight modifications are I added a tiny bit of mayo. For the add-ins I used parsley, green onion, celery, cranberries and pecans. Served with both boston lettuce leaves and pitas.
Yay! I’m so happy everyone loved it 🙂
Sorry just saw this now will be making this soon can i use mushrooms and coconut yogurt as am a vegan i never had salad before perfect for my after office meals will dm you if i make this and let you know how it goes Thanks Ramya
Yes those are excellent subs! Let me know how it turns out!
WOW WOW WOW. Hubs and kiddo approved, even with that little kick of cayenne. This recipe is SO easy and SOO delicious (x10) for those nights you want something healthy but would rather not spend much time prepping and cooking. From start to finish, this took me 10 mins max. I did add some celery and red onion for a little extra crunch and flavor, but the creamy yogurt dressing made this to die for.
This will be a lunch and summer dinner staple in our household forever!
Woohoooo! So happy it was easy and delish 🙂
Used lactose free yoghurt, toasted almonds, subbed cherries for cranberries and halved them. Yum! Tasty and healthy
Thanks for sharing, I’m so happy you loved this one!
I don’t eat meat but I made it for my in-laws and they loved it, it was so easy to make- I will definitely try the vegetarian version soon!
I make this chicken salad on a weekly basis! It is SO full of flavor and 0 points on WW (if that is something you track!) I love it with lettuce wraps, tortilla chips, over a salad, or on toast. I sometimes mix it up with the added ingredients, like I add raisins and cashews and celery instead of cranberries/cherries and walnuts. Grapes are also a surprisingly delicious add. There aren’t any AK recipes I dislike, but this is one of my TOP faves. SO quick and easy to make and a delicious snack to have on hand.
I am so happy to have stumbled upon this chicken salad! I’ve been trying to find new recipes to try! Is a serving 1 cup or a certain amount? Thanks!
So glad you found it! The serving is 1/4th of the final salad. I think it would be about 3/4 cup!