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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.
I would love to make this salad; however, the sugar content is way too high for a pre-diabetic.
Hello. This recipe sounds wonderful, however; I do not make any recipes with "mayo" or form of "mayo". I often substitute sour cream or yogurt. This recipe already has sour cream. Do you have any other recommendations that will also work?
Thank you.
I recommend trying these ingredients instead of mayo: plain Greek yogurt or plain kefir, freshly squeezed lime juice to add tangy flavor. You can also try tahini. Or combination of all these.
How do you cook the chicken ?
Rosemary, you can use any kind of leftover cooked chicken or cooked rotisserie chicken.
If you want to cook chicken from scratch, I recommend this recipe:
https://juliasalbum.com/how-to-cook-boneless-skinless-chicken-thighs/
I haven’t made it yet but it sounds delicious! Can you make it and freeze it in small portions? Or is it really not freezable?
The bomb
Delicious!!!
Thank you! 🙂
Glad it was a success!
Great recipe! Thank you! I found it while looking for a way to hide the taste of probiotic rich sauerkraut in chicken salad. It worked!
Carlton, your comment made me smile! 🙂 And I actually love this idea of using probiotic-rich sauerkraut in a chicken salad - might have to try that myself! ❤️
This is one of the most delicious chicken salad recipes I've ever made.
Carla, your comment made my day! ❤️
It didn't allow me to choose stars originally. Five stars!
Lisa, thank you! 🙂
This was delicious, even though I didn't have any poppy seeds. Wil definitely make again.
Lisa, so glad you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it! 🙂
Delicious!!!!
Thank you! 🙂
Hi Julia, thank you for this recipe. I made it today and it was very good. I am not a fan of salt so with the mayonnaise it was well balanced without additional salt. I think this chicken salad is great for a quick meal or just a little as a snack. I will make it again, often.
Lisette, thank you for your wonderful feedback and the 5-star review! ❤️
Hi. Your Chicken salad is the best ever. Thanks for sharing a very tasty recipe
Jane, I am so pleased to hear that! 🙂 Happy Holidays! 🙂
Will be making this over and over again. Absolutely Delicious and Loved and devoured by All.
Rocky, I am so happy you love this recipe! 🙂 Thank you for such a positive comment! 🙂
Do my pecans need to be roasted?
Lisa, I always prefer to briefly roast the pecans, so yes!
Has anyone made this with canned chicken?
Sherry, I haven't made this with canned chicken. But it would be good with store-bought cooked rotisserie chicken!
I made it using canned chicken once, and only once. What a mistake! It tasted horrible! Won't do that again. That being said, I make this at least 3 times a month, we love it. I also like to add some thin sliced celery as well.
Judith, I am so happy you love this recipe!! Freshly cooked chicken tastes the best! 🙂
This chicken salad is memorable, so I just keep making it again. Very easy with only 4 ingredients and yummy poppyseed dressing.
Danette, I am so glad you found this recipe worth repeating! Thank you for taking the time to share such a positive comment!
I love this chicken salad!!!
Pam, I am glad you love it, and Thank You for the 5-star rating! 🙂