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About This Recipe
You don’t need a bowl of Lucky Charms to taste the rainbow with this Rainbow Chicken Salad! This recipe is light and packed with veggies, lean protein, and fiber to keep you feeling satisfyingly full and focused all afternoon long.
This chicken salad recipe has been made lighter by using creamy yogurt and cottage cheese instead of mayonnaise. Not sure about cottage cheese? Trust me, it’s so good and you won’t even notice a difference! Although you can definitely still use mayo!
Chicken salad is one of my FAVORITE things to prep for meal prep. It’s easy to make, last all week in the fridge and doesn’t require any reheating!
For more chicken salad goodness check out the best waldorf chicken salad, apple pecan chicken salad and pecan cranberry chicken salad!
Why You’ll Love This Rainbow Chicken Salad
- It’s full of flavor and texture! Each bite is crunchy, savory, sweet, and tangy!
- Lower fat and higher protein than traditional chicken salad
- Packed with a ton of veggies and gut-friendly fiber!
- Super easy to make and lasts all week! Perfect for meal prep!
- Requires no reheating, so a great for on the go!
- Chicken – any cooked chicken works! Rotisserie, canned, grilled, store bought shredded or make your own shredded chicken.
- Celery
- Baby bell peppers – An assortment of colors will help create the rainbow! You can use normal size peppers, too.
- Red onion
- Red grapes – can also substitute apples, cranberries, or dates.
- Yogurt – I used plain Greek yogurt. I recommend using a thick, creamy one like Fage or Good Culture. Use dairy-free if needed.
- Cottage cheese – I used Good Culture 2% low fat cottage cheese.
- Lemon juice
- Ranch seasoning – or salt, garlic powder, onion powder to taste!
- Add nuts! This recipe is naturally low in fat so I love adding almond slices or walnuts for extra healthy fats!
- Switch up your veggies! I love the bright colors of the fruit and veggies in this recipe but feel free to switch it up. Add some apples, carrots, dates, jalapeno (for a kick!), radish, etc.
- Herbs! Try adding some cilantro or dill for an extra fresh kick! Even dried herbs give it some depth.
- Seasonings! You don’t need ranch seasoning mix for this recipe. Just throw in some of your favorite spices! Garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, elote seasoning are all so good!
How To Make
The full printable recipe is below, but let me walk you through the process so you know what to expect when you’re making it!
1. If needed, go ahead and cook chicken and shred first.
2. Prepare the veggies by using the dice setting on a food chopper or by dicing them with a knife. Use a knife to quarter the grapes.
3. In a large mixing bowl, add all the ingredients. Fold using a large wooden spoon until ingredients are mixed thoroughly.
4. Enjoy over toast, in a lettuce wrap, with chips, etc.
Helpful Tips
This recipe is a great meal prep option! It stores beautifully in the fridge and holds up for several days!
Can I use mayonnaise for this recipe if I don’t like cottage cheese?
Absolutely! I personally love the blend of cottage cheese and greek yogurt. I promise, you don’t even taste the cottage cheese it just has a really nice creamy consistency. But if you are adamantly against cottage cheese, you can easily sub for regular or lite mayo (or sub for more Greek yogurt). The mayo will have a slightly sweeter taste but will still be absolutely delicious!
What type of chicken should I use for this recipe?
Any cooked chicken works for this recipe! You can use a simple bulk chicken recipe, leftover grilled chicken, store-bought rotisserie chicken or canned chicken!
What is the best way to chop all the veggies for this recipe?
My favorite (and the quickest) way to chop all the veggies for this recipe is with a veggie chopper/dicer! This kitchen tool is such a major time saver plus I love how it cuts everything up in small, uniform pieces! If you don’t have one of these (even though I highly recommend) you can simply chip everything with a cutting board and sharp knife (or buy precut from the grocery store!).
Did you make this? If you snap a photo, please be sure leave a review, tag me on Instagram or TikTok at @LaurenFitFoodie or hashtag #LaurenFitFoodie so I can see your creations!
Rainbow Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 9 cups shredded chicken (900g) cooked, any rotisserie or homemade shredded chicken
- 2 cups celery (230g) ~7 stalks
- 1/2 medium red onion (115g)
- 6 baby bell peppers (240g) multicolored, or 2 regular peppers
- 1.5 cup red grapes (220g)
- 1 cup cottage cheese (220g) 2%
- 3/4 cup Greek yogurt (180g)
- 2 Tbsp ranch seasoning mix (12g) or salt, onion powder, garlic powder to taste
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (30g)
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Instructions
- Dice the celery, red onion and peppers finely. A food chopper makes this fast. Use a knife to quarter the grapes.
- In a large mixing bowl, add all the ingredients. Fold using a large wooden spoon until ingredients are mixed thoroughly.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge. It gets better the longer it sits!
Equipment
- Vegetable chopper optional
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition is hand-calculated and accurate. No autocalulations! However, note that values can vary based on the brands you use and if you substitute ingredients.
