Herb Pesto Chicken Salad

 

Man, I love chicken salad. I’ve made it sweet, savory, spicy, Italian, Asian, healthy, not so healthy (there was a time that I put powdered sugar in my chicken salad…many, many moons ago.) Pesto + shredded chicken is always a good combination, so this just made sense. And really, once you’ve made the pesto, this is a no recipe-recipe.

This chicken salad is so good, my husband even said, “Wow, this is amazing. This tastes like something I would make.” Thanks….?

This is a great lunch option, but I actually LOVE to make chicken salad for a quick, healthy snack. It’s easy to make in big batches and eat throughout the week, so it’s always a good thing to have on hand. Snacks, especially office snacks, can sometimes be tough to stay on track. So many easy snacks are heavy on carbs, but having a carb loaded snack is just about the worst thing you could do for your metabolism and energy levels mid-day. I like to just take a good sized scoop – about a half cup – and eat it with some raw veggies, a few rice crackers or a rice cake.

HERB PESTO CHICKEN SALAD PHFF BREAKDOWN

• Protein – chicken, Greek yogurt

• Healthy Fat – the pesto that you can find here (olive oil and cashews)

• Fiber – a little from the spinach in the pesto, but if having for a meal you can put the chicken salad over a bed of greens, with some raw veggies or a rice cake/high-fiber crackers/or a bread with at least 4 g fiber/slice.

Herb Pesto Chicken Salad

Author: Megan Kober, RDN, LD

Prep time: 10 mins

Total time: 10 mins

Serves: 3

Amp up your chicken salad game with this Italian-style, herb pesto chicken salad. Perfect for a mid-day snack or lunch.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup Spinach Herb Pesto

• 2 Tbsp Greek yogurt

• 12 oz [~1 2/3 c] shredded chicken breast

• 2 Tbsp minced red onion

Instructions

1. Stir the pesto, chicken, onion and Greek yogurt together in a medium sized bowl. Add salt and pepper, if needed.

2. Layer on top of greens, a rice cake or a high fiber bread. Top with tomatoes and mozzarella, if desired.

Serving size: 1/3 the recipe

Fat:13g

Carbohydrates: 4g

Fiber: 1g

Protein: 25g