Avocado Chicken Salad

A high protein chicken salad made without mayo. Nutritious and delicious, this is perfect for lunch, a snack, or a light dinner

We can all agree: Avocados make everything better. And whenever they are on sale I buy multiple.

One time, I lost one in my car.

Well, last week I found it. I couldn't even bring myself to take a picture of it, it was so disgusting. So disgusting. So very disgusting. It had been sitting in my way back seat cup holders... for over 8 weeks.

8 weeks!

I didn't even know what it was at first. I'm glad I found it... just wish it had been 2 months earlier. Ha

[clickToTweet tweet="A delicious, high protein #avocado chicken salad made w/out mayo. Perfect for #lunch" quote="A delicious, high protein #avocado chicken salad made w/out mayo. Perfect for #lunch"]

Oh well...

Luckily, I had other avocados in my refrigerator, so I made some chicken salad. Well, a version of chicken salad with avocados and cilantro. Delish!

Chicken salad -- along with pimento cheese, of course -- is one of my favorite things to keep in my refrigerator for an easy snack or meal.

You can eat it with crackers, on a bed of lettuce, with some lettuce & tomato on whole wheat bread, or just straight from the container.

Unfortunately, most deli or store bought chicken salad is not very nutritious and packed with mayo.

Like most any other time that I can take out the mayo, I do. And I use cottage cheese because it has a relatively neutral flavor unlike yogurt's tangy flavor {especially Greek yogurt}.

I like to pulse the cottage cheese in a mini food processor so it is nice and smooth.

You can use already cooked, leftover chicken. Or poach your chicken right before stirring everything together.

To poach chicken:

Bring 4-6 cups of water, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper to a boil.
Add 1.5 pounds of chicken.
Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer for about 15-20 minutes until the chicken is cooked all the way through. Let cool and shred with two forks or your fingers.

And now you've just poached chicken.

Feel free to use chicken broth instead of water and/or to add some leftover veggie scraps like celery, onions, garlic, and carrots when you are bringing the water to a boil to give your poached chicken a little extra flavor.

Avocado Chicken Salad

A high protein chicken salad made without mayo. Nutritious and delicious, this is perfect for lunch, a snack, or a light dinner

5 from 3 votes

Print Rate

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 servings

Author: Meme

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 avocado
• ▢ ½ cup cottage cheese preferably low sodium
• ▢ ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
• ▢ 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ 1 clove garlic minced
• ▢ 4 cups cooked chicken breast shredded
• ▢ 3 green onions chopped
• ▢ ½ cup cilantro chopped

Instructions

• In a plastic or glass bowl, mash the avocado to a chunky consistency. Set aside.
• Add the cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and garlic to the bowl of a food processor or blender. Process until completely smooth. Add mixture to the mashed avocado.
• Stir in the chicken, green onions, and cilantro. Taste and season as needed.
• Keep refrigerated, tightly covered, when not in use.

Notes

*4 cups of chicken is about 16 ounces cooked chicken

*Use parsley in place of cilantro if desired

Did you try this recipe?Be sure to leave a comment & recipe rating below. Bonus points for tagging @memeinge & #livingwellkitchen on Instagram! THANK YOU! xo

What I used to make this recipe:

[showhide type="post" more_text="Click here for Nutrition Facts" less_text="Clear Nutrition Facts"]
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Meme

Here are some of my other favorite avocado recipes you might enjoy:

Avocado Salmon Burgers (this one has a video!)

Curry Avocado Chicken Salad

Spinach and Avocado Hummus

Avocado Deviled Eggs

Avocado Cilantro Dressing

Avocado Pudding

Guacamole Burgers

Tomatillo Guacamole

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