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Chicken Salad with Apples and Cranberries – 3 WW Freestyle SmartPoints

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Leftover rotisserie chicken, apples, celery, and dried cranberries in a light creamy Greek yogurt based dressing combine to create this light and delicious healthy chicken salad with apples and cranberries.

Healthy Chicken Salad with Apples and Cranberries - 3 WW Freestyle SmartPoints

Slim & Healthy Chicken Salad with Chopped Apples & Dried Cranberries

Which reminds me of a classic Waldorf salad – only lighter – and with chicken.

I served this chicken salad with apples and cranberries for lunch on a bed of mixed greens and baby arugula. And garnished it with a little shredded carrot and chopped cucumber.

All I can say is, “YUM.”

 

The Skinny on Chicken Salad with Apples & Cranberries

I rarely cook chicken just to make chicken salad. It seems like too much work. Instead, it’s a recipe I tend to make when there’s leftover home cooked or rotisserie chicken staring back at me from the fridge.

To keep this chicken salad with apples and cranberries lighter and healthier, I use plain nonfat Greek yogurt and a little Hellman’s light mayonnaise to dress it without drowning it.

Adding apples and celery is a tasty way to add flavor and crunch for minimal calories and points.

This chicken salad with apples and cranberries would be yummy on whole wheat crackers or a toasted english muffin or stuffed into a pita too.

This recipe – and dozens more delicious healthy recipes – is available in My Favorite Comfort Foods eCookbook!

Every recipe includes nutritional details and Weight Watchers PointsPlus/Freestyle SmartPoints which and can be downloaded and printed immediately upon purchase. Click here for the details!

3.56 from 104 votes
Healthy Chicken Salad with Apples and Cranberries bed of greens from above
Print Recipe
Healthy Chicken Salad with Apples & Cranberries
Prep Time
10 mins
Total Time
10 mins
 
Leftover rotisserie chicken, apples, celery, and dried cranberries in a light and creamy dressing,this easy healthy chicken salad with apples and cranberries is a lunchtime favorite.
Course: Salad
Servings: 4
Calories: 220 kcal
Author: Martha | Simple Nourished Living
Ingredients
  • 2 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
  • 3 stalks celery, chopped
  • 1 cup chopped apple, about 1 large; I used a Pink Lady and kept the peel because it was organic
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons Hellman's light mayonnaise
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley (optional)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions

  1. Place the chicken, celery, apple and cranberries in a bowl and stir to combine and then set it aside.

     

  2. In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, mayonnaise and lemon juice.


  3. Add this to the chicken mixture and stir to mix well.


  4. 4. Stir in the parsley if desired. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Recipe Notes

Weight Watcher PointsPlus: *5

Weight Watchers Freestyle SmartPoints: *3

Variations:

No chicken? Substitute leftover turkey, canned chicken or canned tuna.

No mayonnaise? Use all plain Greek yogurt instead.

No yogurt? Use all light mayonnaise instead.

No dried cranberries? Most any chopped dried fruit would work.

Nutrition Facts
Healthy Chicken Salad with Apples & Cranberries
Amount Per Serving (1 cup)
Calories 220 Calories from Fat 45
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 5g 8%
Total Carbohydrates 13g 4%
Dietary Fiber 2g 8%
Protein 28g 56%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

*PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT Weight Watchers Zero Points fruits and vegetables using the WW Recipe Builder.

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If you liked this chicken salad with apples and cranberries you might also like:

Weight Watchers Chicken Salad Recipes

Favorite Chicken Salad Recipes for Weight Watchers

My Favorite Chicken Salad Recipes, including curried chicken salad, Greek grilled chicken salad, chicken avocado salad, mustard broccoli chicken salad, fruited quinoa chicken salad and more.

Creamy Chicken Salad Recipe – with celery, dried cranberries, and smoked almonds dressed in a combination of light mayonnaise and nonfat Greek Yogurt with 13.6 g fat, 14.6 g carbs. 2.8 g fiber, 39.5 g protein and 8 WW Points+ from Cooking Light found at MyRecipes

Curried Chicken Salad with Apples and Raisins – fruit studded chicken salad for two with with 222 calories and 6 WW Points+ from Cooking Light found at MyRecipes

Ellie Kriger’s Curried Chicken Salad – with grapes, almonds and cilantro has 325 calories and 6 WW Points+ per serving from Ellie Krieger found at the Food Network

Lighter Chicken Salad – from chicken cooked in broth so it needs less dressing with 4 WW Points+ from Gina at SkinnyTaste

Mango Chicken Salad – with yogurt, fresh mango, and mango chutney with 6 WW Points+ from Alanna at Kitchen Parade.

For More Delicious Weight Watchers Salad Recipes

weight watchers salad recipes with points plus

Watch this brief video to learn more about WW Freestyle…


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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. This was delicious!! I added a bit of garlic and onion powder to the dressing, then threw it in a low carb wrap with lettuce, swiss cheese, sliced almonds, and a little garlic mayo. Great light but filling meal!

    Reply

  2. I love this! I added some garlic powder & paprika. Look forward to customizing it each time! My question is, can you make it two days ahead of time for an event? And also, how many days can it keep?

    Thanks! This will be a new “regular” recipe for me now!

    Reply

    • Hi Tania,

      Thanks for your comment! I love tweaking recipes and hardly ever make anything the same way twice!! I think it should be fine for 2 or 3 days. Before serving it I would say taste it and adjust your seasoning adding more salt and pepper and whatever else you think it needs. Dishes can change a bit as they sit in the fridge. Hope this helps!

      Reply

  3. i love this! just made a comment about how this will be a new staple for my house! i added some garlic powder and paprika, but only for fun to tweak it. this can stand alone as is. but it would be fun to tweak each time!

    i asked how long it can keep in the fridge and if it’s okay to make 2 days ahead of time for an event?

    also, i forgot to rate it last time!

    Reply

  5. THIS WAS ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. I’VE NEVER LEFT A COMMENT/REVIEW FOR ANY RECIPE, BUT I HAD TO WITH THIS ONE. GREAT JOB! MY HUSBAND LOVES IT.

    Reply

  6. I Martha, I found your recipe on Pinterest because I was looking for this kind of recipe. Yours looks delicious. The only thing I would probably omit is the celery me and celery don’t get alone. thanks for sharing this.

    Reply

  7. I was considering subbing greek yogurt for mayo and just did a quick search to see if that was going to taste really weird, and ended up here. Thanks for sharing! Just thought I’d add – at my house we like to hollow out a bell pepper and fill it with chicken salad. It makes a great to-go meal – we always take them on the river when we go boating!

    Reply

  9. I made this salad tonight in a wholewheat wrap. Definitely a keeper. Will try it with nuts next time. Thanks for posting this. Will try some of your other salads another time.

    Reply

  10. Hi, yeah this paragraph is really nice and I have learned lot
    of things from it on the topic of blogging. thanks.

    Reply

  15. Martha…..thank you for the wonderful recipe for chicken salad with cranberries and apples. I am wondering g why I am not seeing the WWsmart points value. Have I missed something?

    Reply

  17. This was absolutely delicious! I added black grapes along with the cranberries and apples. Equal balance of salt/sweet!

    Reply

  18. I love this recipe!!!! My kids love this too!!! It’s my go to for left over chicken. I love bringing this for lunch at work. Thank you for sharing!! This is my all time favorite.

    Reply

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