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Cranberry Almond Chicken Salad

Easy Cranberry Almond Chicken Salad with creamy poppy seed dressing, toasted almonds, and dried cranberries.
Course Appetizer, Chicken, Main Course
Cuisine American, Southern
Keyword chicken-salad, cranberry-almond-chicken-salad
Prep Time 15 minutes
Chill time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 15 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Calories 469kcal
Author Melissa Sperka

Ingredients

  • Dressing:
  • 1 cup real mayonnaise
  • 2/3 cup prepared poppyseed salad dressing
  • 2 Tbsp chopped chives
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp granulated garlic or garlic powder
  • Chicken Salad:
  • 4-5 cups chopped roasted chicken
  • 2/3 cup celery finely diced
  • 1/3 cup toasted almond slices
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 8 fresh onion rolls croissants, slider rolls
  • green leaf or bibb lettuce leaves separated

Instructions

  • Toast Almonds: Spread almonds on a sheet pan. Roast in a preheated 350°F oven for 4-6 minutes or just until lightly golden and fragrant. Set aside to cool.
  • Dressing: In a medium bowl whisk together mayonnaise, poppy seed dressing, chives, salt, onion powder, black pepper and granulated garlic until fully combined.
  • Chicken Salad: To the bowl add chopped chicken, celery, toasted almond slices and dried cranberries. Mix gently until combined. Adjust amount of dressing, if desired.
  • Place into an airtight container and chill for at least 4 hours.
  • Serve on onion rolls, croissants or slider rolls dressed with green leaf or bibb lettuce.

Notes

  • Chicken - You can use any cooked or leftover chicken in this cranberry chicken salad recipe. You can use poached chicken, roasted chicken or grilled chicken. You may also opt to use all chicken breast meat. You can also use this recipe to transform leftover turkey from Thanksgiving.
  • Cranberries - This chicken salad recipe works best with sweet dried cranberries or Craisins. Fresh cranberries are too tart.
  • Mayonnaise - You can replace mayo with plain Greek yogurt.
  • Onion - You can add finely diced red onion or shallots.
  • Fresh Herbs - Toss in fresh herbs such as fresh parsley or tarragon.
  • Nuts - You could use walnuts or pecans in place of almonds. I highly recommend toasting the nuts for the depth of flavor it lends to the nuts and the chicken salad overall.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 469kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 52mg | Sodium: 1017mg | Potassium: 402mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 120IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 108mg | Iron: 3mg