Waldorf Chicken Salad With Greek Yogurt, Apple, and Walnuts

Nutrition Snapshot

  • Chicken breast and Greek yogurt supply the protein here, so one sandwich of this salad works as a full lunch.
  • Walnuts, apple skin, and celery add unsaturated fat and fiber, so this fits a heart-healthy eating pattern.
  • Salt at the table and brined deli chicken are where the sodium comes from, so start with plain cooked chicken.

This is chicken salad with the mayonnaise swapped for plain Greek yogurt, thinned with cider vinegar and a spoonful of maple syrup. Nothing cooks except four minutes of walnuts in a dry skillet, so the salad comes together in about twenty minutes with chicken you already have. Rotisserie chicken works, and so does a poached breast from the night before.

It tastes the way a Waldorf salad should: sweet apple, crunchy celery, a sharp dressing, and enough walnut to notice in every other bite. Make it in the morning and it is better by noon.

Why This Works When Lunch Has to Travel

A lunch that holds you until dinner needs protein and fiber in the same container, and this salad has both. Protein slows how fast the stomach empties, so the meal reaches the small intestine over a longer stretch of time. Protein also prompts the gut to release hormones that tell the brain you have eaten.

The chicken breast and the Greek yogurt supply almost all of the protein, and the apple skin, the celery, and the walnuts supply the fiber. Fiber holds water and adds bulk, which stretches the stomach wall and produces a second fullness signal. A yogurt cup on its own has the protein and little fiber, and an apple on its own has the fiber and little protein.

What’s in a Serving

One serving is about three quarters of a cup, enough to fill a sandwich, a wrap, or two large lettuce cups. Most of that volume is chopped chicken breast. The rest is apple, celery, and grapes in roughly equal parts, with walnuts and scallion greens through it and a thin coat of dressing over everything.

The batch divides into eight servings and comes to about six cups. Portioned into containers on the day you make it, the batch is lunch for most of a work week.

What You Buy Decides the Sodium and the Crunch

Chicken Breast, Cooked Plain

Poach or roast a breast with pepper and nothing else, or use leftovers from a bird you seasoned lightly. Rotisserie chicken from the deli case is the fast option, and it arrives brined, so it brings sodium with it. If rotisserie is the chicken you have, pull the skin off, leave the salt out at the end, and taste before you reach for it.

Plain Greek Yogurt

Whole-milk Greek yogurt makes a thicker dressing and a richer salad. Nonfat makes a tangier one and leaves more room for the walnuts. Either works. Buy it plain, since the vanilla and honey versions bring sugar that the apple and the maple syrup already cover.

Apples and Grapes, Bought Organic

Apples and grapes both sit on the Dirty Dozen list, so buy them organic when the price is close. The reasoning is in Glyphosate on Your Breakfast Oats: What It Means and How to Lower Your Exposure. Honeycrisp, Gala, and Braeburn all hold their shape in a dressing. Leave the skin on the apple, since most of the apple’s fiber sits there.

Walnuts, Toasted

Walnuts have more alpha-linolenic acid than any other common nut. Alpha-linolenic acid is a plant form of omega-3 fat. Four minutes in a dry skillet drives off surface moisture and deepens the flavor, so a half cup tastes like more. Buy halves rather than pieces and chop them yourself, since pre-chopped nuts turn rancid faster.

Celery and Scallions

Celery is the crunch, and it costs almost nothing in calories for the volume it adds. Slice it thin so it disappears into each bite. Scallion greens give a mild onion flavor that raw onion overpowers, and chives work the same way if you have them.

Who This Fits / Go Easy If

This suits anyone who needs a portable lunch with real protein in it: a work lunch made on Sunday, a lunchbox, a lighter meal the day after a heavy dinner. The unsaturated fat from the walnuts and the fiber from the produce fit a heart-healthy eating pattern. The protein and the fat also moderate what the apple and the grapes contribute in carbohydrate.

Go easy if your care team has you watching potassium and phosphorus, since chicken, yogurt, and walnuts all supply both; the target is theirs to set. Cut the walnuts to a quarter cup and add celery in their place if you are counting calories closely. Anyone with a tree-nut allergy should use toasted sunflower seeds and skip the walnuts.

How to Make It Your Own

Curry

Add two teaspoons of curry powder and a squeeze of lemon to the dressing, and use golden raisins in place of the grapes. The curry version holds up best in a wrap.

Herb and Lemon

Skip the maple syrup and the poppy seeds. Add lemon zest, chopped dill, and chopped parsley. The salad turns savory and pairs better with a green salad than with bread.

