Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad is creamy, crunchy, and one of the best chicken salad recipes ever. With simple ingredients, this easy recipe is perfect for lunch, a baby shower, or even a quick, light dinner. The festive addition of dried cranberries makes it even better as a holiday chicken salad!
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Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad
Chicken Salad with Pecans is one of my favorite things. My husband makes it for me from time to time, and I could eat an entire bowl by myself. But around the holidays, it's fun to change things up, and that's where this special recipe comes in.
You're going to love this chicken cranberry pecan salad! It has pre-cooked or leftover chicken, crunchy pecans, dried sweet cranberries, and sweet relish's tart sweetness. All of the ingredients are easily found at your local grocery store and it's ready to eat in under 30 minutes!
This is my go-to recipe during the holidays when I want to make a simple salad everyone will love that is also festive and impressive (because cranberries!). Chicken Salad with Craisins and pecans checks all the boxes.
Why You'll Love Pecan Cranberry Chicken Salad
- Simple ingredients
- Sweet and savory flavor
- Fast - this delicious recipe is ready to eat in half an hour or less
- Easy lunch or brunch or snack. Or for ladies' luncheons or showers (baby or bridal)
- Serve it with crackers or as a chicken salad sandwich. Or roll it up in a tortilla! My favorite way to eat this chicken salad with cranberries is on a croissant!
- For a low carb option, serve this chicken salad recipe with cranberries on a bed of lettuce or fresh spinach, or in lettuce wraps.
Video
Tools
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Large Mixing and/or Serving Spoon
Ingredients:
This is such a great chicken salad with cranberries and pecans recipe and very versatile. Chicken Salad with Cranberries and Pecans is sweet and savory - and one of the best chicken salads!
- Rotisserie Chicken (shredded) - I used a whole chicken (because the rotisserie chickens at our grocery store are usually on the smaller side) but you could half the recipe if you're using leftovers or a smaller portion of chicken.
- Plain Greek Yogurt
- Mayonnaise
- Sweet Relish
- Onion Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Dill Weed
- Pecans
- Dried Cranberries
- Kosher Salt (optional)
Substitutions
I love this recipe as written but feel free to make this Cranberry Chicken Salad recipe your own! Here are some possibilities:
- Rotisserie Chicken - you can use any leftover cooked chicken, canned chicken or precooked chicken breasts. You could also use leftover turkey if you want.
- Plain Greek Yogurt - you could also use regular plain yogurt or sour cream
- Mayonnaise - I hesitate to say this, but you could use Miracle Whip instead of mayo. I know this is a personal preference but mayo is far superior if you ask me 😉
- Pecans - you could use walnuts instead or skip the nuts altogether, although I love the crunch and flavor combination of chicken salad with pecans.
- Dried Cranberrries - these are the star of this chicken salad, but if you must, you could use diced sweet apples instead of or along with the cranberries. Then you could have a Cranberry Chicken Salad with Apples and Pecans.
Find the complete recipe with ingredients measurements in the recipe card below.
How to Make Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad
This is such a simple recipe, it hardly requires instructions. Before you get started be sure to shred the pre-purchased rotisserie chicken. Or shred chicken breasts if you cook them specifically for this recipe.
- Start by placing your chicken, cranberries, and pecans in a large bowl.
- Mix until well combined by hand.
- Add the remaining ingredients into the chicken mixture.
- Give it a good stir and mix until well combined.
- For the best flavor, refrigerate for 1 hour. But you can eat it immediately in a pinch - it's still a delicious salad!
- This is optional but I love to sprinkle a little salt on this chicken cranberry salad at the end!
- Serve and enjoy this easy salad.
Other Mix-ins
The way I have this written is my favorite chicken salad recipe. But if you want to change it up, here are some possibilities to stir into it.
- Diced crisp apples
- Crunchy celery
- Diced red onion
Storage
Store any leftover Chicken Pecan Cranberry Salad in an airtight container for up to 3 to 4 days. The longer you keep it, the less crunchy the pecan pieces will be.
Serving Suggestions
Chicken salad with pecans and cranberries is a light lunch or dinner recipe that can be enjoyed with crackers, bread, tortillas, or croissants. It's also a great recipe to serve on top of a green salad.
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Best Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad Recipe
Description
Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad is creamy, crunchy, and one of the best chicken salad recipes ever. With simple ingredients, this easy recipe is perfect for lunch, a baby shower, or even a quick dinner. The festive addition of dried cranberries makes it even better as a holiday chicken salad!
Ingredients
- 1 Rotisserie Chicken (shredded)
- ¾ a cup of Plain Yogurt
- 1 cup of Mayonnaise
- ½ a cup of Sweet Relish
- 1 teaspoon of Onion Powder
- 1 teaspoon of Garlic Powder
- ½ a teaspoon of Dill Weed
- ½ a cup of Crushed Pecans
- 1 cup of Dried Cranberries
Instructions
- Start by placing your chicken, cranberries, and pecans in a large mixing bowl.
- Mix until well combined by hand.
- Add in remaining ingredients.
- Mix until well combined.
- Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Serve and enjoy!
Laura
I loved the addition of dried cranberries!