Keto chicken salad is a favorite for lunch in our house, whether it’s eaten with a fork, in a lettuce wrap, or spooned on top of sliced cucumber. I load this chicken salad recipe up with all kinds of goodies so that every bite has loads of flavor and texture.
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When the sun finally starts peaking out and the weather finally starts warming up, I immediately start thinking of lazy summer days and firing up the grill.
Summer food is the best food, if you ask me!
In our house, we do a lot of simple lunches, especially during the hot summer months when we don’t want to mess with the oven or leave the pool.
This low carb chicken salad is a summer staple for us, but we do eat it all year long. It’s hard to resist since I load it up with all kinds of goodies.
Chicken Salad Ingredients:
This keto chicken salad is absolutely packed with all of my favorite things! I like lots of flavor and texture in my chicken salad.
You’ll need shredded chicken, mayonnaise, mustard, hard boiled eggs, dill pickles, minced onion, chopped pecans, fresh dill, vinegar and salt and pepper.
Feel free to sub in sunflower seeds or sliced almonds for the pecans.
You may use dill relish in place of chopped pickles, but check for hidden sugars as a lot of relish contains sugar.
How to make chicken salad:
We often start with a rotisserie chicken from the store to keep it really easy, but if you have an Instant Pot (affiliate link), it works perfect for cooking chicken to shred.
Just pop in a couple pounds of chicken breasts or thighs with a cup of broth and use the poultry setting for 15 minutes. I always do a full natural release to ensure the meat is tender. It seems to get tough if you quick release.
You can also throw your chicken in a slow cooker and cook it on low for around 3 hours and then shred it with a couple of forks.
Let your chicken cool completely before mixing together your chicken salad.
Stir together the mayonnaise, mustard, pickles, pecans, onion, dill, and vinegar and then toss in the shredded chicken.
Give it a taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
This tastes best after it’s had at least an hour to chill out in the fridge, but you can eat it right away if you’re in a hurry.
Store tightly covered for 3-5 days.
Low carb chicken salad:
Everything in this chicken salad recipe is low carb, but traditionally chicken salad is served between bread.
You could try your hand at this low carb bread recipe or, if you’re not strictly keto, you can check out some of the lower carb breads available at the grocery store. Healthy Life is a brand that’s widely available and has around 6 net carbs per slice, depending on the variety you choose.
Low carb tortillas make a great wrap.
I usually choose to serve my keto chicken salad in a lettuce wrap. Both romaine hearts and butter lettuce work well – romaine is crunchy and butter lettuce is soft. Choose whichever texture you prefer.
I’ve also cut a cucumber in 1/4 thick rounds and spooned a little chicken salad on top. It’s delicious and adds great crunch.
More low carb chicken recipes:
Stuffed Chicken Breast: You should read the reviews on this recipe!
Low Carb Chicken Parmesan: A family favorite!
Crockpot Chicken Fajitas: We all love Mexican food!
Low Carb Chicken Casserole: Total comfort food!
Lemon Garlic Chicken: The creamy sauce is seriously outrageous and so easy!
Keto Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 2 large boiled eggs chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped dill pickles
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- 1/4 cup minced yellow onion
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
- 1 teaspoon fresh dill
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add everything but the chicken to a mixing bowl and stir well to combine.
- Add the chicken to the mixture and stir well to coat.
- Taste and add salt and pepper, as desired.
- Chill for 1 hour before serving for best flavor.
Just Jay says
this was delicious, I added a little smoked paprika onion powder and garlic
Janet says
This is so awesome. It’s a slight variation on my recipe that I grew up with.
I would never thought of adding pecans but they are my favorite nut.
thank you for all that you do for us
Janet says
This is so awesome. It’s a slight variation on my recipe that I grew up with.
I would never thought of adding pecans but they are my favorite nut.
thank you for all that you do for us.
(it was supposed to be five stars I don’t know why it showed up as 4)
Mary Watts says
Hi Karly! Thanks for sharing this keto chicken salad recipe. It looks amazing! I noticed your recipe doesn’t include avocado, which I find adds great texture and healthy fats. I saw avocado being used in another keto chicken salad recipe and wondered if it would be a good addition here as well. What do you think?”
Karly Campbell says
I think it would be tasty! We have an avocado chicken salad recipe as well, with a bit of a different flavor profile that you might like too.
Tory says
Absolutely delicious!
