Honey Mustard Chicken Salad
Honey mustard chicken salad is a quick, flavor packed lunch or dinner. It has shredded chicken, crunchy vegetables, crisp apples, and roasted nuts in a creamy honey mustard dressing. This sweet and savory recipe is dairy free and gluten free.
Looking for more chicken recipes? Try my crispy chicken wrap, spicy chicken burgers, or buffalo chicken rice bowl.
Ingredient Notes
- Rotisserie chicken
- Celery
- Sweet-tart apple – any variety with a crisp, crunchy texture is ideal. I used a Cripps Pink apple, but Honeycrisp, Gala, Fuji, Envy, etc. are all great.
- Roasted cashews
- Radish – raw red onion is common in chicken salad, but since I don’t like raw onion, the radish has a similar crunchy texture and bitter taste that gets mellowed out when mixed with the other ingredients.
- Creamy honey mustard dressing – unsweetened plain dairy free greek yogurt (I love Cocojune), mayo, dijon mustard, whole grain mustard, white wine vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, and kosher salt.
- Garnish – minced chives.
How to Make: Step By Step
Here are some quick visual instructions. The full instructions and ingredient list will be in the printable recipe card below!
- Make salad. In a large bowl, combine the salad ingredients.
- Make dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients until smooth.
- Combine. Pour the dressing over the chicken mixture and toss until well combined. Enjoy!
Make It Your Way: Substitutions & Variations
Please remember that recipes are just a starting point.
How can you make this chicken salad with honey mustard using what you already have? Here are some ideas…
- No celery? – use other crunchy veggies such as jicama, Persian or english cucumber, or all radish.
- No radish? – you can also raw red onion, otherwise, you can use another crunchy vegetable listed directly above.
- No cashews? – other nuts I’d recommend are roasted almonds, pistachios, macadamia nuts or honey roasted peanuts.
- No mayo? – you can use all yogurt.
- No white wine vinegar? – use champagne vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice.
Helpful Tips
- This chicken salad with honey mustard dressing is a great way to use up leftover chicken. It helps repurpose the chicken and greatly speeds up the prep time. Otherwise, use rotisserie chicken so it comes together quickly.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
More Chicken salad Recipes
Did you try this honey mustard chicken salad? If so, please leave a comment & a star rating below. Thank you!
Honey Mustard Chicken Salad
Honey mustard chicken salad is a quick, flavor packed lunch or dinner. It has shredded chicken, crunchy vegetables, crisp apples, and roasted nuts in a creamy honey mustard dressing. This sweet and savory recipe is dairy free and gluten free.
Ingredients
Chicken Salad
- 3 cups cooked shredded chicken use rotisserie or leftover chicken for ease
- ½ cup diced celery
- ½ cup diced apple any sweet, crisp variety
- ⅓ cup roasted cashews roughly chopped
- ¼ cup diced radish
Creamy Honey Mustard Dressing
- ½ cup plain unsweetened dairy free yogurt or Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup mayo
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
- 1 ½ tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- kosher salt to taste
Garnish
- minced chives
Instructions
- Make salad. In a large bowl, combine shredded chicken, diced celery, diced apple, chopped cashews, and diced radish.
- Make dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients until smooth. Season to taste with kosher salt.
- Combine and serve. Pour the dressing over the chicken mixture and toss until well combined. Serve in lettuce wraps or a bed of greens, on toast, in a sandwich or wrap, with crackers, etc.
Notes
See the blog post for helpful tips as well as a make it your way section with substitutions & variations.