Poppy Seed Chicken Salad
This Poppy Seed Chicken Salad is a delicious and easy high-protein chicken salad, studded with crisp celery and sweet grapes. It’s a great way to use rotisserie chicken and perfect for meal prep!
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Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe:
- It’s SO simple to put together!
- All you need is five simple ingredients.
- This chicken salad is a fantastic way to use up leftover grilled chicken or even rotisserie chicken.
- You can use your favorite poppy seed dressing for ease — I love Panera’s Poppy Seed Dressing, as it’s a much lighter option than others and my family enjoys it.
- It’s perfect to meal prep for easy lunches!
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions:
For a full ingredient list with quantities, please check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Chicken – you can use any pre-cooked chicken. I prefer rotisserie chicken or my go-to oven baked thin sliced chicken breast that I often meal prep.
- Poppy Seed Dressing – for the sake of convenience, I love to make this with a ready-made poppy seed dressing. My favorite is Panera’s Poppy Seed Dressing. It’s lighter, with only 25 calories per two tablespoons (I often find it at Kroger).
- Celery – finely diced celery adds the perfect crisp crunch.
- Grapes – if you haven’t tried it, grapes in chicken salad admittedly sounds a bit strange. That said, I promise that it’s 1. a thing and 2. very delicious (especially when paired with this sweet poppy seed dressing, too!) .
- Honey Roasted Almonds – these are delicious and add another layer of crunch and flavor.
How to Make Poppy Seed Chicken Salad
For complete instructions, please check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Honestly, I almost hate to call this a recipe because it’s truly so simple, especially with its use of more convenient ingredients. All you do is chop anything that needs chopping (chicken, celery, grapes), then toss all the ingredients together!
Tips and Variations
- Swap any kind of chopped, crushed, or sliced nuts of your choice. Even pumpkin seeds would be delicious for a nut-free option.
- For a creamier dressing, use a creamy poppy seed dressing, or add two tablespoons of whipped cottage cheese or Greek yogurt to the dressing.
- For a higher-fiber option, try using half chicken and half chickpe
- Try using dried cranberries or dried blueberries instead of grapes — this adds a little chewy texture, too.
Meal Prep and Storage
This poppy seed chicken salad will last for up to five days in the fridge, in an airtight container. I typically prefer to go ahead and portion it for easy meals to grab and go, such as in these 3 compartment glass containers or these fun, five-compartment boxes I use for my adult lunchable videos on social media.
Chicken Salad Serving Suggestions
- On a sandwich with whole grain bread, butter lettuce, and thinly sliced red onion.
- Open faced-style, on top of sourdough toast.
- With crackers (I love Triscuit thins or Simple Mills almond flour crackers).
- With veggie “chips”, like half of a mini bell pepper or a “chip” sliced carrot for dipping.
- Simply digging in with a fork. ; )
Watch Me Make It
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Poppy Seed Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken breast cooked, chopped
- 1 stalk celery diced
- ½ cup red grapes diced
- ¼ cup honey roasted sliced almonds
- ½ cup Panera poppy seed dressing
Instructions
- To a medium mixing bowl, add the chopped cooked chicken, celery, grapes, almonds, and poppy seed dressing. Toss all ingredients gently to combine. Serve on sourdough or whole grain toast or with whole grain crackers and enjoy!2 cups chicken breast, 1 stalk celery, 1/2 cup red grapes, 1/4 cup honey roasted sliced almonds, 1/2 cup Panera poppy seed dressing
