Learn how to make this easy and delicious Chicken Salad with Pomegranate in 5 minutes from a dietitian!
Have you ever taken the time to make a recipe from an old cookbook and then come to realize that you could probably make a very similar version in half the time?
Well, that's exactly how this recipe came to be! There's a Barbecue Chicken Salad recipe in an old Cooking Light cookbook of mine that tastes amazing. This recipe is a spin-off from that. 😍
Here I will show you how to make this chicken pomegranate salad with leftover chicken, simple yet delicious seasonings, and fresh pomegranate arils. It's so good!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Quick and Easy As long as you have leftover shredded, rotisserie, or grilled chicken on hand, this chicken salad recipe can be thrown together in 5 minutes!
- Kid-Approved This festive salad will liven up packed lunches for kids. It also makes an easy, lighter meal on busy weeknights. As a bonus, it contains protein and fiber so kids feel full longer.
- Perfect Appetizer Chicken salad with pomegranate makes a delicious and festive appetizer, especially during the holiday season. Serve chicken salad in small side dish bowls with veggies, crackers, or in small lettuce cups for parties.
- Can be served in a variety of ways: with crackers, in a wrap, on top of a holiday salad, or as a sandwich using bread or a croissant.
Dietitian Tip
Ask your kids how they like chicken salad served. If they say 'no' to a chicken salad sandwich, it may simply because they don't like the texture combination when it is served on soft slices of bread.
This is where my saying, "sometimes it's not what you serve but how you serve it" comes in 😊 If your kids don't like soggy bread, consider serving chicken salad with veggies or crackers the next time you make it.
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken Good source of protein (7 grams of protein per ounce). Use either meal-prep shredded chicken breast, rotisserie chicken, or leftover roasted chicken that is minimally seasoned.
- Pomegranate Arils Commonly referred to as pomegranate seeds, can be found in the produce section of the grocery store (Wonderful Pomegranates is a common brand). They add wonderful color, texture, and flavor to this recipe. Pomegranates have several health benefits from antioxidants, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and other components that give it anti-inflammatory properties and more.
- Celery High in fiber and rich in minerals. Celery adds color, texture, and flavor. According to my kids, chicken salad isn't chicken salad without celery.
- Greek yogurt Contains protein and calcium. Creamy Greek yogurt blends in well with mayonnaise.
- Mayonnaise Just a little mayonnaise is all you need to give this the familiar flavor expected from chicken salad.
- Orange juice Adds a touch natural sweetness and helps balance out the spices in this recipe. While I haven't tried it, I'm sure you can use lemon juice or fresh pomegranate juice instead for more of a tangy dressing.
- Hemp hearts (optional) Hemp hearts, shelled hemp seeds, and hulled hemp seeds are the same thing. Hemp hearts are an excellent source of protein and contain omega-3 fatty acids. Can sprinkle on pumpkin seeds or toasted walnuts instead.
How to Make Chicken Salad with Pomegranate
Here's a quick overview of the steps to make this pomegranate chicken salad. For the full list of ingredients and specific instructions, scroll down to the recipe card.
- Add Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, orange juice, spices, and salt to a large bowl.
- Whisk well.
- Stire the chicken, celery, and pomegranate seeds in with the dressing.
- Sprinkle with hemp hearts and it's ready to serve.
Helpful Tips
- Pomegranate seeds only last a few days once opened. Taste one before adding them to this salad to make sure they don't taste fermented.
- Use 2% or whole milk Greek yogurt for this recipe. If you don't have plain Greek yogurt, use more mayonnaise instead.
- This chicken salad can be made the night before. Store it refrigerated in an airtight container for up to two days.
- Grapes cut in half can be used in place of pomegranate seeds.
- If you don't have pre-cooked chicken ready to use, you can cook chicken with a small amount of olive oil, salt, and black pepper on the stove or in the oven. Just be sure the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit before letting it come to room temperature to shred.