Sherry says
Just started low carbing. Made this chicken salad and it’s sooo good. Husband loved it too. Thank you!! Look forward to seeing more of your recipes!
Karly Campbell says
I’m so glad you both enjoyed the recipe! Thanks, Sherry!
I have a weird name says
This turned out really well. I just added chopped celery and used dijon mustard. I never thought of using dill pickles before, but it’s delicious.
And will people quit complaining about ads and videos, please? This is how food blogging works, thankyouverymuch.
Valerie Waddell says
This was a delicious chicken salad as written! I’m not a fan of boiled egg so I left it out l, and I also added just a slight sprinkle of Swerve brown sugar substitute. It smoothed out the saltiness and gave it a slight sweetness that I loved. Just a personal thing for me, because I’m used to putting fruit in my chicken salad and missed the sweet factor. But, as I said your salad recipe was awesome! Thank you for posting it, and so loved your pictures too!
Karly Campbell says
Thanks for sharing, Valerie! I’m sure it was great with a little bit of sweetness. 🙂
Anita says
This was really good. I did add a little bit of celery.
Karly Campbell says
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks, Anita!
Darnell Arnoult says
I love this site and your recipes. I really like all the info you give, the videos, and for when I just need the recipe–the jump to recipe button. All the best options on one page. Thank you for all your hard work.
Karly Campbell says
Thank you so much, Darnell! Really appreciate the support and so happy to hear you enjoy the recipes!
William Ortiga says
My wife and I plan to make this for tonight but problem is she’s allergic to pecans. what’s your alternative?
Karly Campbell says
Slivered almonds or chopped walnuts add some nice crunch too!
Kimberly Davis says
I made the Keto chicken salad delicious. I’m starting Atkins I would love some recipes, especially for Induction Phase
Thank you
Jo says
Brilliant recipe! Thanks for sharing.
Vi says
Great recipe! Thanks for sharing it. I appreciate the Jump To Recipe button too. I made this yesterday for our lunches today and it came out flavorful. I didn’t have fresh chicken so I used can. Can’t wait to try it with fresh chicken.
Karly Campbell says
So glad you enjoyed it, Vi! 🙂
Althea says
2 weeks on keto…still don’t have the right balance for ketosis. Trying to find new recioes…this was fantastic…thank you….loved it.
Karly Campbell says
So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Good work sticking to it for 2 weeks – it’s tough at first, but you’ll get it figured out! 🙂
Cassandra Brooke Yeo says
Hey althea, what made you decide to go low carb? Mom of 3 here and trying to get back to my pre pregnancy weight
Kristi says
So is the serving size 1 cup?
Karly Campbell says
The serving size is 1/4 of the recipe.
Valerie says
So 1/2 cup?
Karly Campbell says
The serving size is 1/4 of the recipe. I didn’t measure by volume.
Karen Landreth says
Can you just stop with all the videos and whatnot and just provide the recipe????
Karly Campbell says
Nope. You can hit the jump to recipe button or scroll past the other info if you’re not interested in it though. But other readers find it helpful.
Jean Huhtala says
I love the blog and video. Sometimes I do jump to the recipes and then go back and see how you do it. Keep up the good work. Love this recipe and all of your. Love this KETO food even though the weight is quite suborn! I can live like this forever and there’s not a diet I haven’t tried. I’m 75 and seen them all :>) Thanks for your recipes.
Karly Campbell says
Thank so much, Jean! Appreciate the support and so happy to hear you enjoy eating keto. 🙂
jackson says
AGREED
irritating to scroll past miles of filler
to get to the meat
Karly Campbell says
If you don’t like reading blogs, then why visit them? Purchase a cookbook for your recipe needs.
Carrie says
Sad a rule, I don’t like salads in this form; potato salad, egg salad, chicken salad…just have never been a fan. But I’ve decided to get back on the keto wagon and in order to truly be successful there, you must have a plethora of foods and recipes to choose from so as to not get bored. How do you find good recipes? Try them! And boy am I glad I tried this one! I made it exactly as written and it is simply delicious! I think my main issue with most of these salads is they are too mushy with not enough texture, but this one is loaded with all kinds of textures to chew on, and the flavor is outstanding! Thanks for a wonderful recipe I will make again and again.
Karly Campbell says
Wow, love to hear that Carrie! Good for you for branching out and trying new things, too! 🙂