Curried Chicken Salad

Need a quick but healthy, super-light and yummy meal for dinner tonight? You’ve hit the jackpot! Gluten-free, protein packed, fiber-rich, this Curried Chicken Salad has them all. With its delicious yogurt dressing, this chicken salad will become your ultimate lunch on warm days.

If you love salads like this, you might want to see our no mayo chicken salad and keto chicken salad too.

Some times of the year are just so hectic for me. I do not have time for anything but work only. It is one of those times and I am soooo busy. It is crazy. I need to sacrifice lots of things at times like these but eating healthily is NOT one of them.

You might say it is always easier and quicker to get chicken salad from the super market. But why buy a pre-packed salad when it is so easy and cheap to do your own salad? Believe me, it is worth the 20 minutes.

Ingredients

Did I tell you before that this curried chicken salad is soooo incredibly tasty? It will immediately become your favorite chicken salad recipe.

Curry is the secret spice that will satisfy your taste buds in each bite size chicken. Along with all the other tasty ingredients for sure. I use curry powder when cooking the chicken so that the chicken breasts are no way bland.

What else goes into this chicken salad?

For chicken: Chicken breast, cooked and cubed, water, salt, pepper, curry powder, olive oil

For Dressing: Mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, Dijon mustard, Lemon juice, Salt

For Salad: Dill pickles, green onion, walnuts, fresh dill 

How To Make

The recipe has three easy-peasy parts.

First, cook the chicken. Place chicken breasts into a pan. Pour a little water over it and cook covered over medium low heat until chicken releases water. Let it cook until that water reduces. Then, season with salt and pepper. Drizzle olive oil over it and continue cooking for about 5 minutes. Then turn them over and cook until tender and both sides get golden. Finally, transfer chicken breasts on a cutting board and cut them in cubes.

Here you have many alternatives for the chicken. Boneless chicken thighs, chicken breast, cooked chicken like rotisserie chicken will all do great in this recipe. You have some leftover roast chicken thighs? Bring them on! What other better way to use your leftovers? They work perfectly in this curried chicken salad.

Second, prepare the easy dressing. Whisk together the mayonnaise, yogurt, Dijon mustard, lemon juice and salt.

Third, make the salad. All you need to do is to combine everything in a bowl and add in chicken pieces. Now give it a good stir to combine.

At this step you can get as flexible as you want. The best thing about salads is that you can customize them very easily. If you are not on the strictest diet, add in some croutons. Want more protein? Sprinkle some grated cheese. You can always swap the herbs as you wish. I even add lemon zest and fresh mint when I want a fresh flavor. Ooops, I almost forgot avocado. Use it in your salads whenever it is possible. 

Low Carb Dressing

Store-bought salad dressings mostly contain sugar and a kind of starchy thickener, so always make your own salad dressing at home. Especially if you are following a low carb diet or trying to live healthier. You won’t want to buy it again once you see how easy it is to prepare it at home. What I love best about homemade salad dressings is that you can easily adjust them to your diet or taste.

The dressing in this salad recipe is one of my favorites. It is basically the combination of mayonnaise, yogurt, Dijon mustard and lemon juice. Believe it or not, this dressing can take any salad to another level of deliciousness.

If you are not into yogurt, then you can use sour cream instead.

Carbs

Is this curried chicken salad low carb? This recipe is absolutely low carb. First off, unlike most chicken salads, the ingredients in this one does NOT include any grapes or dried cranberries which are high carb fruit. Actually, it has NO fruit in it. You can always add in berries like strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries or some nuts if you want, though.

Second, it does not have any pasta or croutons. Then, no starchy vegetables like potatoes are involved. What’s more, there is no sugar or any other sweeteners in the dressing in this recipe. It is as low carb as it gets!

Just enjoy the delicious taste it offers without worrying about the carbs.

How To Serve

My first option is serving it on lettuce leaves. Put 3 tablespoons of salad on lettuce leaves and serve.

Curried chicken salad in lettuce leaves give you extra freshness, lightness and fibers.

However, they are not your only choice. Try dipping cucumber sticks in it for another healthy option. You can even make cucumber cups and fill them with this salad.

Still another option could be serving them in roasted red bell peppers.

Or you can always take a spoon and dive in straight to the bowl!

Do you have a completely different idea? We always love to hear your ideas! Please share them in the comments section below the recipe. 

FAQs

How Can You Store Chicken Salad? If you store it in an airtight container in the fridge, you can keep this chicken salad up to 4 days.

What I usually do is that I make a big batch of this salad on Sundays. The taste gets even better when rested in the fridge and it makes a great small but filling lunch or a delicious snack in the following days. It is the most delicious and healthiest way of saving time!

How Many Calories In Homemade Chicken Salad? This low carb salad recipe with chicken and herbs makes a great lunch or dinner with 493 calories per serving. Please find the other nutrition facts in the recipe card below.

Can I Make Low Carb Chicken Salad With Canned Chicken? Well, I’ve never used canned chicken. I’m not even sure if I’ve ever seen it at the markets. However, I do know they sell packaged cooked chicken for sure. So yes, you can use that type of chicken if you want. But I really recommend cooking your own chicken. Why would you buy pre-cooked chicken when it’s quite easy to make it at home? What’s more, the chicken you cook at home is waaaaay tastier! I promise.

Can I Bake Chicken In Oven For The Salad? In this recipe, I cook the chicken in a pan. However, if you want to go even lighter, you can always cook it in oven like in our leftover recipe or on the grill. If you want to cook it in oven or grill it, it is a good idea to marinate the chicken first.  How to marinate it? It is quite easy. All you need is salt, pepper, curry powder and olive oil. Marinate the chicken with all these ingredients in a bowl or a freezer bag for at least 30 minutes.

If you prefer oven, you need to cook it at 400F for 30-40 mins. Depending on the size of the chicken pieces. Then cool it. When cooled, cut it in cubes and add in the salad.

Is Mayonnaise Good For Low Carb Diet? Mayo is one of the tasty and staple foods for your low-carb diet. Mayo is made mostly of fat, which is what you want to include in your diet. I highly recommend making your own mayonnaise as it is really easy to make. Unlike the store bought mayonnaise which mostly contains soybean oil in addition to preservatives for a longer shelf life, homemade mayonnaise is way healthier.

Mayonnaise is always a good companion for low carb chicken salad recipes. Because I love the refreshing flavor of yogurt, I use a combination of yogurt and mayo in this recipe.

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