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
- Asian Chopped Salad
- Maroulosalata – Greek Lettuce Salad
- Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad
- Taco Salad
- Classic Tuna Salad
- Caesar Salad
- Creamy Cucumber Salad
Has anyone tried this without the chicken and bacon!? Wondering if that’d be good because I do not eat meat or dairy!
Big! Hit! Everyone loved it! Even my most pickiest one loved it. Will repeat often.
I’m so glad to hear that Yvonne! Thanks for sharing your excellent review!
I have made this several times and absolutely love it!
I’m glad to hear that Lori! Thanks for sharing!
My wife and I devoured this between the two of us and it felt SO GOOD! ha ha. Thanks for an amazing recipe!
That’s awesome! I’m so happy you both loved it 🙂
I like your recipes. Salad was good, but for me too dry. I never will do again. This salad not cost money and time.
Hi Sasha, it isn’t meant to be a wet salad, like mayo-based salads but it should normally have plenty of moisture for it to not be dry. This is our top recipe right now and the first report of the salad being dry. I wonder if you used the same proportions of ingredients? I could see how if you added alot more chicken than what was called for, it could be more “dry.” I hope that helps!
I loved it as is, but my husband was not a fan of the lemon dressing. I am making this exactly as is, but am wondering if you have an alternate dressing to use for my husband? Italian, etc???
Hi Linda, I think this would still taste great using your favorite Italian dressing 🙂
We are not fans of lemon dressing either. We leave the salad dry, and then when we’re ready to serve it, we use either store-bought Brianna’s Zesty French or Blush Wine Vinaigrette. We love this salad; I’m bringing some to a potluck tonight!
Just made this….SOOOOOOO good! Thank you Natasha!!
You’re welcome Carol! I’m glad you enjoy the recipe!
The video and photos suggest that you actually mean two chicken breast halves, not two whole chicken breasts?
Hi CC, they are 2 whole chicken breasts but you can use less if you prefer. It wasn’t a huge chicken but yes it does call for two whole chicken breasts.
I made this recipe last night and it was yummy!! I didn’t have any dill at home and I replaced the bacon with turkey bacon since I’m dieting. My husband loved it and he is a picky eater so I’ll definitely be making this in the future.
I’m glad to hear you both enjoy the recipe Brittany! Thanks for sharing your great review!
Does anyone know the nutrition count on this?
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 Leanne!
Made this recipe today and its simply amazing!! Went together super quickly and the blended flavors are wonderful together! I may add a handful of blueberries to it next time!!
I’m glad you enjoy the recipe as much as I do Rhonda! Thanks for sharing your great review! 🙂
I made this today and added some Romaine.
The dressing tasted awful. I don’t know if it was the olive oil or what.
Hi Kelly, I’m sorry to hear that! This is one of our all-time best reviewed recipes so my guess is that maybe your oil was rancid, or did you possibly use lemon juice from concentrate? Real lemon juice makes all the difference in this salad. I hope that helps!
Good to know about the lemon concentrate otherwise I would have used it.Definitely making this soon.I believe I can safely serve this to my unsulin dependent child,the corn is the only ingredient that would elevate her carbs.
I’m so glad to hear that! You might try cucumbers instead of the corn. I used that in my tuna avocado salad and it works really well (it just becomes less store-able with cucumber and you wouldn’t want to salt until ready to serve since cucumbers soften and get juicy with time after adding salt).
I just made this recipie and its awesome!#!
I’m glad you love the recipe Jennifer! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I’m going to try this…just without corn for Keto diet.
It’s super popular for good reason! Please let me know what you think Jodie!
Calorie Content?
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 Brenda!
This is so good! I’ve made it a few times now!
I’m glad to hear you enjoy the recipe Janine! Thanks for sharing your wonderful review!
The hits just keep coming, Natasha! Made this over the weekend and served in on top of olive oil-rubbed baguette slices. It was quickly gobbled up.
PS: I also really love your shrimp fried rice recipe. Simple and delish!
LOL, thanks Jill! I’m glad you are enjoying the recipes! Thanks for following and sharing your great review!
We made this today, and it was OUTSTANDING!!!! It’s literally the most savory, filling, yet light recipe! Delicious, and WILL make it again! My only question…do you reheat the next day or keep cold? Thank you!
Hi Becca, I keep and serve it chilled 🙂
I made this and I give it a (10) it was great.
I’m happy to hear that Linda! Thanks for sharing your excellent review!
How do you cook your corn for this salad?
Thanks.
Hi Nadia, our go-to method is this 15-minute corn on the cob recipe.
I bet this would also be great with crabmeat. Anybody tried that?
I have not tried that but if you experiment, let me know how it goes 🙂