If you’re looking for a delicious protein-packed lunch to fuel your day, then look no further than my High Protein Green Goddess Chicken Salad. It comes together with shredded rotisserie chicken and a herbaceous, greek-yogurt-based Green Goddess Dressing that is good, you could eat it with a spoon. Don’t knock it until you try it – there’s no wrong way to enjoy this recipe! Serve it on lettuce leaves, on bread, or with gluten-free crackers for the perfect lunch, ready in minutes!
🎯 Meet Your New Go-To Lunch Recipe
Friends, on those buys days when I don’t know what to eat for lunch, I LOVE being able to reach into my fridge and grab a high-protein option. While I don’t track calories or macros (and you can read more about why, here), the one macro that I do track is protein. Why? Because protein is what helps you build muscle and keep you feeling fuller, longer.
Once I started prioritizing my protein intake, I noticed that I not only had significantly more energy throughout the day, but I found myself wanting to snack less, because my meals were actually satisfying me! If you find yourself feeling constantly hungry, even after eating a full meal, I recommend incorporating more high-protein meals into your diet (like my Easy High Protein Egg Breakfast Bars or my High Protein Skillet Lasagna) and seeing if it makes a difference!
But, back to this chicken salad. This chicken salad not only gets its protein from the chicken itself, but also from the dressing, which comes together with a base of protein-rich greek yogurt. What could be better than that?
In addition to being a protein-packed lunch recipe, this one is also perfect for meal prepping. I love to prepare this chicken salad at the beginning of the week and store it in the fridge for an easy grab-and-go option. I especially love using these containers to ensure that it stays fresh for longer. This salad is a dream come true, and I know you’ll love it as much as I do!
My Favorite Ways to Enjoy This Chicken Salad
While I love enjoying this chicken salad on romaine lettuce leaves for a low-carb option, this chicken salad can be enjoyed so many different ways! Here are a few of my favorites:
- 🥪 Put it in a sandwich: A chicken salad sandwich is a classic dish that you truly can never go wrong with. Simply toast up some sourdough bread, add in a few lettuce leaves, and top this chicken salad on top. It’s delicious!
- 🥙 Scoop it with crackers: A delicious way to eat this chicken salad is alongside crackers. It’s especially good for picnics or taking on-the-go!
- 🥄 Eat it with a spoon: This chicken salad is perfectly delicious, right out of the bowl. No other accompaniments required! Eat it with a spoon, right out of the bowl, for the perfect high protein snack.
What You Need to Make This High-Protein Chicken Salad
- 🥣 Greek Yogurt: Traditional chicken salad gets its creaminess from mayonnaise. But as someone who isn’t the biggest fan of mayo, and prefers her food to be packed with protein, I love using greek yogurt in this recipe! It makes this salad perfectly creamy and adds a heaping dose of protein, making it the perfect addition for this chicken salad recipe!
- 🥑 Avocado: Avocado is creamy, delicious, and packed with healthy fats, making it the perfect base for the creamy Green Goddess Dressing.
- Basil & Dill: The key to making a good Green Goddess Dressing is to use fresh herbs, and this recipe calls for fresh basil and dill.
- Green Onion: Green onions add a delicious flavor to the dressing. Don’t skip this!
- 🧄 Garlic: I always recommend using fresh garlic whenever possible, especially in salad dressings. It adds the best flavor and truly takes the recipe to the next level!
- 🍋 Lemon: You’ll need both the juice and the zest of one whole lemon, for this dressing.
- 🍾 Champagne Vinegar: If you don’t have champagne vinegar you can also use white wine vinegar for an easy (and equally delicious) substitution.
- 🧂 Sea Salt & Ground Black Pepper: A pinch of salt and pepper adds the perfect touch to this recipe. Don’t skip it!
- 🍗 Rotisserie Chicken: Using rotisserie chicken in this recipe is such an easy way to simplify your process and make this recipe in a pinch! If you don’t want to use rotisserie chicken, you can also opt to use cooked, shredded chicken breasts.
- 🧅 Red Onion: I love lots of diced onion in my chicken salad, because it adds so much flavor and crunch!
- 🥬 Romaine Lettuce: Romaine lettuce leaves are my favorite vessel for enjoying this chicken salad on! They’re big and crunchy, and are a low-carb option, as well.
- Chives: This is optional, but I love to garnish the chicken salad with a sprinkle of fresh chives!
How to Make This Simple & Easy Chicken Salad
To make this salad, start by preparing the dressing. Add all of the dressing ingredients (the greek yogurt, avocado, basil, dill, green onions, garlic, lemon, champagne vinegar, kosher salt, and ground black pepper) to a food processor or blender. Then, process / blend until the dressing is smooth.
Set the dressing aside while you prepare the chicken. Shred the chicken and add it to a bowl alongside the chopped red onion. Next, pour the Green Goddess Dressing on top of the chicken and toss until fully combined.
Add the romaine lettuce leaves to a plate and fill each one with the chicken mixture. Garnish the lettuce cups with chopped chives and a pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper, if desired. Then, serve and enjoy!
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a review and rating below! To see more recipes and behind the scenes, follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube! I’m also now on Pinterest, so stop by and take a look at what’s new.
** Photography by Tanya Pilgrim
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Green Goddess Dressing:
- ½ Cup Greek Yogurt
- 1 Avocado
- ½ Cup Basil
- ¼ Cup Dill
- 4 Green Onions
- 3 Cloves Garlic
- 1 Lemon, zested and juiced
- 2 Tablespoons Champagne Vinegar, or white wine vinegar
- ½ Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ½ Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
For the Salad
- 1 Rotisserie Chicken, removed and shredded – or, 2 chicken breasts, shredded
- ½ Red Onion, finely diced
- 8 Romaine Lettuce Leaves
- Chives, chopped – for garnishing
Instructions
- To make this salad, start by preparing the dressing. Add all of the dressing ingredients (the greek yogurt, avocado, basil, dill, green onions, garlic, lemon, champagne vinegar, kosher salt, and ground black pepper) to a food processor or blender. Then, process / blend until the dressing is smooth.
- Set the dressing aside while you prepare the chicken. Shred the chicken and add it to a bowl alongside the chopped red onion.
- Next, pour the Green Goddess Dressing on top of the chicken and toss until fully combined.
- Add the romaine lettuce leaves to a plate and fill each one with the chicken mixture.
- Garnish the lettuce cups with chopped chives and a pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper, if desired. Then, serve and enjoy!
Rate & review
SELECT A RATING and tell me what you think!
What others are saying
Divine!!! My new favorite chicken salad…and the dressing..wow!
I am so thrilled to hear that, Jennifer! Thank you so much for making it and for leaving such a kind review!
this has been my go to lunch!! LOVE IT
If you’re using this green goddess dressing to meal prep, how long does the color stay vibrant green—or does the avocado in it start to brown?
The best chicken salad I’ve ever had; this dressing is delicious and so fresh!
This chicken salad is the best ever! So heathy and amazingly delicious!!! Thank you so much for sharing this❤️
Best chicken salad ever! Healthy and amazingly delicious!!! Thank you so much for sharing ❤️