Green Apple Chicken Salad – Mayo Free
This Green Apple Chicken Salad is not only Mayo Free and healthier than the chicken salad you grew up on, it’s also so easy to make, the kids can do it!
This Green Apple Chicken Salad is not only Mayo Free and healthier than the chicken salad you grew up on, it’s also so easy to make, the kids can do it!
If you’ve got little ones in the house, I’m willing to bet that you are well familiar with the witching hour. I learned it firsthand when my daughter was just a few weeks old, and my husband and I were still getting the hang of how our new little person – and the schedule she was clearly developing – made its way into transforming our days (and nights).
Back then, the witching hour was that time just after dinner, and before bedtime (which, looking back, is a little laughable – what bedtime?). She was marginally colicky, and when 7pm rolled around, I braced myself. We held on for dear life.
The thing is, you never outgrow the witching hour. It just changes. Actually, I’m guessing that if your family is like mine, the witching hour is longer now. It’s more like the witching afternoon – that blur of time between after school and bedtime, when homework must be done, dinner put on the table, showers taken and bedtime rituals performed. Everything seems to somehow happen at that time, and, yes, you do kind of have to just brace yourself and power through.
Now that the kids are older, though, I try (emphasis on the word try) to get them to help out as much as possible. Packing school lunches is a very good place to start, now that school is back in session.
Green Apple Chicken Salad – Mayo Free Recipe
Having leftover grilled or roasted chicken in the fridge practically begs to be transformed into chicken salad. And having a daughter who is now old enough to work on her knife skills is the perfect time to bond in the kitchen. During a recent witching hour/afternoon, we spent it in the kitchen, chopping up crisp green apples, stalks of celery, and grilled chicken.
I thought of my mom, who used to love putting apple in her chicken salad, leaving me with a leaning towards loving sweet and crunch in my sandwiches. Together with some cranberries, golden raisins and bits of pecan, this chicken salad has all the texture I love.
The wonderful thing about this chicken salad is that it’s mayo free. Greek yogurt with a light squeeze of lime juice is a delicious substitute, I promise you won’t miss the mayonnaise (or the fat).
The only thing left is to decide on the bread. I personally love 100% whole wheat, my daughter is partial to Honey Wheat, and my son favors Butterbread. I was pleased to partner with Nature’s Own – with all three of these flavors, even the pickiest of my kids was happy.
Since Nature’s Own has no artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors, and no fructose corn syrup, I am happy to send them off to school with these wholesome sandwiches. And with some extra hands in the kitchen, making lunches was a much happier experience for me.
To kick off Back To School, join my daughter and I in our kitchen as we make and share this Green Apple Chicken Salad sandwich in this video I created using Nature’s Own for the Back to School Video Contest (closed)!
Be sure to check out Nature’s Own for more lunch box inspiration on the Nature’s Own Website, as well as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Nature’s Own. The opinions and text are all mine.
More Salad Recipes
Chickpea Salad Sandwich with Feta (vegan mayo)
Lemony Kale, Avocado, and Chickpea Salad
Avocado Cucumber Salad
Falafel Salad with Lemon Garlic Dressing
Hummus and Tahini Egg Salad (mayo free)
Green Apple Chicken Salad - Mayo Free
Ingredients
- 2 grilled or roasted skinless chicken breasts chopped (leftovers are perfect in this)
- 1 green apple cored and diced
- 1 small shallot peeled and finely chopped
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1/4 cup chopped chives
- 1/4 cup golden raisins and/or dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
- juice of 1/2 a lime
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the chicken, apple, shallot, celery, chives, raisins/cranberries, pecans, yogurt and lime juice.
- Stir until combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Nutrition
Comments
COOKBOOK
I really appreciate this mayo-free twist on chicken salad—using Greek yogurt and lime juice is a brilliant way to keep it creamy without the extra fat. The combination of green apple, cranberries, and pecans sounds like the perfect balance of sweet and crunch. For anyone interested in the science behind healthy eating and recipe optimization, I’ve found that exploring how data and AI can enhance nutrition planning is fascinating. If you want to stay updated on the latest developments, a great resource is [AI tools for scientific research](https://aiforsciencehub.org/), which aggregates news, tools, and information at the intersection of artificial intelligence and science.
Great recipe! I love how you involve your kids in the kitchen – teaching knife skills early is a wonderful idea. The mayo-free twist with Greek yogurt and lime sounds refreshing. Since you emphasize visual presentation in your blog, I thought I’d mention that for anyone creating more technical diagrams or science illustrations, Figcanvas offers a seamless way to generate professional graphs and flowcharts without coding. It’s been a huge time-saver for my own projects. The free [scientific data visualization tool](https://figcanvas.com/) even supports SVG export for further editing, which is perfect for publication-quality figures.
I love how this mayo-free chicken salad lets kids get involved in the kitchen—building those knife skills and making lunch together is such a great bonding activity. As a mom, I always look for ways to turn everyday tasks into fun learning moments, and I find the same principle works well when introducing a second language. For anyone interested in helping their children pick up Chinese in an engaging, screen-friendly way, I’ve found that [immersive Chinese language games](https://typingmandarin.com/) can turn practice into play without feeling like a chore. Thanks for sharing such a wholesome recipe that the whole family can enjoy.
This mayo-free green apple chicken salad sounds perfect for those hectic witching afternoons, and I love that you can get the kids involved in the kitchen. Speaking of fun family activities, we recently tried a [unique palm reading game](https://palmreading.pro/blog/marriage-line-palm-reading) using an AI tool that guesses personality and future from a photo of your palm. It was a lighthearted way to spark conversations with my older kids about their strengths and quirks, similar to how you bond over chopping apples. Nice to see healthier lunch options that also build those kitchen skills.
This sounds amazing! A mayo-free chicken salad with green apple is such a fresh idea. I love that it’s described as healthier and so easy even kids can make it. Definitely keen to try this twist on a classic!
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