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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- Taco Salad
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- Caesar Salad
- Creamy Cucumber Salad
Hi I was just wondering how long can this salad keep for? I am thinking about meal prepping it for lunch.
Thank you
Hi Malody, I have kept it refrigerated up to 2 days. I think this is the very best when it is served the same day but the avocados will be fine until the next day because the lemon juice in the dressing preserves them. To be safe, I would suggest placing plastic wrap directly over the salad to keep the air out which is what causes the avocados to brown.
The picture shows hard boiled eggs but the are not listed in the recipe ingredients. How many eggs?
Hi Sheri, 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.”
I love this salad! I use frozen white corn(not cooked) for a little crunch
Nice one Barbara. Thanks for sharing!
When does your cookbook hit the shelves?!?! I’d love to see either a cookbook or your own magazine come out!!! Do you have anything in the works???
Hi Barbara, thanks for asking. I am currently working on a cookbook but it’s taking a while for me to finish it but I will definitely share it with you all when it’s ready.
Great NeWs!!
Hi Natasha! My parents introduced me to your blog and now my three year old son enjoys watching your videos with me. I know you said you could use canned chicken in a pinch. How many cans equal two chicken breasts? Thank you so much!
Hi Christie, I’m so glad you and your son enjoy our videos. That is so sweet! Two 12-oz cans should be enough to substitute the chicken. I hope yo love this salad!
Awesome!!!
Very easy to make. I subbed the rotisserie for oven baked, and it came out amazing. Chicken got a good dose of garlic and paprika for a nice kick. This is going on the list of things I enjoy making and love eating.
I’m so glad you enjoyed that! Thank you for sharing this amazing feedback with us!
I just made this during my lunch break, one of the of positive things of working from home during COVID-19…I think it gets better every time I make it. I roast slivered almonds and add for a extra crunch. So so good!!!
Thank you for that wonderful feedback Lisa! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Would love to tey this – it looks delicious. However, rotisserie chicken breasts can be 4 oz. each while regular chicken breasts can be 12 to 16 oz. each. Big difference so can you tell me how many cups you use? Otherwise the nutrition is really off.
Hi Glendel, it can also vary from one rotisserie chicken to another but as a reference point, 1 rotisserie chicken will give you about 3 cups of chicken breast.
Thanks Tasha
Family doesn’t like chicken at all, mostly fish our family enjoys. only occasional plain chicken not in salads, soups, ect. thank you
Thank you for sharing that with us Jennie! We have several fish recipes on our blog! I hope you try them soon!
Hi Natasha, just joined, the chicken for tomorrow call for avocado, and I am allergic to them , what else would go good with this recipe thank you Anna Louise
Hi Anna, did you mention you’re allergic to chicken? You can check out all the other salad recipes here
I don’t like avocado so I make it without. I’ve been making this awesome salad for a couple of years and I use minced garlic instead of dill. It is scrumptious!
I’m a first timer on your site. I love your recipes. This one is delicious and my husband liked it very much. By the way, I also made your chocolate cake with the buttercream frosting and I will be making that again and again. I have to share it with my grown kids, though, or I will end up eating the whole thing. Yum, yum!
Yay so glad that you loved the recipes that you tried so far! Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
My family loved it so much I made it twice in two weeks! I used frozen corn once and canned the other time because who wants to fire up a grill to just grill a cob for a salad? It turned out great! Thanks, it’s family favorite now.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing that great review with us!
Gonna try this for my family..
Im a fan from philippines😊
this looks delicious, surely gonna try this weekend. Hopefully, i won’t ruin it.
I hope you love this recipe!
Looks like a great recipe, can’t wait to try it. I happen to have dried dill on hand, do you think that would work in place of the fresh dill? And would the amount still be the same? TIA
Hi Kimberly, dry would only be good if you soaked it with the dressing to soften it up. Dry is better for cooked foods. I would skip dill and just leave it out. You can add more of the chives if desired.
instead of the chicken breasts.
i replaced with smoked chicken bites. and this was the best salad i have ever had. the family loved it. thanks Nats . Thats how i call you over here in Uganda. Hope its okay?
Great idea! Thank you for sharing that with me Keitu!
Hi, Natasha
I am definitely not a fantastic kook, but since I am watching your videos… you’ve really sent me to the kitchen!!! Simple and healthy recipes.. this is what I needed…and your funny “acting” in the kitchen is a real delight… Compliments!
Hello Virginia, thank you so much for your compliments. Keep up the great work and I hope you love every recipe that you try!
I’ve just started to watch your shows and love what you do in the kitchen. from Melbourne Australia
Thank you for that wonderful compliment!
I absolutely love all your recipes,
You’re so nice! Thank you!
I will do this tonight! Thank you for the recipe
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Patricia.