How to Serve Chicken Salad
- Sandwich Chicken salad is commonly served as a sandwich using sandwich bread, or, my personal favorite when I'm really hungry, on a whole grain croissant.
- Wrap Layer baby spinach and chicken salad on your favorite tortilla or lavash flatbread and roll it up to make a chicken salad wrap.
- Salad Add chicken salad to a simple lettuce, spinach, or arugula salad. Our local coffee shop serves chicken salad on a bed of lettuce with fresh cucumbers, slices of red onions or green onion, and a small side of balsamic dressing. It's delicious!
- Crackers This is my kids' favorite way to eat chicken salad when packed for school lunches. I pack chicken salad and whole grain pita crackers (from Trader Joe's) using separate containers in their lunch bags. They use the crackers to scoop up the chicken salad when eating it for lunch.
- Veggies I often eat chicken salad with celery and carrot sticks. It tastes so refreshing and helps increase my intake of veggies 😉
Questions You May Have
Yes! I've frozen them myself and they still taste great! They have the same flavor when defrosted. I flash-freeze them on a small freezer-safe plate in a single layer for an hour or two. Then, I place the frozen pomegranate seeds in a small freezer-safe re-sealable bag and place them back in the freezer. Use within six months.
Grapes make a nice substitute. In fact, I used to make this recipe using grapes before I thought to add pomegranate seeds for something different.
Toasted walnut pieces, or pumpkin seeds can be used in place of hemp hearts. Chopped pecans would taste great, too!
More Lunch Ideas for Kids
Did you love how easy and delicious this Chicken Salad with Pomegranate is? Please let me know by leaving a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review below! A 5-star rating is the best compliment!
And don't forget to snap a pic of this chicken salad when you make it and tag @carrots.and.cookies on Instagram. Enjoy!
📖 Recipe
Easy Chicken Salad with Pomegranate
Equipment
- 1 Whisk
Ingredients
- 2 cups Chicken cooked and cubed or shredded in to small pieces.
- 2 tablespoon Plain Greek yogurt I use 2% Greek yogurt.
- 2 tablespoon Mayonnaise I use avocado oil based mayonnaise from Costco.
- ½ cup Celery Washed and chopped into small pieces.
- ½ cup Pomegranate seeds Also known as pomegranate pearls.
- 2 teaspoon Orange juice I use fresh squeezed.
- ¼ teaspoon Chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon Paprika
- ¼ teaspoon Salt I use sea salt.
- 1 tablespoon hemp hearts optional
Instructions
- Whisk together the mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, orange juice, salt, and spices together with a fork.2 tablespoon Plain Greek yogurt, 2 tablespoon Mayonnaise, 2 teaspoon Orange juice, ¼ teaspoon Chili powder, ¼ teaspoon Garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon Paprika, ¼ teaspoon Salt
- Add chicken, celery, and pomegranate seeds to the dressing and stir until all of the dressing is incorporated.2 cups Chicken, ½ cup Celery, ½ cup Pomegranate seeds
- Sprinkle on or stir in hemp hearts (if using). Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- In my experience, pomegranate seeds only last a few days in the refrigerator. Taste one before adding them to this chicken salad to make sure they don't taste fermented or rancid.
- For the best flavor, stir in the pomegranate seeds just before serving.
- Grapes can be used in place of Pomegranate seeds.
- Use 2% or whole milk Greek yogurt for this recipe. If you don't have plain Greek yogurt, use more mayonnaise instead.
- If you use non-fat Greek yogurt or traditional yogurt, the chicken salad will be watery.
- This chicken salad can be made the night before. Store it refrigerated in an airtight container for up to two days.
- Serve with crackers, in a wrap, or as a sandwich using bread or croissant.
- If you don't have pre-cooked chicken ready to use, you can cook chicken with a small amount of olive oil, salt, and black pepper on the stove or in the oven. Just be sure the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit before letting it come to room temperature to shred.
Joy says
Great idea! My kids love pomegranate seeds!