This fresh and light Pesto Chicken Salad is the perfect quick and easy lunch recipe. Made with tender chicken breast, smoky bacon, herbaceous pesto, creamy mayo, juicy tomatoes and buttery avocado. Best of all, it's made with just 6 ingredients and takes less than 15 minutes from start to finish.
Ingredients Notes
Step by Step Instructions
How to make pesto chicken salad
STEP 1: In a large mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise and the pesto.
STEP 2: Add the chicken, bacon, avocado, and tomatoes and toss to mix.
More salad recipes
Recipe Tips and Variations
Frequently Asked Questions
Traditionally, pesto is made with Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino, but it is easy to find dairy free pesto in stores. Better yet, make your own! Fresh is best.
Easy! Just make sure that you are using a whole30 compliant mayo and pesto.
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Pesto Chicken Salad
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: Makes 4 Servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This fresh and light Pesto Chicken Salad is the perfect quick and easy lunch recipe. Made with tender chicken breast, smoky bacon, herbaceous pesto, creamy mayo, juicy tomatoes and buttery avocado. Best of all, it's made with just 6 ingredients and takes less than 15 minutes from start to finish.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup mayonnaise (get my recipe here)
- 2 tablespoons garlic pesto
- 1 pound chicken, cooked and cubed (I get my organic, pastured chicken here)
- 6 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
- 1 medium avocado, cubed
- 10 grape tomatoes, halved
- fresh butter lettuce leaves, optional for serving
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise and the pesto.
- Add the chicken, bacon, avocado, and tomatoes and toss to mix.
- Eat just as is, or pile on top of fresh lettuce leaves.
Notes
- Storage: Store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Add ranch dressing: Swap out the mayo for my Dairy Free Ranch Dressing recipe. It really takes the flavor up a notch
- Use rotisserie chicken: Making this with rotisserie chicken will save you time and makes for quick and easy meal prep.
- Category: Salad Recipes
- Method: Mixing
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Calories: 376
- Fat: 27g
- Carbohydrates: 3g net
- Protein: 27g
Keywords: chicken salad recipes, pesto chicken salad, keto chicken salad, whole30 chicken salad, paleo chicken salad
**Recipe Originally Posted March 8th 2015 - Updated June 1st 2021**
Dee Dee says
YOU ROCK! I miss your beautiful face! I know you're so busy but......it's way past time for Picatta!!!
Peace Love and Low Carb says
Love you Auntie! Hopefully we can get together for dinner when we get back from France.
Vicky Ivy says
I don't know why, but every time I press the 'follow' button, it say there is a problem. I have reloaded Pinterest several times an tried again, but it just will NOT let me follow you. I have done it in my Android phone, my HP comp, my Acer, and my Dell. I am giving you this feed back because you are worthy of following. Your recipes are good, you give Cals, Protein, Fat & Carb info AND you give good information. Just an FYI, it may be a Pinterest glitch you might need to call about. Just saying. Hope you become 'followable' soon. Thank you for recipes. ????
Peace Love and Low Carb says
Hmmmm. This is the first I have heard of it. I just clicked the Pinterest follow buttons on my site and did not see an issue. Where on my site is the issue occurring for you?
Bill says
That recipe looks delicious! I can't wait to make it this week. By the way I had no errors when I hit the follow button. Thank you for the great recipe, keep em' coming!
Drema Morris says
I just made this minus the avocado ( because I didn't have any avocado atm) and it is delicious. I may have used a bit less pesto and mayo as I only had 7 ounces of chicken cooked but wow so yummy and good. ????
Tanasha says
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! Would you be able to share where you found the metal bowl used in the picture you took of the dish?
Janice Keebler says
This is so delicious. I have already had it 3 times in the last week. I took your suggestion and I have been wrapping it up in a low carb tortilla. So satisfying.
★★★★★
Cindy Weishuhn says
This recipe is amazing! The whole family loved it and the boys all wanted some to take to work the next day! It was a hit!
★★★★★