This Chicken Salad is so good! Protein-packed with a delicious creamy dressing, perfect for an on-the-go lunch in a sandwich or wrap.

Chicken salad is officially my summer hero.

I’ve been happy with more summer activities in our family and a weekly batch of chicken salad in the fridge. I love a bowl of cold cream straight from the refrigerator for a high-protein summer mom lunch, and my daughters love eating these ingredients (plain chicken, grapes, celery, and cashews) with a dip and serving as a favorite snack plate for the kids.

Why I like it:

• Reason 1: Cream sauce… It’s surprisingly good. It doesn’t taste like pure Greek yogurt (gross), but there are enough ingredients, so you don’t end up with just one bite of mayonnaise. Perfect cream! The taste of Dijon, salt, sugar, onion, and garlic powder makes it a delicious variety of sauces I lick off the spoon every time.
• Reason 2: It’s full of protein! It’s a super satisfying midday pick-me-up!
• Reason 3: Nature is convenient. I often grab a few burritos, sandwiches, or bowls between chaotic afternoon errands and picking up the kids for a delicious meal!

The hero of summer!

You may notice that there are no raw Onions in the chicken salad, and that’s intentional. I prefer to add a generous amount of onion powder to the sauce, which gives us a nice flavor, but in a smooth, creamy way, rather than the watery, watery weirdness of cubed raw Onions. Each to his own! You can put Onions in there if you want. But I strongly support using onion powder in chicken salad instead of raw Onions.

The mixture you see here is my favorite (grapes, celery, and cashews), but you might like apples, almonds, pistachios, wild rice (!)—walnuts, etc. The beauty is that this protein-packed, super creamy chicken salad dressing can take us to so many fabulous places.

Welcome to my home! Let’s have chicken salad for lunch.

1. Make your dressing.

Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, and Dijon mustard will cheer you up! Add some salt, sugar, onion powder, and garlic powder, and you’re ready to lick it off the spoon. It was luxurious, sweet, salty, and surprisingly good.

2. Chop everything up!

I like to cut the chicken into chunks rather than shreds so it’s not too sticky.

For a classic chicken salad, you need these three elements:

• Sweet things (apples, grapes, dried cherries)
• Crunchy stuff (celery, diced onion)
• Nuts (cashews, almonds or pistachios)

My favorite combination is grapes, celery, and cashews! So classic. Hit every time. But based on your suggestions on Instagram, I have more exciting ideas in the notes to the recipe!

3. Mix them and season.

After you’ve mixed the seasoning with everything, you can season it with whatever you like. First, salt and pepper! I usually use freeze-dried chives and white pepper (so as not to blacken the whole thing). You be yourself!

4. You’re done! Yum!

You can put it on a croissant and make a lunch-style sandwich, stuff it into a lettuce packet, wrap it around a whole wheat packet, dip it in a cookie (Everything relish cookies can be recommended), or eat it! I do it all the time.

Instructions

1. For the seasoning: Stir the seasonings well. Taste and adjust, remembering it should taste salty/concentrated as it will disperse in all the other ingredients.
2. Mix: Stir your mixture (chicken, grapes, celery, and cashews) with your favorite dressing.
3. Season: Taste, adjust, and do as you please. I usually add some freeze-dried chives and white pepper.
4. You’ve done it! Yum! Eat whole wheat wraps, lettuce wraps, sandwiches, toast, dip cookies, or just plain! Delicious, cold, creamy. I love it. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.