This Avocado Chicken Salad is one of the easiest and healthiest lunch recipes you can make! It’s simple, gluten free, paleo, Whole30 compliant, and free of sugars. Serve it in lettuce cups, on cucumber slices, or over your favorite healthy crackers
Veggies are our friends, right?
Then why is it sometimes SO HARD to eat more of them?!
If you’re like me, I eat pretty well (not perfect of course), but getting all my servings of veggies each day is a bit of a struggle to be honest.
I don’t do smoothies all the time, and I try to eat salads frequently, but sometimes I need more substance to my salads.
Lunch is the perfect time to squeeze in some extra veggies, just mix your favorites in to this Avocado Chicken Salad! Mixing veggies (and fruit = avocado) into your main lunch dish is an easy way to get those veggies in without having to worry about it too much.
This Avocado Chicken Salad is awesome because 1) it’s paleo and grain-free, 2) is vegetable-loaded, 3) has no eggs and soy often found in conventional mayo-based salads, and 4) is completely satisfying and filling.
Plus this salad is quick and easy to make, and is super simple. This chicken salad get’s it’s creaminess from avocado, so you don’t have to spend too much on allergy-friendly mayonnaise that can sometimes cost quite a bit.
You can easily make this recipe your very own by adding different vegetables (like chopped peppers, tomatoes, green onions) or you have fun and mix in chopped dried or fresh fruit if you like that sweet and salty taste of chicken salad with fruit.
Easy, affordable, tasty, and healthy – sounds like the perfect lunch to me!
Why use avocado instead of mayo?
You might be asking yourself why on earth you’d want to us mashed avocado instead of traditional mayo in a chicken salad recipe. Glad you asked 😉
- Avocados have the added benefits of dietary fiber, and mayo has no fiber
- Avocados are an unprocessed and functional food, which means you are eating the whole thing, and not just parts of it
- Avocados contain no refined fats, most mayos contain refined oils
- Avocados are super natural (not supernatural, but almost!). Nothing added to it, avocados are purely natural
- If you have egg and soy allergies, finding good mayo without these ingredients is hard. But you can avoid allergens by using avocado instead of mayo
Check out our other salad recipes:
- Classic Dairy Free Greek Salad
- Warm Garlic Herb Red Potato Salad
- Smoked Salmon Salad
- Thai Cucumber Chicken Salad
Avocado Chicken Salad (Mayo Free)
Gluten free, Paleo, Whole30; Free of: dairy, eggs, soy, nuts
Ingredients
- ½ medium avocado
- Juice of 1/2 lime
- 1-2 teaspoons coarse brown mustard depending on your preference
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 dash Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup cooked chicken breast chopped
- ½ cup chopped vegetables of choice I used shredded salad mix made with radishes, carrots, and purple cabbage in mine
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mash the avocado with the lime juice and mix in the brown mustard, garlic powder, and salt and pepper.
- Mix in the chopped chicken breast and chopped veggies.
- Serve on your favorite bread, crackers, or vegetables.
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie. She’s a food allergy mom and allergy friendly food blogger of 12 years based in Wyoming. Sarah is also an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer, ACE Certified Health Coach, Revolution Running certified running coach, and an ACE Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist
Just a perfect summer lunch!
Thank you Stephanie!
New recipe to try out with avocado!
[…] 12. Mayo-Free Avocado Chicken Salad […]
Loved this recipe. I used chopped broccoli, cauliflower and carrots I had on hand and threw in some minced chives. Also used spicy brown mustard as that is what I had. Perfect. No need for any dairy in this recipe the avocado and mustard emulsify beautifully to hold this salad together. Definitely a winner I will be making more frequently.
So glad to hear it, Shaun! Thanks so much for the great feedback 🙂
What sort of brown mustard did you use?
Hi Mazza! I used just a plain brown course mustard, most likely a store brand. Course brown mustard is what I prefer personally, but you can use any mustard you like in this recipe.
Such a nutritious salad! Tastes amazing on a cracker!
Thanks so much, glad you liked it!
I mixed with chopped walnuts, carrots & diced apple. Needs seasoning such as cumin, onion powder. I sprinkled with paprika and hot sauce before serving on open-faced slider buns. Would benefit from fresh herbs such as parsley. Will definitely make again, would be a nice hors d’oeuvre served with crackers or on sliced baguette.
Thanks for the input Lori! This recipe is pretty flexible – you can make this recipe with flavors that suit your tastes 🙂
Hello 🙂 I have some ripe avocados at home and I was looking for healthy recipes with avocados!!!! And I found yours!!!! I’ve printed the recipe and I’m going shopping for the other ingredients 🙂 Thank you!
So glad you found us Annarita! Let me know how you like the recipe 😉
Made this for lunch today – yummy! It is really delicious! (I ate it on crackers and used lemon juice instead of lime. I put in a carrot, a piece of red bell pepper and a tomato.) Loved it, thank you so much 🙂
Awesome, so good to hear you loved it! Your veggie add-ins sounds really good too 🙂
Yay – I am eliminating gluten, eggs, soy from my diet for a few weeks so this is totally appropriate right now. I was not looking forward to this but seeing the photo of the chicken salad on cucumber rounds looks amazing. I may also try it as a wrap in lettuce leaves.
Thank you for this recipe.
Thank you! Let me know how you end up eating it; Collard greens make nice wraps, too 🙂
I just made this, with red onion and cucumber on wheat crackers and it was absolutely delicious! Thank you for this tasty, healthy, and easy recipe!
Thank you Emily, I am glad you loved this recipe! 🙂
do you have the calorie count and fat grams??
Hi Miriam, I estimated the number of calories in this salad and this is what I came up with:
Nutrients per serving (approximate): 190 calories, 8.5 g fat, 5.6 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, 22.5 grams protein
I hope that helps 🙂
What is serving size?
The serving size for this is about 3/4 cup salad, this recipe makes 2 servings
just made it, it was great! thanks!
Thanks! I’m new to paleo and I’m also dairy free, so this is a wonderful, quick option for anytime.
Looks great and I have a ripe avocado! Thanks.
You are welcome, Elle!
Yum, looks great!
Thank you 🙂
awesome! i have been looking for a dairy free option
Thanks for stopping by Amanda! 🙂