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.
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.
Easy, healthy chicken salad with apples and cranberries
All I can say is, "YUM."
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.
WW Friendly Low Fat Apple Cranberry Chicken Salad
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.
How Many Calories and WW Points in this Chicken Salad?
According to my calculations, each serving has 220 calories and
5 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
3 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
3 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
5 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!
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!
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.
Are You Ready To Firmly Plant Yourself
On The Path To Lasting Weight Loss Success?
If you've made this deliciously low fat Apple Cranberry Chicken Salad, please give the recipe a star rating below and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. And stay in touch on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates.
Healthy Chicken Salad with Apples & Cranberries
Ingredients
- 2 ½ 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
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- ½ 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
- Place the chicken, celery, apple and cranberries in a bowl and stir to combine and then set it aside.
- In a small bowl (affiliate link), stir together the yogurt, mayonnaise and lemon juice.
- Add this to the chicken mixture and stir to mix well.
- Stir in the parsley if desired. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Equipment
Recipe Notes
*Points® calculated by WW. *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 each plan's ZeroPoint Foods (Green plan, Blue plan, Purple plan) using the WW Recipe Builder.
If you like this apple cranberry chicken salad, you might also like:
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
Martha is the founder and main content writer for Simple-Nourished-Living.
A longtime lifetime WW at goal, she is committed to balancing her love of food and desire to stay slim while savoring life and helping others do the same.
She is the author of the Smart Start 28-Day Weight Loss Challenge.
A huge fan of the slow cooker and confessed cookbook addict, when she's not experimenting in the kitchen, you're likely to find Martha on her yoga mat.
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or other (affiliate links), I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thank you for your purchase!
Subscribe to Get: Top 10 Reader Favorite Recipes
The Top 10 Most Popular Recipes (PDF) on Simple Nourished Living + Weekly Support Emails with Tips & Easy Healthy Recipes Not Found Anywhere Else!
Jan
Love this recipe! My husband likes it too! Instead of apples I use red grapes cut in half. Serve on a bed of lettuce or a flat out! Yummy!
Edith
Do you think this will be good if I make it a day ahead?
Tiger
Everything is better the next day!! In my house it's hard to even have
anything left for the next day. lol
Marilyn
I have made this salad twice. Both times I used grapes instead of cranberries. It is really good. I'm sure I will made it again. Thank you!
Brandi
I believe if you substitue grapes instead of dried cranberries, then the entire recipe would be 2 points on Purple. You'd only have to count the light mayo.
Jeanne Walz
Delicious! I made a wrap out of it. Total 4 freestyle points. Filled me up. Husband loved it too!
Judi Gowin
We love this salad. Using the greek yogurt adds great flavor without the extra points. Thank you for sharing again.
Marge
I made this salad during the heat of summer when I was having company for the day. It was a winner as everyone enjoyed it. I used rotisserie chicken to further shorten my prep time; a sure hit.
Leslie Jones
Exactly what is a serving? 1/2 cup or what?
Martha McKinnon
Hi Leslie, the recipe says that the serving size is about 1 cup. Hope this helps. ~Martha
Tracey
Great for lunch. Added more craisins than called for to add a little more zing. Put it in a wrap. Just two extra points. Delicious!
Iamlinny
Recipe is deelish but I can't figure out how the points were figured. For purple only the light mayo and dried cranberries would be counted, I believe. I just cancelled my membership with WW, so I can't get to the recipe calculator.
Ms. Nikki C.
This was so delish and extremely quick to make. I whipped it up b4 work and ate it for lunch. Really a delicious salad!
Maria
Can this be frozen?
Martha McKinnon
Hi Maria, I haven't tried it but I don't think so. I believe it would be soggy and watery when defrosted. Hope this helps. ~Martha
Anne
I made this salad per the recipe directions and it was delicious. I brought it to work for lunch for a few days and it stayed fresh to the end. I put it in a wrap, on greens, and made a sandwich. This is especially good when it is hot outside and you want something refreshing for your meal. This recipe will be added to my regular rotation.
Vickie Monk
The Chicken Salad with apples and cranberries is my favorite salad ever. I have been on WW for 8 years and I love this and its only 2 points on my Personal Points My husband isn't even on WW and he loves it too!!
Abigail Minier
I dont usually write reviews for recipes but I love this so much! Im currently pregnant and sometimes its hard for me to find things I can enjoy that are actually good for you. The Greek yogurt i thought was weird but trust it is so delicious and I might just eat it all by myself lmao.
sandra carney
I make this ofen, it's really good!!!!
Martha McKinnon
So glad you like it!!
Tammy
This is absolutely one of my favorite go-to lunches. I have it on Wasa multi-grain crisps along side a bowl of soup. Perfect! Thanks for the great recipe.
Martha McKinnon
Thanks for letting me know Tammy. It's so fun when my favorites become others' favorites too!!
Phyllis
Love this recipe and keep making it over and over!! I don’t even want to share it-lol
Martha McKinnon
So happy to hear it, Phyllis! Thanks for taking the time to let me know. 🙂