This Almost Classic Cottage Cheese Chicken Salad is inspired by classic chicken salad but is a lot easier to fit into your daily macros. It’s so yummy while still being macro-friendly and easy to make! The perfect summer meal!
About This Recipe
Chicken Salad is iconic. Nothing beats it on a hot summer day. It’s fresh, cold, paired with carbs AND you don’t even have to turn on your oven. A total win. BUT if you’re counting macros, traditional chicken salad might be hard to “make fit” every day because of its high-fat content. Of course, it’s all about balance, and since I love to make big batches of chicken salad to eat all week long, I knew I needed to find a way to replicate classic chicken salad with a little less fat while still being full of flavor. And this Almost Classic Cottage Cheese Chicken Salad is just that.
Having a big bowl of chicken salad to pull out and eat all week long is a total game-changer when it comes to counting your macros. I love how easy this salad is to make, and that it doesn’t require any cooking. Just some chopping and mixing–the BEST!
I originally made this one for my cookbook ONE, and I also shared it with those in the Madeline Moves Tighter Together challenge. And it seems to have been a total hit. So if you haven’t made it yet (or it’s been a long time), I think it’s time to try!
I hope you enjoy this chicken salad as much as my family and I do. It’s the perfect lunch for a spring or summer day. And it’s AMAZING to keep in the fridge for random noshing or lunch or whenever you need it.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Cooked chicken: Use any shredded chicken or rotisserie chicken. If you’re using rotisserie chicken from Costco, you’ll want to season it up a little before using it in your recipe. I love to buy the big bags of rotisserie chicken to use in soups or casseroles when time is short, but it does need a little sprucing up to make it taste good IMO.
- Fresh veggies: Celery, red onion, grapes, mini sweet bell peppers and green onions.
- Low-fat cottage cheese: Okay, just trust me on this! Even if you aren’t a fan of cottage cheese I promise this chicken salad does not taste like cottage cheese at all. It just works as the perfect base mixed with the greek yogurt to give this chicken salad a “mayo-like” base but without all the extra calories.
- Non-fat Greek Yogurt: Use a dairy-free sour cream in place of the greek yogurt if needed.
- Dijon Mustard: I love to use a good, grainy dijon mustard.
- Fresh Parsley: You can also use any other fresh herbs you have on hand.
- Lemon: A squeeze of fresh lemon juice perfectly balances out the flavors of this chicken salad.
Dietary Adaptations
As long as your rotisserie chicken or chicken of choice is gluten-free, then this recipe is naturally gluten-free.
Unfortunately, it isn’t dairy-free. To make it dairy-free, you’d have to make a few swaps. You can check out my dairy-free alternative favorites here. And while I don’t have any dairy-free chicken salad recipes, I do have several dairy-free recipes on the blog like this Easy Dairy Free Cava Bowl. Enjoy!
How to Make
- To make this recipe, you simply have to chop your vegetables and combine all the ingredients in one bowl. It’s super straightforward and easy to do.
Helpful Tips
- Chicken: If using Costco’s rotisserie chicken, I like to sort through and pick out any gross chicken pieces and chop up the remaining chicken. Then I heat up a pan (for maybe a minute), and I add the chicken to the pan to season it with salt, pepper, and maybe a little garlic powder. You don’t want to leave it on the skillet for too long though, or it will give it that recooked poultry flavor. You want a quick, hot sear that brings it back to life and takes away any weird store-bought rotisserie texture. IYKYK.
- Chopping: For chopping and cutting, I usually just prefer a sharp knife (like these Nakano knives) and a good cutting board. But for this salad, you could also use an alligator chopper to make cutting quick and uniform. Also, it makes your veggies the perfect size for chip dipping!
Serving Suggestions
When it comes to eating this chicken salad, there are no wrong answers. Pair it with your favorite carb, and it’s sure to be a hit.
I like mine served on toasted bread or wrapped in a pita. It might be controversial, but sandwiches are EVERYTHING. It’s pretty hard not to like something tucked in a warm and toasty carb.
If you need a lower-carb option, you can always wrap your chicken salad in lettuce. You can also serve it over a bed of greens. Whatever works for you!
And of course, you can also whip up some Cut Da Carb chips for dipping! They’re pretty easy to make, and I LOVE them, especially with cottage cheese. If you use code LILLIE10 it will save you a little off the top of a 24-pack or larger.
Watch this reel here for a quick tutorial on how to make the wraps into yummy chips for dipping.
For More Delicious Recipes
- Pickle Chicken Salad
- Waldorf Rotisserie Chicken Salad
- Quick and Easy Romesco Chicken Salad
- Shrimp Ceviche Salad
- Macro-friendly Cowboy Caviar Salad
- Cold Shrimp Salad
- Healthy Tuna Salad Recipe
- Easy Salmon and Chive Salad
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Almost Classic Cottage Cheese Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 7 oz. cooked and shredded or rotisserie chicken breast 200 g
- 1 cup celery chopped small (112 g)
- 2/3 cup red onion diced (75 g)
- 1 cup grapes quartered (147 g, may sub apples)
- 3 mini sweet bell peppers chopped (35 g; red, orange, or yellow peppers are best)
- 2 green onions chopped (15 g)
- 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese 119 g
- 1/4 cup non-fat Greek yogurt 60 g
- 2 tsp. grainy Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/8 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 lemon squeezed 1 Tbsp. or 15 g juice
Instructions
- Combine everything well in a bowl.
- Serve on toasted bread or wrapped in a pita. For a lower-carb option, wrap your chicken salad in lettuce or serve over a bed of greens.
Notes
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
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I’ve made this at least 6-7 times. It’s so good. I love the sweetness of the grapes. Sometimes I don’t have fresh parsley and it turns out fine without it. And since raw onions bother my stomach I skip that and it’s still delicious. I don’t think I’ve made a Lillie recipe that I haven’t liked.
It’s so good!! I added apples as that’s what I had. I also added a tbsp of dukes light mayo and a little extra spicy brown mustard as I was out of Dijon. I ate it plain it was SO good!
I’ve made this recipe multiple times and it’s absolutely delicious. I use grapes and apples, and I even throw in a heaping spoonful of mayo for that tang. We made the recipe serving x4 because that’s how much we love it. I love that it’s so adaptable and you can grab pretty much any vegetable and add it in. definitely give this one a try!!
I’ve made this recipe multiple times and it’s absolutely delicious. I use grapes and apples, and I even throw in a heaping spoonful of mayo for that tang. We made the recipe serving x4 because that’s how much we love it. I love that it’s so adaptable and you can grab pretty much any vegetable and add it in. definitely give this one a try!!
So good!
This is so good! I have been looking for macro friendly version that also tastes good. Love it!
I was a little skeptical of the cottage cheese but this is absolutely delicious!! Even my jus and who is the pickiest of eaters loved this. Perfect with pita bread!
I am in LOVE with this recipe! I can’t stop making it. I make it in double batche, as meal prep for the week. I just throw it over top of some salad greens and off i go.
Any ideas on sodium content for this? Thank you!
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