Easy Apple Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad (With NO Mayo!)

My Easy Apple Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad (With NO Mayo!) is the perfect combination of creamy and light and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. It’s delicious every single time and it’s ridiculously easy to make! And the best part is, no mayonnaise for those of us who are not mayonnaise lovers! So go get your croissants and your crackers and get ready to try this perfect no-mayo chicken salad!

This is not a traditional chicken salad recipe in that the dressing has no mayonnaise or sour cream in it. It’s a yogurt-based sweet dressing to go on the chicken and salad ingredients. I think that Greek yogurt chicken salad is delicious and makes for a really creamy chicken salad sandwich for easy lunches during your week and weekends! And trust me, you’ll never even miss that there’s no mayonnaise in this chicken salad!

This mayo-free chicken salad is a great way to use up any leftover veggies and fruits you have lurking in your crisper drawer. Heck, you can use leftover rotisserie chicken for the recipe, too! I’ve included my ingredient list, but you can mix, match and make additions however you’d like! I love it when a recipe is super flexible and I can use ingredients I have on hand, like my Mason Jar Salads and my Summer Apple Cole Slaw!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Customizable:  You can pick and choose whatever you want to go into this recipe! Don’t like celery? Omit it! Want some grapes in there? Add them in! I love it with the exact combination that I’ve perfected, but you make it your own and let me know what your favorite combo is! 
• Quick, Easy & Nearly Effortless: This chicken salad is so simple to make, it’s just some chopping and stirring, especially if you use a store-bought rotisserie chicken. 

Ingredients for Easy Apple Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad:

Feel free to use what you already have on hand and make substitutions. Fresh ingredients will always taste the best, but sometimes the easy way is to use what you have on hand!

Serves: This recipe makes 8 sandwiches worth of chicken salad. 

Dressing Ingredients:

• Greek yogurt – I used full-fat whole milk Greek Yogurt – I think it adds a delightful creaminess! Plain Greek yogurt also adds a little more protein to the dish if you are working on a high-protein eating goal. 
• Maple Syrup – This is the perfect smokey and sweet way to add some extra sweetness and flavor to the dressing.
• Cranberry Juice – (Mine was actually Cranberry Pomegranate juice – any kind of cranberry juice will do!)
• Cream Cheese – I like to get the already whipped kind, as it’s MUCH easier to incorporate into the dressing. Especially if you forget to lay stuff out ahead of time to soften. I’m looking at myself on this one!

Salad Ingredients:

• Dried cranberries – I like to use dried cranberries for this recipe. I’m not really looking for the tart of the fresh cranberry. I want sweet cranberries, and for that, you really want to go with the dried sweetened variety. Having said that though – the tart of fresh cranberries would be delicious too!
• Chopped pecans – Chopped, slivered, toasted, however you like them!
• Diced apple – I used Granny Smith Apples because I love crunchy apples in my chicken salad.
• Chopped celery – Finely chop some fresh crunchy celery. It gives a great taste and crunch all at the same time.
• Chicken breasts – Cooked and diced – If I don’t have leftover chicken breast to use, I’ll make some instant pot chicken breasts in a snap and they will be ready for chicken salad really quickly. Or even quicker than that is to use a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store! You could also use leftover grilled chicken from these grilled chicken recipes!
• Salt and Black Pepper, – To taste – I actually don’t add either if my chicken is already seasoned. If my chicken isn’t seasoned, I might add just a pinch of black pepper and around 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

Substitutions, Modifications, and Additions

One thing I love about classic chicken salad is the variety of ingredients that you can include in the salad. And I love all the little tweaks you can make to the dish. 

Substitutions

• Turkey – I like to use up leftover chicken in this recipe. It also works great with leftover turkey. If you don’t have chicken that’s already made, take some help from the store and grab a rotisserie chicken at the deli! 
• Lemon Juice– If the dressing is too sweet for you, you can always squeeze in some fresh lemon juice to give it a little zip! Add a little lemon zest in too, that will really drive home the lemon flavor. 
• Nuts: If nuts are not your thing, or there is an allergy, feel free to omit them from the recipe. My husband is not a fan of nuts in chicken salad. I’m not a fan of chicken salad without nuts. It takes all kinds! If you don’t have pecans on hand, feel free to substitute in almonds, walnuts, pistachios, or even cashews! I would use walnuts first and have a cranberry walnut chicken salad. YUM!

Modifications

• Gluten-Free – First, always check all your ingredients for yourself to be safe.  Secondly, as long as your yogurt and cream cheese are gluten-free, then this salad is gluten-free and good to go! Serve with gluten-free bread or gluten-free croissants for a gluten-free meal!
• Dairy-Free – There are so many plant-based yogurts and cream cheeses now that are dairy-free! Pick those as your dressing base and you’ll be all set for a dairy-free easy chicken salad!
• Mayonnaise – Hey – if you miss it — use it in the dressing instead of the yogurt. 😉​

Additions

• Onion – Want a little more bite to the dish? Add in a milder red onion or green onions. It puts a delicious bite and flavor to the chicken salad. 
• Curry Powder – Add a few tablespoons of curry powder to put an exotic spin on your chicken salad!
• Dijon Mustard – Want a little twang? Try a little squirt of Dijon mustard for an extra zip of flavor!
• Cottage Cheese – Want to amp up the protein even more? Add some cottage cheese into the dressing as well! Blend it if you want to keep the dressing smooth. Personally, I’m good with the little lumps!

