Rosemary Chicken Salad – Light & Healthy Lunch

Being a stay-at-home mom, one of my biggest challenges each day is finding time to sit down and have lunch. Between preparing lunches for the kids, handling preschool drop off/pickup, and running a million errands that by the time lunch rolls around I’m just ready for a nap. No shame in admitting sometimes I stand in front of the fridge and just grab the first thing I see to hold me over until dinner time.

In an effort to stay ahead of the game, I created this Rosemary Chicken Salad recipe. It’s a quick and light lunch that I can make in advance. I found that if I make a big batch on Sunday, I have enough to last me the 3 days for lunch. It’s so quick that I literally just pull the bowl out of the fridge and scoop it out onto a romaine lettuce leaf or endive spear and lunch is served! It’s even amazing right out of the bowl!

The chicken adds a lean source of protein that will help fuel you for the rest of the day. The hearty walnuts are filling, crunch and full of heart healthy fats. The apple adds a natural sweetness and the dried cranberries are perfect for that chew factor. Combined with greek yogurt instead of mayo, this rosemary chicken salad is lighter than other recipes but still creamy. The rosemary and dijon mustard are the perfect addition and really complete the recipe.

I made a batch without the walnuts and rosemary for my kids and they loved it. I tried serving it to them on sliced bread but they weren’t really fans of that. However, I did find that they devoured it when I served it on top of an apple slice. They thought it was so fun and who I am to argue with getting them to eat extra apples??

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Rosemary Chicken Salad - Light & Healthy Lunch

A light and healthy lunch idea, this Rosemary Chicken Salad recipe is simple to make and delicious to eat. It's budget friendly and can be made in advance!

Course lunch

Cuisine Mediterranean

Keyword chicken salad, healthy lunch, rosemary chicken

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

Author Brynn at The Domestic Dietitian

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts cooked and cubed
• 1-2 apples cored and chopped
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries unsweetened
• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
• 1/3 cup walnuts chopped
• 2 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary chopped
• salt & pepper to taste
• optional: endive spears romaine lettuce, apple slices or bread

Instructions

• Combine chicken, apples, cranberries, greek yogurt, walnuts, dijon and rosemary in a large mixing bowl.
• Stir until combined
• Add salt & pepper to taste
• Serve as desired. I used endive spears (pictured above), romaine lettuce, bread or even place on top of apple slices