Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Salad

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Reader Rating
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 4

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Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Salad is a delicious way to enjoy your favorite lunch recipe. It’s ready in under 30 minutes, incredibly flavorful and can easily be made Paleo-friendly! 

stacked chicken salad sandwich

What can I say, I LOVE chicken salad. Between my Whole30 chicken salad and my mango chicken salad, I quite literally cannot get enough. It’s summertime after all, so bring on all of the quick and healthy recipes that do NOT require the oven, because it’s way too hot for that!

Recipe features

  • This recipe uses a combination of mayo and my sun-dried tomato pesto to coat the chicken, giving it loads of flavor
  • It can be eaten as a sandwich or straight out of the bowl
  • It’s an easy recipe to double or triple to feed multiple people for lunch all week long

chicken salad ingredients with text overlay

Ingredient notes:

Chicken – Breast, thighs, or tenders work, just make sure to use 1 lb. of whatever cut you choose, or more if you want this to serve more people.

Mayo – I almost always prefer (and recommend) using avocado oil mayo, or better yet, my homemade avocado oil mayo

Pesto – Homemade or store-bought. I love my homemade pesto because it uses cashews as a base, and the cheese is optional, meaning it can easily be Paleo. But, you can also use store-bought if that’s easier!

Feta – Of course feta cheese makes everything better, but it’s completely optional.

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: Cook the chicken. You can cook the chicken however you’d like, but once it is cooked, use two forks to shred it.

Step 2: Combine ingredients. Add the cooked shredded chicken to a large bowl, along with the mayo and sun-dried tomato pesto.

chicken, mayo and pesto in a bowl

Step 3: Stir. Stir everything together until the chicken is coated, then do a taste test and add salt and pepper as needed. Then add the arugula and feta and eat it as-is, or assemble your sandwich.

chicken salad in a bowl

FAQs and Tips

  • When making chicken salad, I like to boil chicken. It’s quick, easy and mess-free. But, you can cook the chicken however you’d like (in a skillet, in the oven, etc.).

How long will this last?

This chicken salad should stay fresh for up to 5 days when stored in a container in the refrigerator.

Can this be made dairy free/gluten free?

Sure can! Simply omit the parmesan in the pesto, the feta cheese and either don’t use bread, or use your favorite gluten free bread for the sandwich.

stacked chicken sandwich

More sun-dried tomato recipes

If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below! 

5 from 1 vote

Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Salad

Servings: 4
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Total: 25 minutes
Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Salad is a delicious way to enjoy your favorite lunch recipe. It's ready in under 30 minutes, incredibly flavorful and can easily be made Paleo-friendly! 
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Ingredients 

  • 1 lb. cooked chicken breasts, shredded
  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/3 cup sun-dried tomato pesto
  • 1 cup arugula
  • 1-2 tbsp crumbled feta cheese, optional
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions 

  • Add the cooked and shredded chicken to a bowl, then add the mayo and pesto.
  • Stir to combine, then add salt and pepper as needed.
  • Last, either stir in the arugula and feta, or assemble your sandwich (if you're making sandwiches) by adding the chicken salad on top of bread, then sprinkling it with feta and arugula. Enjoy!

Notes

To make Paleo: omit the cheese from the pesto (or make sure your store-bought pesto is dairy-free), omit the feta cheese and then eat it straight out of the bowl rather than on a sandwich 
Storage: store chicken salad in a container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days 

Nutrition

Calories: 360kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 110mg | Sodium: 441mg | Potassium: 309mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 294IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 66mg | Iron: 1mg
Did you make this?Leave a comment and star rating below!
A fresh lentil salad topped with fried halloumi, roasted tomatoes and zucchini | thealmondeater.com
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UPDATE NOTE: This recipe was originally published in March 2o17. It was updated with new text and photos in July 2020.

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Welcome! I’m Erin, author of the Almond Eater.

Here, you'll find recipes for all diet types, because I believe that healthy food should be delicious without being complicated.

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5 from 1 vote

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8 Comments

  1. Enozia says:

    5 stars
    This hit the spot perfectly.

  2. Kevin | economicalchef.com says:

    This sandwich looks AWESOME. The pictures made my mouth water. Excited to try this recipe…

  3. Georgie @ The Home Cook's Kitchen says:

    This is making my mouth water so much! and I love that back drop – such a gorgeous colour!

    1. Erin says:

      Thanks!! It’s from Erickson Wood Works 🙂

  4. Carrie this fit chick says:

    Haven’t seen either of those shows, but I need some new ones, so keep the recs coming!! Sun dried tomato is one of my favorite flavors 😀

  5. Julia Mueller says:

    I haven’t seen Girl or Big Little Lies yet, but am always looking for good TV suggestions so I’ll have to check them out! Loving this flavor-blasted sammie! If this is what Spring has in store for us, I say bring it on!

  6. Kelly @ Kelly Runs For Food says:

    I love chicken salad, too. It’s so good! Something about classic chicken salad on a croissant is just the best. Not great for you, but I will definitely still eat it haha. Your version looks delicious!

    1. Erin says:

      Ohhh me too. It’s SO good.