This Avocado Chicken Salad Recipe has so much flavor and the perfect texture! We swap mayonnaise for fresh avocado, so it’s creamy but light and satisfying. I know, I know classic chicken salad recipes usually have mayo, but you will never miss it!
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Helpful Reader Review
“This salad is always on rotation, my son asks for it and he loves the leftovers for lunch the next day. It really is hearty and yummy!“ – Eva ★★★★★
Easy Avocado Chicken Salad Recipe
This avocado chicken salad recipe is a winner, and it is well-loved by adults and children. Since I first posted the video, it went viral with over 50 million views, making it one of the most popular recipes on my blog. Funny enough, this recipe came about from a craving I had driving home from my night shift back when I worked as a Registered Nurse!
It’s quite a bit different than our classic Chicken Salad, but everything about this is good, from the tender bites of chicken, creamy avocado, sweet corn, and crunchy bacon. Plus, you’ll want that fresh lemon dressing on all of your salads.
My son is particularly smitten with this chicken avocado salad and requests it for his birthday. It was in his top 3 requests, so you can imagine I made it for his birthday and as often as I can throughout the year. By the way, his other two were this Shrimp Dip and Caesar Salad. I love this kid.
Avocado Chicken Salad Video
You’ll love my lighter chicken salad with avocado. It’s just as creamy, flavorful, and filling as using mayo, but this is a dish you’ll feel great about eating often! If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers, this chicken salad tastes just as good the next day – perfect for a to-go lunch. You all are always requesting work and school lunch ideas, and I hope you love this one!
Ingredients for Avocado Chicken Salad
This Avocado Chicken Salad has such simple ingredients, and you may already have everything you need to make it (I just love it when that happens)!
- Chicken – shredded or cubed. I use rotisserie or Roast Chicken to make prep easier, but you can also use well-drained canned chicken or Bake Chicken Breasts before shredding or cutting them into bite-sized pieces.
- Avocados – I use two avocados. You’ll want nearly ripe or perfectly ripe avocado for this salad.
- Corn – You’ll need 1 cup, or 1 ear of corn. You can rinse canned corn, cook frozen corn, use Grilled Corn or Boiled Corn. You can also microwave unshucked corn for 3-4 minutes. If you want to keep this salad Paleo, just omit the corn.
- Bacon – I prefer lean cuts of bacon (see how to cook bacon without a mess). If you’re looking to cut fat, I use turkey bacon instead.
- Herbs – Dill and Chives – If you prefer you can swap the dill with cilantro or the chives for green onions
- Dressing ingredients – lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper
- Hard-boiled eggs – Optional, but these add great protein to the salad. Peel, cut, or quarter, and then add to the salad ingredients.
Substitutions/ Variations
We love this just as it is, but you can use these easy substitutions to make it your own.
- Protein – omit the chicken or swap with hard-boiled eggs, leftover shrimp, or chickpeas
- Veggies – swap the corn or add other seasonal veggies like tomatoes, cucumbers, or red peppers
- Pasta – Try mixing in a cup of bowtie pasta or any small-shaped pasta.
- Add heat – chop jalapeno or add a shake of red pepper flakes to the dressing.
Helpful Reader Review
“Stellar recipe!! Used turkey bacon for the first time ever and could NOT tell a difference, thanks for the tip! Also used a cup of frozen corn and just heated It up in pan until it got a little char to it. D-E-L-I-S-H😋” – Sam ★★★★★
How to Make Avocado Chicken Salad
- Dice or shred two chicken breasts or 2 cups of rotisserie chicken into a mixing bowl.
- Peel and dice avocado into bite-sized pieces. Careful! I’ve met too many people with avocado-cutting injuries. Add the pieces to the bowl.
- Add the corn, onion, bacon, and dill to the bowl.
- Mix the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and then pour over the salad ingredients. Toss to combine. Add the hard-boiled egg if using, but don’t stir too vigorously after adding them.
