I have this habit of forgetting about grapes.
As in, I have this habit of forgetting that grapes exist.
Do you ever do that with foods? Like, totally go for months without eating or seeing a certain food anywhere, and then suddenly it pops up on a random cheese platter and you realize that — oh my gosh — I totally forgot about grapes! And about how much I freaking love grapes!?
This exact scenario just might have happened to me while we were in New Zealand. And ever since we arrived home, I have been on a mission to make up for all of this lost time that apparently lapsed with me and grapes. Which means that I may have over-purchased a bit. And that my fridge may been transformed into a virtual vineyard. And I may now be racking my brain for all sorts of different ways to use these puppies up.
So my random throwback craving of the week has now turned into today’s new blog post. That’s right. Skip the mayo and toss in some Greek yogurt. But other than that, it’s the classic chicken salad that we will forever and always love.
How To Make A Lightened Up Chicken Salad | 1-Minute Video
I’ll admit — I probably haven’t had a classic chicken salad in about 10 years. But after whipping up this recipe, I’m convinced that it only gets better with age. And when lightened up with some Greek yogurt in lieu of mayo, I’m convinced it may be even better than the original. ;)
To make it, just chop up a bunch of cooked chicken (I used a rotisserie), celery, grapes, shallot, walnuts, dried cranberries, Greek yogurt, and lots of salt and pepper. (Next time I totally want to add in an avocado too!)
Toss it all together until everything is evenly coated with the Greek yogurt…
…and then within minutes, your lightened-up chicken salad will be ready to enjoy. Serve it up on some sandwich bread with lettuce, serve it in an avocado shell, serve it on a simple bed of arugula, serve it with an extra side of grapes (that you’re desperately trying to use up)…you know, you decide. ;) However you serve it, I hope you love it as much as I did.
Cheers!
Lightened-Up Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups diced cooked chicken
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt
- 1 cup seedless grapes, halved
- 1 small shallot, peeled and finely-diced
- 1/2 cup toasted walnuts
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries or cherries
- 1 teaspoon worchestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a large bowl, and toss until combined and evenly-coated.
- Serve immediately, or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 3 days.
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Are the dried cranberries/cherries sweetened? If not where do you purchase unsweetened?
Hi Mary! They are not unsweetened, but you can find them online if you just do a Google search for unsweetened dried cranberries/cherries.
You’ve always posted tempting photos. I will make this recipe for my children
Thanks for sharing your recipe! It looks super! I was wondering what brand of Greek yogurt you use????
You’re very welcome, Liz, we hope you enjoy! And we like Trader Joe’s and Fage! :)
I forget about grapes too, unless they’re right in front of me and when I saw them in this, I knew it was an inspired recipe, prefer not to use mayo anyway, great idea using Greek yogurt, thank you for this!
Looks like a great take to work lunch recipe, thanks for the idea!
It really is, we hope you enjoy it Kevin!
How about nutrition facts on this chicken salad.
Hi Carol! We’re sorry but we are unsure of the nutrition facts/amount of calories in this recipe. We currently are not publishing nutrition facts on the site, as the nutrition calculators available are not 100% accurate, and we never want to publish anything that might be misleading. However, a lot of our readers love the My Fitness Pal nutrition calculator, so feel free to try that for an estimate. We hope that helps!
We’re sorry but we are unsure of the nutrition facts/amount of calories in this recipe. We currently are not publishing nutrition facts on the site, as the nutrition calculators available are not 100% accurate, and we never want to publish anything that might be misleading. However, a lot of our readers love the My Fitness Pal nutrition calculator, so feel free to try that for an estimate. We hope that helps!
You have the best recipes!!!!
Thank you very much, Gustav — we appreciate that!
Be sure to let people know there is Worchestershire sauce in this. Anyone with a seafood allergy should not eat this, Worchestershire has anchovies in it.
Thanks for this reminder Nancy — we will include a note in the recipe!
Looks great and I think it’s what I’m going to make for dinner tonight!
I love chicken salad and lighting it up means lunch is planned for today. Thanks for the guilt-free recipe!
Thanks Trina — we hope you enjoy! :)