Fruity Chicken Salad (Family Favorite Recipe)

This Fruity Chicken Salad Recipe will have your family begging for seconds. Great for bag lunches. It's a great way to sneak some fruits and veggies into your picky eater's diet. 

Full Recipe Ingredients/Instructions are available in the 
recipe card at the bottom of the post. 
You can find important tips/tricks in the
blog post.

Years ago, I wrote these words about how I was the worst at packing lunch. I would often go to a local restaurant with coworkers when I should have been saving my money and packing a lunch.

Now, I work for myself at home and still struggle with packing lunch, except when I remember to prep/pack lunches. One lunch I go back to again and again is this fruity chicken salad recipe.

 The cool thing about chicken salad is that you can make it a few days ahead. When I prepare it, I buy a rotisserie chicken from the store on Sunday.

I make the chicken salad that same day. Then, I eat it for lunch on Monday and Tuesday. It yields enough to feed my family of 4 for both days.

I also love that this fruity chicken salad contains plenty of fruit! Hooray for eating healthy! I love any recipe where I can get some fruit and veggies mixed with my meal. Also, a great way to sneak fruit into your picky eater's diet.

A Quick Look at the Ingredients

• Chicken - the main ingredient for a chicken salad. I suggest using the meat (not the skin) from a whole cooked chicken. I usually buy one from the store, or you can prepare a whole chicken beforehand.
• Fruit and Veggies - I use a mix of grapes, celery, apples, and canned pineapple. These provide both sweetness and crunch. I use whatever I have on hand for the kind of apple, which is usually Honeycrisp or Fuji.
• Nuts - Crushed pecans are also added for a nice crunch.
• Creamy Component - I use mayonnaise and sour cream to make chicken salad not only delicious but creamy. Feel free to sub with Greek yogurt if you prefer.
• Salt and Pepper

How to Make a Chicken Salad with Fruit

Grab a huge bowl and add all the ingredients. Stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour to allow all the flavors to pop. Enjoy the salad on your favorite bread, cracker, or tortilla chip.

How to enjoy this Chicken Salad Recipe

Add this chicken salad to your favorite bread, cracker, or even tortilla chip. See the picture below on a day I made this and ate at my desk. We had no bread at the house that day, and these tortilla chips were the bomb.com with this fruity chicken salad.

Tanya's Thoughts About This Recipe

This chicken salad was a great way for me to get my oldest to enjoy fruit and...celery.

I recall the first time I made this chicken salad for my daughter. I packed it in her lunch bag and sent her on her way. When I picked her up from school, she was telling me how much she loved it. *tear* if you know my daughter, you would know that this is rare because the only things she appeared to love at that time were saltine crackers and spaghetti.

How to Store this Chicken Salad

Store chicken salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator and consume it within 3–4 days. Freezing is not recommended, as mayonnaise-based dressings may separate and affect the texture.

I hope you love this chicken salad recipe as much as we do. Looking for more Chicken Salad Recipes? Try this Creamy Rotisserie Chicken Salad Recipe. 

If you have tried this or any other recipe on my blog, please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below!

This blog post was originally published on July 26, 2016. It has been updated with new information and photos.