Easy Chicken Salad with Grapes and Walnuts

This easy chicken salad with grapes and walnuts is a healthy version of the restaurant classic you can whip up in a few minutes. It's gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo, Whole30 friendly, and a great recipe for a healthy lunch or a no-cook dinner!

This chicken salad with grapes and walnuts is a remake of a restaurant chicken salad sandwich that was one of my favorite take-out lunches. The original was loaded with commercial mayonnaise and served on a croissant.

This version is a healthy chicken salad with organic chicken, fresh fruit, and vegetables, with healthy fats from walnuts and olive oil. A simple vinaigrette takes the place of mayo for an easy meal.

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Ingredients you'll need

• shredded chicken
• grapes
• walnuts
• celery
• shallot, red onion or green onions
• fresh parsley
• lemon juice
• extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

This chicken salad with grapes recipe starts with cooked chicken. You can make it with leftover chicken, roasted chicken, slow cooker chicken, grilled chicken breasts, or leftover rotisserie chicken. My local grocery store has organic chicken in the rotisserie with no seasonings added. That's what I use when I don't have time to cook.

Grapes add natural sweetness to this healthy salad whether you use red seedless grapes or green grapes. I always cut the grapes in half. It's easier to eat and you get a little bit of the sweetness from the grape juice when you fold them into the dressing.

Pro tip: To halve them quickly, place the individual grapes on a plate or lid with a lip that comes halfway up the grapes. Invert another plate or lid over the top of the grapes. Then carefully slice through them between the plates so you cut them in half all at once.

Walnuts along with the raw celery add texture and extra crunch to this salad. Shallots or red onion and fresh parsley round out the salad ingredient list.

The no mayo dressing is a simple fresh lemon juice and olive oil vinaigrette.

How to make this easy chicken salad recipe

This salad comes together quickly and you can make this classic recipe in one bowl.

Start by whisking the olive oil into the lemon juice and shallots in a large bowl until it thickens it to a creamy, emulsified finish. (Here's a tutorial on how to make a basic vinaigrette.)

Season the dressing with salt and pepper, then add the shredded chicken and the rest of the ingredients. Stir the chicken mixture until it's evenly combined with the dressing.

Substitutions

You can substitute other nuts or seeds, like chopped pecans, slivered almonds, or sunflower seeds, for the walnuts.

Or try substituting dried fruit, like raisins or dried cranberries, for the grapes.

You can also switch out the fresh herbs for a different flavor. Try fresh dill or basil in this classic chicken salad recipe.

How to serve it

I like this delicious chicken salad in lettuce wraps — or straight out of the bowl. You can also serve it over salad greens, over a bed of lettuce, or in lettuce cups. Or make chicken salad sandwiches on gluten-free paleo bread or rolls.

You can serve it with almond flour crackers, cassava flour tortilla chips, on gluten-free pita bread or in keto wraps.

It's also a natural for the classic soup and sandwich combo. Either way, it's the best chicken salad recipe for easy lunches or meal prep.

More healthy salad recipes

Looking for more healthy salad ideas? Check out this collection of easy summer salads. Or try one of these favorites:

• Broccoli Salad with Bacon
• Avocado Tuna Salad
• Antipasto Salad with Easy Italian Dressing
• Easy Avocado Caprese Salad
• Roasted Sweet Potato Salad