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
- Classic Tuna Salad
- Caesar Salad
- Creamy Cucumber Salad
This recipe looks amazing, but, I don’t eat meat, so I will replace the bacon with feta cheese. I’ll let you know how it works out
Great healthy salad recipe.
Thanks for sharing those yummy recipes.
You’re very welcome. I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Nice simple recipe with a lot of flavor. Used a Publix roasted chicken and this came together in minutes. Here’s a great hack for you.. placed the whole chicken in a gallon zip lock bag and massaged it vigorously, chicken, bone and skin separated easily. Skipping the whole messing hands thing! It’s now our favorite chicken salad!
Love that suggestion. Worst part of an oven stuffer, getting hands oily.
This Avocado Chicken Salad recipe looks absolutely delicious! I love how it’s creamy yet light, packed with fresh flavors, and so easy to make. The combination of avocado, chicken, bacon, and corn sounds irresistible. Plus, the lemon dressing is a great touch! Perfect for a healthy meal or a quick lunch. Thanks for sharing.
Thx Natasha this dish is amazing!! And I love that it’s also healthy!
I hope you love it, Carol!
Natasha, you never disappoints. Your recipes are always on point….
Thank you, Adriana!
Excellent! Made it exactly as written, and it was so good
Fabulous! I love the salad dressing instead of mayonnaise. I’ll make it over and over again. Thank you.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Tigger!
This salad was a hit in my house. I also made your recipe for flour tortilla to go with it. Loved it!!!
I’m so happy to hear it was a hit, Yamill! That’s so great!
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!
The pictures show hard boiled eggs but the recipe doesn’t have it listed. With or without?
Hi Julie, I have this note in the recipe “For extra protein, add 2 hard boiled eggs”. I hope that helps.
Hi there, could you tell me how many servings in this recipe?
Hi Lisa! The servings are listed at the top of the recipe card, it serves 6.
question I want to make this for a cook out because it delish. will it be ok outside?
Hi Bonnie! It should be fine if it’s refrigerated and kept out no longer than 2hrs.
I think that will be fine. Hope you’ll all enjoy this salad!
Heel erg lekker !
Another winner from Natasha! I wrapped an ear of corn in plastic wrap and microwaved it for a minute and a half. I used chopped up, deli roasted chicken and it all came together in about 20 minutes. The proportions in the dressing were perfect. It is a great lunch on a very hot day!
I probably wouldn’t put plastic in the microwave
Family and I loved it. I baked my own chicken from your baked chicken recipe so juicy and delicious. Thank you so much.
This is delicious. Flavours blend so well. My digestive system reacts with gusto to corn so I substituted chick peas. Works very well. Thanks for sharing.
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😋
Love this recipe especially in the summer! But I found it’s even easier and has a bit more crunch if you don’t cook the corn, just cut it off the cob and leave it raw, makes for a crisp cool summertime meal and great for days when stored properly! (Though there’s not usually much left at our house!)
No guilt, Fabulous!
I’m on my own so I’m cooking dinner for one. It’s just as delicious the next day on a croissant for lunch.