Dairy-Free

Use unsweetened plain coconut yogurt or a cashew-based yogurt in place of the Greek yogurt, and add a teaspoon of tahini for body. Both are thinner than Greek yogurt, so start with three quarters of the amount and add more as needed.

The Health Swaps in Short

  • Chicken breast: cooked turkey breast, well-rinsed canned chickpeas, or chopped hard-boiled eggs.
  • Greek yogurt: unsweetened coconut or cashew yogurt, or cottage cheese blended smooth.
  • Walnuts: pecans, toasted sunflower seeds, or toasted pumpkin seeds.
  • Grapes: golden raisins, or a second cup of chopped celery for a savory version.
  • Maple syrup: leave it out, or use a teaspoon of honey.
  • Apple cider vinegar: lemon juice, in the same amount.
  • Scallions: chives, or two tablespoons of finely chopped red onion.

Make It on Sunday and It Keeps Through Thursday

Covered in the refrigerator, the salad keeps three to four days. The apple browns a little at the cut edges after the first day, and the cider vinegar in the dressing slows the browning down. Stir before serving, since the yogurt separates slightly as it sits.

Skip the freezer. Yogurt splits when it thaws and celery turns limp. For a week of lunches, portion the salad into containers the day you make it, and keep the bread or the lettuce separate until you eat.

Chopped chicken breast, apple, celery, grapes, and toasted walnuts in a plain Greek yogurt dressing. Makes eight sandwich or wrap servings and keeps for four days.
Course lunch, Salad
Cuisine American
Keyword chicken, Greek yogurt, high protein, make ahead lunch, waldorf salad
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Calories 182kcal

Equipment

  • Small Skillet
  • Cutting board
  • Chef’s Knife
  • Large mixing bowl
  • Measuring Cups
  • Measuring Spoons
  • Rubber Spatula

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 pounds chicken breast cooked and chopped
  • 1 cup Greek yogurt plain
  • 1 1/2 cups celery sliced thin
  • 1 1/2 cups apples organic, cored and chopped with the skin on
  • 1 cup grapes organic red seedless, halved
  • 1/2 cup walnuts toasted and chopped
  • 1/4 cup chives fresh, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper ground
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  • Toast the walnuts in a dry small skillet over medium heat until they smell nutty, about 4 minutes.
  • Transfer the walnuts to a plate and let them cool.
  • Chop the cooled walnuts.
  • Whisk the yogurt, vinegar, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, poppy seeds, and black pepper in a large bowl until smooth.
  • Chop the cooked chicken into half-inch pieces.
  • Core the apples and chop them into half-inch pieces, leaving the skin on.
  • Slice the celery thin.
  • Halve the grapes.
  • Chop the chives.
  • Add the chicken, apple, celery, grapes, walnuts, and chives to the bowl.
  • Fold everything together until the dressing coats it evenly.
  • Taste and add salt.
  • Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Notes

Serving size is about 3/4 cup, enough to fill one sandwich or one wrap, or two large lettuce cups. The full batch makes about 6 cups and divides into 8 servings. Salt is added to taste and is excluded from the calculated nutrition, so season with the vinegar and pepper first and add salt last. If you use rotisserie or deli chicken, leave the salt out; that chicken arrives brined. Chilling time is passive and is excluded from the total time. The salad tastes better after 30 minutes in the refrigerator and can be made a day ahead. Keeps 3 to 4 days covered in the refrigerator. Skip the freezer, since yogurt splits when it thaws. Stir before serving. For the maple flavor without maple syrup, use 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and a little more vinegar. Tree-nut allergy: use 1/2 cup of toasted sunflower seeds in place of the walnuts. Dairy-free: use unsweetened plain coconut or cashew yogurt, starting with 3/4 cup and adding more to reach the consistency you want.

Nutrition

Calories: 182kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 121mg | Potassium: 457mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 8g | Calcium: 60mg | Iron: 1mg | Magnesium: 41mg | Phosphorus: 225mg | Choline: 62mg

Gluten Free

Nothing in this salad contains gluten, and two ingredients can still carry it. Dijon mustard and prepared seasoning blends sometimes use wheat, so buy a Dijon labeled gluten free. If you have celiac disease, the pan matters too: toast the walnuts in a skillet that has not held a wheat coating, and keep the salad off the bread board. Anyone avoiding gluten by preference can skip the pan step.

Greek Yogurt Turns Chicken Salad Into a Protein Lunch

Greek yogurt gives chicken salad the same creamy coat that mayonnaise gives it, and the yogurt brings protein along with the coat. The apple, celery, grapes, and walnuts supply the crunch and the sweetness, which is why a salad invented in a hotel dining room still works on a Tuesday.

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