How to Serve Avocado Chicken Salad
This avocado chicken salad is deliciously versatile. It is a protein-packed salad so it’s perfect for work lunch or meal prep and the lemon keeps it fresh and vibrant. Serve this chicken salad:
- As a main course salad alongside crusty Sourdough Bread
- In Croissants, Pita Bread, Hamburger Buns, Tortillas, or Sourdough Dinner Rolls
- Or scooped up with Pita Chips or Sourdough Crackers
- In lettuce cups for chicken salad lettuce wraps
Make-Ahead and Storage Tips
This is a great salad to Make-Ahead because it tastes even better once the flavors meld the next day.
- Make-Ahead: If you know you won’t be serving it immediately, wait to cut and add the avocado until right before serving. Mix the salad and cover. Refrigerate overnight or until ready to serve.
- To Refrigerate: Cover leftovers with plastic wrap directly over the surface of the salad. This will help to slow the browning of the avocados. Refrigerate for up to 3-4 days.
This Avocado Chicken Salad recipe is one of my (and my son’s) very favorite salad recipes; seriously tasty and easy, hearty but feel-good food at the same time. It’s a win-win-win! Try this easy chicken salad today.
Avocado Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Avocado Chicken Salad Ingredients:
- 2 large cooked chicken breasts, shredded or chopped
- 2 large avocados
- 1 cup corn, from 1 cooked cob
- 6 oz lean bacon, cooked and chopped
- 1/4 cup Chives , (or green onion), chopped
- 2 Tbsp Dill, chopped, or to taste
- 2 hard-boiled eggs, Optional, halved or quartered
Lemon Dressing:
- 3 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp sea salt, or to taste
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Dice or shred the 2 large cooked chicken breasts and place them into a large mixing bowl.
- Peel and pit 2 large avocados, slice into bite-sized pieces and add to the mixing bowl.
- Add 1 cup of cooked corn (freshly cooked corn is best), toss in chopped green onion, chopped bacon, and fresh Dill.
- Make the dressing – add the ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine. Drizzle the dressing over your salad and toss to combine. Serve with slices of hard-boiled egg if desired.
Notes
**For a healthier salad, you can use uncured turkey bacon which tastes amazing but has less fat. Make-ahead – Mix all the ingredients except the avocado and hard-boiled egg. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Add the avocado and egg just before serving. Storage – To store leftovers, cover the dish with plastic wrap, ensuring the wrap is touching to top of the salad to slow the browning of the avocado pieces. Store in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
More Easy Salad Recipes
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- Maroulosalata – Greek Lettuce Salad
- Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad
- Taco Salad
- Classic Tuna Salad
- Caesar Salad
- Creamy Cucumber Salad
I like this recipe because it’s filled with protein and with light dressing and some bites of carbohydrates. hmmm very mouth watering, thanks sharing!
You’re welcome Chelsea! I’m glad to hear you enjoy the recipe. Thanks for sharing your great review! 🙂
I just made it.. ABSOLUTLY AMAZING! Nothing I would change! Thank you so much for sharing it 🙂
You’re welcome Jill! I’m glad you love it. Thanks for sharing!
I really like your recipe. It is very helpful.
I’m glad to hear that! Thanks for sharing 🙂
This salad was amazing. My friends all asked for the recipe and unfortunately there were no leftovers.
I’m glad to hear the recipe is a HIT! Thanks for sharing your fantastic review Sue!
I am not sure but I did not see nutritional notation on the recipe where can I locate this for her recipes?
Due to time constraints, I don’t typically include nutritional info, but check out this nutrition analyzer – you can plug in the ingredients from any recipe, select the serving size and it will give you nutritional info, calories, etc. I hope that is helpful to you Barbara!
Good morning. This salad looks amazing! Just wondering if you could use smoked salmon or tuna out the can?
Thanks,
Regina
Hi Regina, I haven’t tried this with smoked salmon so I’m not sure – maybe it would be a good experiment! For tuna salad, my go-to recipes are this one with apple & almonds and this one with avocado.
