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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I love this salad, it is delicious and so easy! Has anyone made it the day before? I’m curious if the avocados turn colors even if there is the lemon dressing on it.
Hi Pam, you can prep ingredients a day before but don’t mix the dressing in.
My whole family loved this!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
Is the calorie count for the whole recipe? And if not what is a serving size!!?!
Hi Christine! That count is per serving. This salad makes 6 servings. 🙂
Amazing recipe!! We loved it and will be making again!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
This salad was amazing!! Thanks for sharing. I’ll be adding this to my regular rotation!!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
Excellent!! I mean prepped this for my luches this week.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
Made a half batch of this today as I was alone. Delicious. I did not do the optional hard boiled eggs but did add a bit of black beans as I had a little bit in the freezer.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
this sounds amazing! Can’t wait to make, but I’m not a huge fan of lemon, have any suggestions on replacing the lemon with something?
Hi Tiffany, We love it with lemon, here is what one of our readers wrote “I didn’t have any lemons (I thought I did but noooo…) so I used a balsamic dressing and served it over Romaine, and it was really good with that too. Husbandface wants the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.”
Hello from Phoenix just had your chicken avocado salad we added red onion and served it in warm pitas! 😍 Thank you
You’re so welcome, Gayle! Serving in a pita sounds heavenly!
Do you just buy a whole rotisserie chicken or is it possible to buy just the rotisserie chicken breast anywhere? I wonder if there’s organic rotisserie chicken.
Thanks
Hi Helen, we sure did! Costco does sell rotisserie chicken breast cooked and package from what I’ve seen locally.
Ah, this salad is so good! Its been on our menu weekly! Thanks for sharing Natasha 🙂
That’s so great! Thank you for sharing your great review!
Hi Natasha!
If I don’t have fresh corn can I use canned or frozen? I love corn so I don’t want to not put it in lol.
Hi Kat, canned corn will work just fine 😀
Looks delicious, I cant eat corn. Any other ideas to replace the corn.
Hi Linda, That is a great question. I haven’t tried it without the corn and I’m sure it helps the texture but I think this salad would be fine if you omit it. We had several Keto dieters comment on how much they enjoyed this One writing” just made this, but left out the corn because I’m keto. It was very good”
What kind of dressing could I use in place of the one in recipe I do not like dressings made of oils
Hi Margie, anything light would work. Some of our readers added mayo to their dressing to make it more creamy. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe
Just made avocado chicken salad. It is delicious and exactly what I needed to add to my diet. Thank you!!!
You’re so welcome, Jonnie!!
I’m trying to follow a reduced carb diet and this recipe is perfect. (Delish too!). Really love your recipes Natasha. Keep ‘em coming.
That’s so great! Thank you for that amazing review!!
Very yummy will definitely make this again
That’s so great!
What is serving size for 324 calories for avacado chicken salad?
Hi Robin, This recipe makes six servings. I haven’t measured it by cup. 1/6th of the recipe is considered a serving 🙂 Hope this helps
This is a fantastic chicken salad!!
Everyone loved it. I added 3 T of honey to soften the bite of lemon juice.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Great idea!
The picture shows hard boiled eggs but your video doesn’t
Hi Kris, We have this note in the recipe and on the print out regarding the eggs “Optional: For even more protein, we add 2 hard boiled eggs, halved or quartered.”