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!
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
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
- Asian Chopped Salad
- Maroulosalata – Greek Lettuce Salad
- Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad
- Taco Salad
- Classic Tuna Salad
- Caesar Salad
- Creamy Cucumber Salad
Excellent! I doubled the eggs and we have the best sweet corn in Utah so it was doubled as well. So good! Thank you, Roz
You’re so welcome, Roz. Glad you loved this salad recipe!
My family legit fought over this salad! Next time I’m doubling it. Delish
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite Stacy!
This looks delicious but what is driving the sodium content? Any way to dial that back? Thanks.
Hi John, dialing back on the bacon and salt in the dressing would be the best ways to take down the sodium in this recipe.
Thanks. I will give that a try.
Remember my days when I was in Syria making great salad with my Madame in our playground their kitchen…
I enjoyed watching the video and it’s seems my family will enjoy eating that salad…I’m gonna make it once there’s already avocado in the market..
Sounds like a great plan. I hope you love this recipe!
Fresh, tasty recipes and such a joy to watch! If you’re having a bad day, watch Natasha! She’s smart, talented and funny!
Your comment made my day. Thank you so much Tonya!
This recipe sounds good and has great reviews. Will try it for dinner tonight. I’m almost tasting it already 😋
That’s a good plan, Freia. I hope your dinner will be amazing! Please let us know how it goes.
I want to serve this as the main course with chicken added for eight ladies how do I adjust the amount of ingredients??
It sounds delicious and I love your recipes and videos.
Hi Mary, when you’re at the recipe you can click Jump to recipe and click the number of servings to adjust the ingredients. Please note though that the number of servings is for side dish so you might want to add more.
Hi Natasha, I love your recipes. I am vegetarian but I want to learn the healthy dishes (with chicken and fish) for my kids (25, 22 and 20 years old) I know it sounds weird. Can you please help me? I want to try avocado chicken recipe but how to cook the chicken for this recipe? Thanks
Hi, I love to use a store-bought rotisserie chicken to make it easy but if you have an instant pot, we have a great whole chicken recipe.
Made several times. Yummy.
That’s so great!! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe!
The aguacate chicken salad was delicious thanks for the tips
You’re welcome! I’m happy you enjoyed this recipe!
Hi Natasha!
Been watching your videos for awhile now and finally started trying a few of the recipes on my own. We started with the Slow Cooker Chili last night and I made this recipe today.
I have a question, mine came out seemingly a bit bland, and I was wondering if you’ve ever tried any other seasonings to liven it up? I was thinking of adding some garlic powder or paprika but wasn’t sure how much is recommended? Other than that this salad is amazing and so far I’m loving all of your recipes.
Thank you! Much love from Florida
Hi Mariah, it should definitely not be bland. I’m curious if the quantities are off? Garlic powder and paprika may work here – without testing that I’m unable to advise but I would start with a little at a time and taste testing!
Mariah, I know you tried this recipe a long time ago but I just tried it last night and everyone loved it. With these types of recipes, the quality and freshness of your ingredients can significantly impact the end result. Here’s a few tips that I’ve learned.
– Fresh lemons are generally best, but I’ve even noticed that the flavor of fresh lemon juice can vary quite a bit. Experiment with lemons from different sources, including different brands of bottled lemon juice, until you find one that tastes amazing. The lemons I have right now are juicy, but the flavor isn’t quite where it needs to be so two of us in my house sprinkled a little True Lime powder for the extra brightness that we felt our lemons weren’t adding.
– Fresh herbs are worth the extra effort, cost, and planning. I usually don’t hesitate to substitute dry herbs in recipes, but I always use fresh herbs in salads (oregano is the one exception that I make, but we also make a point to buy especially fragrant dry oregano).
– If you used chives, try using green onions next time (or vice versa).
– Poach and shred your own chicken rather than using rotisserie chicken. I found a recipe online that calls for adding a bay leaf and 2 tsp. of dry herbs to the cooking liquid (water or broth), which adds more flavor to the chicken. My family is also very picky about chicken, and they love this particular recipe.
Hi Natasha,
I live Australia. Love your recipes – your salads are great for the Queensland climate. Love your enthusiasm, keep up the good work. Are you bringing out a recipe book?
Thank you for that lovely compliment, Lynette! We have a book in the works, stay tuned!
Hi ! Natasha. I’m an avid follower of yours. I have tried a lot of your recipes and they’re just awesome. I love all your videos . Looking forward to see more. Thanks for sharing.
Awesome! Thank you so much for your support, we appreciate it.
Natasha, I made the chicken avocado salad for lunch today. My husband doesn’t usually eat salads as a meal, and when I presented it, he took this tiny dish to sample some. The next thing I know, he had two slices of bread, and was making a sandwich out of it! Winner! It was delicious – thank you!
Wow, that is wonderful to hear! I’m glad your husband enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing that with us.
Natasha, I have made a few of your salads so far and I love both of them! Looking forward too make more of your recipes. Keep them coming!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing that with me!
Natasha I love these recipes and have wanted to make the avocado chicken salad.
I’ve tried you salmon with lime, dill and garlic yummy, made many times the chicken broccoli stir fry our favorite and your apple turnovers.
I’ve written so many of your recipes that I can’t wait to make.
Thanks for sharing your gift of cooking.
Thank you so much for your good comments, Pat. I hope you love every recipe that you try!
Natasha I love these recipes and have wanted to make the avocado chicken salad.
I’ve tried you salmon with lime, dill and garlic yummy, made many times the chicken broccoli stir fry our favorite and your apple turnovers.
I’ve written so many of your recipes that I can’t wait I make.
Thanks for sharing your gift of cooking.
I hope you love this recipe, Pat! Thank you for sharing your feedback with us, I’m so glad you’re enjoying our recipes! Thank you for that wonderful compliment!
Natasha, I have just discovered your blog, and oh my goodness I am saving so many of your recipes on my Pinterest recipes folder! This is one of them! It sounds so yummy although hubby and I are not too crazy about dill, so wondering if you think substituting cilantro would work there? Thank you!
Hi Melanie! I’m so happy to hear you’re enjoying this recipe! You could just omit the dill and the salad will still work if you’re looking to substitute that. You could also try some finely chopped cilantro or evenly parsley, adding them to taste if you prefer to substitute. I hope that helps.
Fabulous
These videos made me love cooking more
The music in the background is so nice .
It catches ur attention.
Joy from Uganda
Thank you Joy! I’m so happy you’re enjoying our videos!
I love all of your recipes! Your cute and funny in your video’s. Also most important to me, you get right to the point, you don’t drag it out. Thank you and your husband.
You’re so nice and thoughtful Holly! Thank you for that great comment! I’m smiling big!