Today I want to show you how to make an easy cranberry chicken salad that’s great for lunch, dinner, and even a holiday table. Whilst it’s not a classic chicken salad, it is incredibly delicious, gluten free, grain free, top 9 free, and top 14 free. That makes this very inclusive, yet, you don’t even realize the allergens are missing. So, grab your ingredients and let’s get to work.
Allergy Status
Free From: Wheat/Gluten, Dairy, Egg, Soy, Tree Nut (including Coconut), Peanut, Fish, Shellfish, Sesame, Top 9 Allergens, Apple, Avocado, Banana, Beans & Lentils, Buckwheat, Cane/Refined Sugar, Carrot, Celery, Cinnamon, Citrus, Cruciferous, Latex Cross Reactive Foods (H/M), Legume, Lupin, Mushroom, Mustard, Nightshade, Oat, Pea & Pea Protein, Potato (Nightshade Variety), Red Meat, Rice, Seeds, Squash & Gourd, Stone Fruits, Strawberry, Sweet Potato & Yam, Tapioca/Cassava/Yuca/Manioc, Tomato, Yeast
Friendly To: AIP Paleo, GAPs, Paleo, SCD
Cranberry Chicken Salad Recipe Ingredients
Part 1 Ingredients
- 330g Organic Yellow Onion (11.5 ounces), sliced
- Oil of Choice for Cooking
Part 2 Ingredients
- 1KG Organic Boneless Chicken Breast (36 ounces), cubed
- 4 tsp Organic Dried Basil
- 2 tsp Sea Salt
- 1.5 tsp Organic Garlic Granules
- 1 tsp Organic Dried Oregano
Part 3 Ingredients
- 3 TBSP Organic Balsamic Vinegar of Choice
- 4 TBSP Organic Maple Sugar
- 210g Organic Dried Cranberries (7.5 ounces)
- 3 TBSP Organic Dried Parsley
Ingredient Notes
You can change this up a bit by using white or red onion rather than the yellow onion I call for.
The chicken weight is a bit over 2 pounds/900g. If you want to use 2 pounds/900g for ease, that’s OK.
It’s OK to round up (or down) and use 7 or 8 ounces of the dried cranberries. If you’re not a huge cranberry fan, you can also reduce the amount of cranberries used.
I usually use organic extra virgin olive oil as my cooking oil, but you can use whatever you like, including dairy free butter, tallow, and so on.
Directions
Start by prepping your onions and chicken. One of my favorite things to do to make meals easier is to prep loads of fresh produce once a week to cook with. Additionally, when I make bulk purchases at Costco, I spend a day pre-cutting and freezing meat in portion sizes I often cook with. This makes future meals come together so much faster. In fact, it feels like cheating.
Heat a large/deep non-stick pan on medium-high heat (7/10 for me). Add a little cooking oil, and once it’s hot, add your onions. Stir to coat the onions in oil. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring as needed to prevent burning, but don’t over stir and prevent browning.
Whilst your onions are cooking, place your chicken in a large bowl and add all of the seasonings (Part 2 Ingredients) and mix well. If you want to save on dishes, you can add all of the ingredients to a large baggie and treat it like shake-and-bake.
When the 10 minutes are up with onions, add all of the chicken to your pan, along with the balsamic vinegar and maple sugar. Cook for 5 minutes, then add your cranberries and parsley. Continue to cook for 5 minutes, or until your chicken is fully cooked. Your cook time will vary based on the size of your chicken cubes.
Whilst I opted to serve this as a salad, you can use this chicken alongside pasta, rice, or veggie noodles.
Cooking Tip: You want to avoid overcooking your chicken. We don’t want a good chicken salad, we want a GREAT chicken salad. One way to ensure greatness is to have tender chicken that’s still juicy, rather than dry chicken.
If you’re new to cooking chicken, grab yourself an instant read meat thermometer (this is the one I have). You can check the temperature of your chicken and when the internal temperature is 165f/74c, the chicken is done. If continue to cook past that point, in this particular recipe, that’s where you run the risk of having dry chicken.
How to Store Leftover Chicken Salad
The best way to store your leftovers is in an airtight container in your fridge for up to 5 days. This healthy cranberry chicken salad recipe tastes good hot or cold, so you can take it for lunch, or reheat leftovers for a quick dinner. Be sure to add your leftovers to your weekly meal plan so they don’t go to waste.