I want to make this tonight. I am someone that needs sauce/dressing on everything. If I did choose to add mayo like you mentioned is in lots of chicken salads, would it ruin this recipe? Wondering if I can do the lemon dressing and a little mayo. Looks so amazing though! Excited to try
Hi Ashley, the avocado adds a nice creaminess to the salad so it almost seems like there is a creamy dressing here when it’s really light and very flavorful. I haven’t tested this recipe with mayo since we love it so much as is, but I would suggest mixing in a little mayo in a small batch and see which version you like better 🙂
Oh wow! What an awesome combination of good, fresh and healthy ingredients! Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome Donna! I’m glad you love the recipe! Thanks for sharing your great review!
Excellent. A true keeper.
I’m glad you love the recipe! Thanks for sharing Chris!
I tried it but something went wrong, I use turkey bacon bits and cucumber and it wasn’t good. I’m going to try it again and I will follow it the way you made it. Do you have a quick meat salad/sandwich
Rita, I’m sorry it did not turned out the way you wanted. Please let me know how it turns out with the way I make it. You must try this sandwich.
Do you happen to know nutritional stats on the salad? I love everything you put into it but would need to know serving size, calories, any protein content, carb count, etc.
Due to time constraints, I don’t typically include nutritional info, but check out this nutrition analyzer – you can plug in the ingredients from any recipe, select the serving size and it will give you nutritional info, calories, etc. I hope that is helpful to you Sue!
Made this. Very good! I just added baby spinach to it. Thank you. It’s a keeper!
You’re welcome Candee! I’m happy you enjoy the recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Trying to make this and I could never get an answer from your YouTube channel but what I wanna know is, what type of bread would be good to serve this with and should the bread be toasted or not? I hope you reply!
Hi Raquel, are you planning to add bread to the salad? I’m not sure I would recommend that since this salad is fairly moist and the bread will absorb the liquid. If you are serving on the side, I would suggest a toasted bread 🙂
Yes I should’ve been more specific I’m sorry! The recipe mentions serving it as a sandwich or pita pocket so I was trying to make sure there wasn’t a specific bread that would work best to make this into a sandwich. Thank you for replying!
Oh I see! I would recommend toasted in that case also so it doesn’t soften as easily 🙂
Thankyou for sharing this delcious recipie with us,it was divine,kids loved it as well,
You’re welcome Claudette! I’m glad to hear the recipe is such a success! Thanks for sharing your great review!
I am going to make this. A half of avocado a day is very good for your health.
Please let me know what you think of the recipe Darlene!
Fabulous! I used the whole chicken (just increase dressing by 1T lemon & evoo) and subbed 1/4 English cuke for corn to make it more low carb. Loved it, so fresh, so easy. Added 3 boiled egg after mixing too! Thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome Betsy! I’m happy to hear how much you enjoy the recipe! Thanks for sharing your wonderful review!
This recipe is sooo good! I will be making it again very soon!
I’m glad you love it Nita! Thanks so much for sharing!
I had just tried this now in lunch and it really tastes good!!! We didn’t even eaten our bread. 😅 Thank you for sharing your recipe. I’ll definitely make this more often. 😊
You’re welcome Leonor! I’m glad to hear how much you enjoy the recipe! Thanks for sharing your wonderful review! 🙂
Hi
If you posted calorie count, I didn’t see it.
I was wondering how many calories.
Thanks
Jen
Due to time constraints, I don’t typically include nutritional info, but check out this nutrition analyzer – you can plug in the ingredients from any recipe, select the serving size and it will give you nutritional info, calories, etc. I hope that is helpful to you Jen!
This was so perfect!!
I’m glad you enjoy the recipe Jaleigh! Thanks for sharing!
Just eating the avocado chicken salad now it’s absolutely divine, I added some more red onion and blanched fresh asparagus and broccoli. Also added fresh mint, parsley and chives.
I’m glad you love the recipe Nicky! Thanks for sharing your great review with other readers!