Mmmmmm… I love me some good cold chicken salad! For years my go to chicken salads were this Dill Chicken Salad or Dill Chicken And Egg Salad because I rarely find recipes that use dill and while I’m not a dill pickle fan, I really like the dill flavor!
I’ll be honest though. I didn’t make chicken salad very often because shredding the chicken was a pain in the butt — or at least it was until Brian bought me an Instant Pot and some shredding claws. Making shredded chicken in the Instant Pot is so fast and easy that Brian doesn’t even mind doing it for me when we’re doing a lot of meal prep.
And speaking of meal prep, having a big batch of shredded chicken on hand is awesome. You can saute it in salsa for chicken tacos, add it to green salads, and mix all sorts of things into it to make all sorts of chicken salads like this Chipotle Chicken Salad.
Making Chipotle Chicken Salad
The roasted red bell pepper is a stand out in this savory chicken salad recipe and it is so delicious that you’ll be fighting off your family for the leftovers.
The very first step in making this chicken salad is roasting the red bell pepper. Simply chop up the pepper, spread the pieces on a baking sheet brushed lightly with olive oil, sprinkle with chipotle powder, and bake for about 10 minutes.
While the bell pepper is roasting, chop the celery and red onion. The celery gives the Chipotle Chicken Salad a nice fresh crunch and the red onion brings extra flavor! I typically use about 2/3 cup of each.
Next, add three shredded chicken breasts, the celery, red onion, roasted pepper, spices, and your favorite mayo to a big bowl and mix until all of the ingredients are fully incorporated. Then simply refrigerate until it’s time to eat!
Ever since doing my first Whole30, I’ve loved making homemade mayo because I can adjust the flavor to any profile I want. In a pinch though the mayos from Primal Kitchen or Tessemae’s and my go to!
Quick Recipe Notes
- As the chicken salad sits in the fridge, the flavors really get absorbed throughout the dish. I like to make this in advance and give it at least a few hours in the fridge before we eat it!
- This Chipotle Chicken Salad isn’t spicy, so don’t worry if you’re not into spicy foods. If you are, however, sprinkling in some red pepper flakes will do the trick.
- You can eat this scrumptious chicken salad by itself, on sweet potato rounds, on toast, in a sandwich, in a lettuce wrap, or in a sandwich wrap.
- We make big batches of chicken salad when prepping our road trip food — Trust me when I say that chicken salad wraps and fresh fruit makes for a great tailgate lunch!
This has fast become one of my favorite chicken salad recipes and I hope you like it too!
Chipotle Chicken Salad
Savory spices and lightly charred roasted red peppers are the standouts in this cool chicken salad.
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 2/3 cup celery, chopped
- 2/3 cup red onion, chopped
- 2/3 cup mayo
- 2 tblsp lemon juice
- 2 tblsp cilantro
- 1 1/2 tsp chipotle powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Season the chicken breasts with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook and shred the chicken breasts.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly brush a baking sheet with olive oil.
- Chop the red bell pepper. Arrange on the baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Chop the celery and red onion.
- Remove the roasted red bell pepper from the oven and let cool.
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until all ingredients are incorporated and refrigerate until it’s time to eat!
Notes:
Chicken salad will last in the fridge for about 4-5 days so make a big batch and enjoy all week long!
