Finding new uses for cottage cheese is all the rage right now, and it works perfectly in place of mayo for this chicken salad recipe.
Low-fat cottage cheese is all over the place right now and it happens to be one of my favorite foods. I eat it by itself, but I also love to make dips and salad dressings out of it. Using it in this easy chicken salad recipe was the obvious next step.
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
Why Use Cottage Cheese?
When making this Cottage Cheese Green Goddess dressing recently, it occurred to me the reason cottage cheese works so well in these things. It’s because it makes such a great lower fat, higher protein substitute for mayonnaise and sour cream. It’s the mayonnaise part that stuck with me though and I started using cottage cheese in place of mayo in all kinds of things, like in this fantastic Cottage Cheese Chicken Salad recipe.
Now, if you puree cottage cheese, it gets smooth, and that’s something I do sometimes for the dips and dressings like my Green Goddess Dip recipe. But when I want to use it quickly and in a smaller amount, I don’t bother. So, for this light and tasty chicken salad, I just scooped the cottage cheese in as is. Using small curd cottage cheese is my preference here though so you don’t have those bigger pieces.
For another delicious variation on classic chicken salad, try my creamy Avocado Chicken Salad recipe.
What Kind Of Chicken Should I Use?
You may have noticed in the recipe that I’ve simply called for cooked chicken. I used simple and delicious Air Fryer Chicken Leg Quarters for mine, but you can use whatever kind you’d like. Instant Pot Chicken Breasts, boneless skinless chicken thighs, even a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. Whatever cut you prefer or have leftover from your meal prep is fine, just make sure that it doesn’t have a lot of other flavorings going on that will compete with the taste.
The important part is that you’re finely chopping the cooked chicken before you mix it with the other ingredients.
How To Make Cottage Cheese Chicken Salad
It’s so easy! You take that cooked and chopped chicken and mix it together with cottage cheese, chopped celery and green onion, along with a bit of lemon juice, salt, and pepper. That’s the instructions. Once things are chopped it’s seriously just mixing it together in a bowl.
Of course, if you like more ingredients in your chicken salad, go right ahead but I kept my base recipe simple. A little bit of Dijon mustard is nice, and some chopped nuts, diced apple, or halved red grapes are other popular options.
I like to serve mine on bread as open-faced sandwiches, but you can also serve it over lettuce or just scoop it up with crackers.
More Great Salad Recipes
Love this chicken salad? These other recipes will keep lunchtime exciting too. Enjoy!
Podcast Episode About Making Cottage Cheese Chicken Salad
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this recipe, with some great tips along the way, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
Print
Cottage Cheese Chicken Salad Recipe
Enjoy this chicken salad as a sandwich, over lettuce, or served with crackers. The recipe can easily be scaled up to serve more.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Mix
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 cup finely chopped cooked chicken
- 2 Tbsp. low-fat cottage cheese
- 1 Tbsp. finely chopped celery
- 1 Tbsp. chopped green onion
- 1/8 tsp. lemon juice
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1/8 tsp. black pepper
Instructions
- Measure all ingredients into a medium-sized bowl.
- Mix well.
Love this recipe? I’d appreciate it if you could scroll down and add a *5 star rating* to help others know they’ll love it as well!
delicious
Thank you so much, Kelley!
How long does a batch last? Same day only, or can you make enough for two days?
As long as the chicken you’re using is fresh, it should be fine for a few days in the fridge. Enjoy, Christine!
I too am a cottage cheese fan and I just had the light bulb idea that using it in the place of mayo is genius. started looking online for recipes and yours is the most simple, straight forward and true to my heart recipe (I’ve literally seen others that still include mayo or add a bunch of other additional fats in way of nuts and seed oils)- I love how simple and clean this recipe is while preserving the “traditional” chicken salad flavor (celery and green onion).
Great job!
Also, when traveling this is super easy to whip together- one quick run to the grocery store and you’re set.
Thank you so much, Glori! I’m so happy you love it and are able to make it even while traveling.
I love it!
Thank you so much, James! I appreciate you taking time to rate the recipe.