Healthy Lemon Basil Chicken Salad
A quick and healthy chicken salad packed with summer flavor, lots of protein and made completely mayo free!
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds cooked chicken chopped/shredded
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- 2 large lemons zested
- 4-5 TBSP juice from the 2 zested lemons
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp salt plus more to taste
- Fresh cracked pepper
- 1/2 + cup fresh basil chopped
- 3/4 cup pecans chopped
Instructions
- Start by prepping the chicken. If your are using rotisserie chicken remove the skin and shred the meat. If you are using grilled/baked chicken breast, chop the meat small.
- Preheat the oven to 320 degrees. Add the chopped pecans to a sheet pan and toast the nuts for 5-8 minutes until toasty brown. Don’t let them cook too long; they burn quickly!Set the pecans aside to cool.
- In a large bowl, add the chicken, Greek yogurt, garlic powder, salt and pepper and mix until all of the chicken is coated. Next, zest both lemons directly into the bowl and add the juice of the lemons. Stir to mix.
- Once the pecans have cooled, add them to the bowl along with a heaping 1/2 cup of chopped basil. Feel free to add more basil after tasting!Taste for salt at this point.
- Refrigerate the chicken salad for 1 hour or preferably overnight so the flavors have time to develop.