More Chicken Salad Recipes

Do you like out of the box Chicken Salad Recipes? Here are some others I found that look AMAZING!

• Curried Chicken Salad by The Pioneer Woman
• Cajun Chicken Salad by Amanda’s Cookin’
• Chicken Salad Deviled Eggs by Ginger Casa
• Buffalo Chicken Salad by Skinnytaste

Equipment for Easy Apple Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad:

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase something from those links, I may make a small commission. See our full Disclosure and Disclaimer Policy here.

• Santoku Knife – You don’t have to go out and buy a nice knife. BUT, if you were in the market for a knife, this is the one I couldn’t do without, and the one I go for time and time again. It’s wonderfully and beautifully made. I’ve had this knife for over 10 years and it’s my favorite thing in my entire kitchen. You truly do get what you pay for in knives. These are made in Germany but are widely sold in the United States now. You can go way higher in quality as well, this is just a starting point.
• Cutting Board – I’ve had these for years and I love them. Mine are red! They are the perfect sizes, easy to store, and have a little groove around the edges to stop juices from flowing all over. This is the cutting board I go to time and time again when I’m cooking.
• Mixing Bowls – These nesting mixing bowls are fabulous. They store easily and the lids come in so, so handy! I adore them and I love the colors!
• Spatula Set – This is the greatest set ever. Not only does it have several handy spatulas, it has a few tiny ones too, to help you get every single scrape out of jars and containers!

Cooking and Assembly Instructions:

This recipe couldn’t be easier! Chop, drop in a bowl, and stir to combine!

Chop: Chop up all of your ingredients.

Combine: In a smaller bowl, combine cream cheese, yogurt, maple syrup, and cranberry juice to make the dressing for the chicken salad. 

Combine: Combine cranberries, pecans, diced apples, celery, and chicken in a larger mixing bowl. Add in about half of the dressing and stir to combine. You can decide from there how much more dressing to add. If you like it more creamy, add more dressing. If you like just a little dressing like me, stop there. (I use the leftover dressing as a fruit dip! It’s delicious that way too!)

Assemble and Serve: Serve on sliced and warm croissants.

Serving Suggestions:

• Sides: I like to have this with some chips, fresh fruit,  or raw crunchy veggies for a light lunch. 
• Bread: Any bread will do, but it’s extra delicious and buttery and magical on a warmed croissant. If you don’t love a croissant, you could always have the cranberry chicken salad on just plain whole-grain bread that you toast! Regular slices of bread can get soggy if you don’t toast them ahead of time.
• Lettuce Wrap – If sandwiches aren’t your thing — or you are working on being a bit healthier – try this chicken salad in a lettuce wrap! Use romaine, iceberg, or butter lettuce for an awesome chicken salad lettuce wrap!
• Lettuce Cups – On that same lettuce note, you can also just serve a scoop of the chicken salad in a lettuce cup or a bed of lettuce leaves and enjoy it that way, too!
• Crackers – Serve a scoop of chicken salad with butter crackers or whole wheat crackers for a different take on the recipe!
• Bread – If you don’t love a croissant, you could always have the cranberry chicken salad on just plain whole-grain bread that you toast! Regular slices of bread can get soggy if you don’t toast them ahead of time.

Storage and Reheating Instructions

Storage

• Refrigerator – Store leftovers of this chicken salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. I like to put plastic wrap over the chicken as well as the airtight lid. 
• Freezer – I don’t recommend freezing this dish – it does not dethaw well at all. 

Reheating

No reheating of the salad is necessary! Just warm up or toast your bread for a fresh sandwich. 

Meal Planning

This delicious chicken salad is perfect to make to munch on through the week, but it’s also perfect to serve for the holiday season as well. It’s great in the Fall and into Christmas with all the cranberry and apple flavor! Definitely use it with your Thanksgiving Leftovers for sure!

Frequently Asked Questions:

Wrap-Up – Easy Apple Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad (With NO Mayo!)

Creamy cranberry chicken salad is one of my new favorite things! It’s a delicious chicken salad recipe. It’s a departure from traditional chicken salad recipes and the deli-style salads that you might be used to — but I think that’s the best part of this recipe! This tasty recipe is an opportunity to be creative and it’s the perfect way to use up ingredients you might have on hand and need to use up. It’s wonderful for a quick lunch (or a quick snack!) on a bed of lettuce with crackers! It’s even a great topper for easy salads! This is by far my favorite chicken salad recipe. I can’t wait to hear what you think when you make it! Let me know what you think and what fun things you added to your salad for the best flavor!

Printable Recipe Card – Easy Apple Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad (With NO Mayo!)

Want to remember this? Save this recipe for “Easy Apple Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad” to your favorite Pinterest board!