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Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing is an easy recipe that a whole family would love! It's a great side dish or light dinner. This salad makes a wonderful meal for the holiday menu, especially Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing is one of the best chicken salads you'll ever taste! The homemade, easy-to-make poppy seed dressing makes this salad quite special. Give yourself and your family a treat - scroll down to the recipe and make this salad!
Great recipe for leftovers
Not only is this salad great with chicken, it will also work great with leftover turkey meat since Thanksgiving is coming up!
Ingredients for the salad
The salad has only 4 simple ingredients: cooked chicken, dried cranberries, chopped pecans, and chopped green onions.
Simple homemade dressing
What makes this salad really special is the homemade dressing, made with mayo, sour cream, a touch of Dijon mustard, honey, and poppy seeds! It's delicious!
Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing
Ingredients
Dressing
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoon honey softened
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- salt to taste
Salad
- 4 cups chicken breast , cooked, chopped (about 2 chicken breasts)
- 1 cup pecans , chopped
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 4 green onions , chopped
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine all dressing ingredients. Whisk until well combined. Add salt, to taste.
- In a large bowl, combine all salad ingredients. Add salad dressing and toss to coat. Add salt, to taste.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
What do you mean by "soft" honey?
Looks awesome!
Thank you!
I have never left a review on a recipe before but had to comment here...………...so very good ! I didn't have dried cranberries but used pomegranate as that is what I had and it was delicious. Thanks for a great recipe.
Amy, you are very welcome! I am glad you commented on my recipe! Love the idea of using pomegranate seeds in this salad!
This looks great. Not a big pecan fan. Would almonds work?
Yes, almonds will work great, too! I would use lightly toasted slivered almonds.
Yum! Made this for lunch today and now I have a new go-to recipe for leftover chicken/turkey. Thank you!
So glad you found a new go-to recipe for leftover chicken and turkey! 🙂 Thank you for your comment!
Made this tonight-served over a bed of romaine/kale/spinach —it was so good!
My husband is allergic to nuts-so he skipped the pecans—and still loved it.
And, I messed up and got orange flavored cranberries instead of regular—and they actually tasted really yummy with the dressing.
Will definitely make this again!!!
Thank you, Victoria, for such a nice comment! So glad you enjoyed this recipe. Orange flavored cranberries - I have to try those!
Made this tonight for dinner with the addition of some chopped romaine and some packaged slaw mix. Very yummy! Will be one of my favourite salads from now on. Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
This looks delicious. Has anyone used turkey instead of chicken? Just thinking about leftover turkey ideas for Thanksgiving. I don’t eat meat so I would appreciate any input if you think turkey would work. Thanks
I think using leftover turkey is a great idea!
Would this be good without the onions? I don't like raw onions of any kind.
You don't have to use green onions. The salad would taste great without them, too!
Loved this on my initial making of the recipe. The second time I added celery and increased the cranberries to 1 cup and juice of 1/2 lemon. The original was not lacking anything. It was great. I can’t ever leave anything alone without adding to it. Don’t know why.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Adding celery and increasing the amount of cranberries sounds delicious!
I don't eat mayo, could you substitute anything for mayo?
Sour cream or Greek yogurt. Maybe add a little bit of freshly squeezed lemon juice.
I used the Greek yogurt with a bit of lemon juice along with the sour cream and a small amount of Mayo. I used sesame, chia, flax and kemp seeds. Dressing was super. Love this salad.... so easy and yummy....Making for a party of 8 tomorrow... serving with baguette bread.
What a great idea to use seeds in the salad dressing! Love it! Serving with baguette bread sounds so delicious!
This is a wonderful salad. Like others, I added celery. I also toasted the pecans. Loved the dressing!
Great additions! Thank you for stopping by and leaving your comment! 🙂
Pretty and delicious! It was great on top of a halved avocado and amazing on a croissant! I put a bit of chopped celery in it for extra crunch.
I am glad you liked it! Great idea to serve it with avocado and/or croissant! 🙂
This is one fantastic salad. Love it.
Made this for a party. Served on Wassa crackers and leftover on multigrain toast. Excellent!
Thank you, I am so glad you liked it!