Whilst you can technically freeze this recipe, for best results, I’d only store this in the fridge.
More Delicious Recipes to Enjoy
- Honey Almond Meat Sauce Recipe (made with simple ingredients, and it’s incredibly tasty)
- Chocolate Hummus Recipe (you only need a handful of ingredients to make this tasty dip)
- Sweet & Spicy Meat with Leeks (this is a great meal prep recipe that you can batch cook and freeze)
- Peach & Chicken BBQ Pressure Cooker Stew (this is a super easy lunch recipe)
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Ways to Change Up Your Cranberry Chicken Salad
There are so many ways you can turn this easy meal into something new. Here are just a few ideas to get you started, and who knows, maybe you’ll find a new favorite way to eat your chicken salad.
- Make a salad dressing with plain Greek yogurt, a splash or lemon juice, and organic black pepper
- Add almond slices and crunchy celery slices for a cranberry almond chicken salad. If you’re allergic to almonds, you can use sliced organic tiger nuts instead. Tiger nuts aren’t tree nuts, but poorly named tuber root vegetables.
- Swap the cranberries for apple slices. You can also add apples and have an apple cranberry chicken salad.
- Serve as lettuce wraps (or lettuce cups) or in a pita (or GF or whole wheat tortilla) rather than on the bed of lettuce.
- Add candied pecans and sliced green onions for a cranberry pecan chicken salad.
Most of the ideas listed will also help make this a protein-packed lunch since the additions are high protein foods.
Answering Your Healthy Cranberry Chicken Salad Recipe Questions
Should I use sweet cranberries or unsweetened cranberries in this recipe?
When you cook your homemade chicken salad, you can actually use either, or even a mix of the two. It’s going to come down to personal preference. Personally, I purchase organic dried cranberries that are lightly sweetened with apple juice as well as unsweetened. I use a 50/50 blend of the two, and my kids seem to like it that way.
Could I make this recipe with roasted whole chicken?
I’m going to assume you have a leftover rotisserie chicken or something of that nature. In that case, you could use a whole chicken to make this quick lunch. In your case, you’d cut/shred the chicken that you have whilst the onions cook. When you add the seasonings and cooked chicken, you’ll only need to cook it all together for a few minutes since the chicken isn’t raw. Essentially, the steps are the same, but your cook time will be greatly reduced.
Can I make this with onion powder instead of sliced white onions?
If you’re running low on time, or don’t have any onions on hand, you could use onion powder. I’d suggest 2 – 3 teaspoons. Know that this will change the overall flavour and texture of the dish. However, I think you’ll still be happy. If you can have seeds or tree nuts, you could add some (crushed up), and that can help make the texture a bit more interesting since you’re losing the onions.
Would the chicken taste good eaten as a sandwich?
Yes, this chicken would be great on wheat bread, gluten free bread, or in some kind of bun/roll. If you opt for a traditional style sandwich, you could add lettuce leaves or salad greens along with a slice of your favorite cheese.
Could this recipe be made in a slow cooker or pressure cooker?
Yes, you can make this healthy chicken salad in a slow cooker or pressure cooker, but with a few tweaks. What you’ll do is cook the chicken and onion slices, and the rest of the Part 2 Ingredients in the slow cooker with broth or stock. Shred the chicken well when it’s done.
Heat a large nonstick pan on medium heat and add the chicken (without the cooking liquid). Add the Part 3 Ingredients and mix well. From there, serve it up with your lettuce or a carb of choice.
Tip: Save the cooking liquid and use it like a stock/broth. I like to purchase 32-ounce deli containers to save pressure cooking liquid in. I freeze it, then have deeply flavoured broth for future meals. This is also a great option if you manage a lot of less common food allergies or dietary restrictions and need to make broth/stock at home.
Should the salt be Kosher salt?
The sea salt I use is a Mediterranean sea salt from Costco, and it’s not a Kosher salt (large grain). For reference, this is the product, but you can also check the Costco website. Fun fact: they will allow you to place an order online and have it shipped if you’re not a member, and you pay a 5% fee. It’s totally worth it if you only need a few items a few times a year.
