Avocado Chicken Salad

This Avocado Chicken Salad is bursting with healthy ingredients like corn, avocados, chicken and fresh dill. It’s coated in a deliciously light and refreshing lemon dill dressing that contains no mayo or sour cream! 

This healthy chicken salad is a quick meal that comes together in less than 10 minutes! With lots of protein and flavor, this is a recipe you will turn to when in a pinch! For more easy dinner recipes try my Pesto Tortellini Pasta, Sesame Noodles Recipe and Avocado Chicken Wraps. 

Why This Recipe Works

• Light and refreshing. This healthy avocado chicken salad recipe is packed with great ingredients! Fresh avocados, green onion and fresh dill really lighten up this recipe. Pair that with a light dressing that beautifully coats the salad and you will swoon over the flavor and simplicity of this salad! It’s a great low carb lunch or dinner recipe.
• Versatile and easy. This recipe comes together in just 10 minutes, uses simple ingredients, and can be eaten plain, on a sandwich, on lettuce or in a wrap. It’s a great main course or side! 
• Absolutely delicious! Multiple times during our family meal when I made this avocado chicken salad recipe my husband said, “Wow, this is really good!” That’s high praise from him! Needless to say that this avocado corn chicken salad is so, so good that both kids and adults will be asking for more! 

Ingredient Notes

• Cooked Chicken: Use cooked chicken breast that has been shredded or cubed (about 2 large chicken breasts). You can also use shredded rotisserie chicken or canned chicken that’s been well drained. 
• Avocados: Cut into bite sized pieces. Avocado is a great source of healthy fats (plus we really love avocados!) so we use 3. But 2 large avocados would be just fine, too! 
• Frozen Corn: You can use frozen corn that is thawed and drained or you can use canned corn that has been drained. 
• Bacon: This should really be called a chicken bacon avocado salad because the bacon is a huge player in the flavor of this dish! If you use bacon bits, I would recommend actually bacon bits. There are some brands that are just imitation bacon. Another compromise to cooking bacon is to get the pre-cooked bacon from Costco! 
• Fresh Dill: Using fresh dill will give you a fresher flavor, but you are welcome to use dried dill if that’s all you have on hand! You may just want to add a bit more to compensate. 
• Fresh Lemon Juice: Feel free to use store bought lemon juice instead of fresh lemon juice if that’s what you have on hand. If you have fresh lemons, you can also add a little bit of lemon zest! Feel free to use lime juice as a substitute if you prefer it.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Prepare and combine the ingredients. Shred or cube the cooked chicken, cut the avocados, cooked bacon and green onions, and drain the corn. Combine everything in a large bowl with the dill and toss. 
2. Make the lemon dill chicken salad dressing. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and black pepper to a small bowl and whisk to combine. 

3. Add the dressing to the chicken and avocado salad. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately plain, as lettuce wraps, on bread for a sandwich, in a pita, with tortilla chips as a dip, or on a bed of greens. 

Recipe Tips

Feel free to use canned chicken, just make sure it is well drained!

Use ripe avocados so they aren’t hard or crunchy. Ripened avocados will also provide a bit of a creamy avocado texture when combined in the salad. 

This recipe will make 4 main course servings, but 6-8 if serving this as a side.

If you want a more traditional and creamy chicken salad recipe, try my Chicken Salad Sandwich Recipe. 

Great variations include …

• Cashews for added texture and crunch
• Fresh parsley or fresh cilantro in place of the fresh dill
• Diced tomatoes for color, flavor and texture
• Diced cucumber to pair well with the dill and add a nice crunch
• Diced red onion instead of green onions for a sharper onion flavor
• Black beans that are rinsed and drained for color and protein
• Use turkey bacon instead of regular bacon for a leaner option
• Cooked rotini pasta for a cold avocado chicken pasta salad

Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing

I don’t recommend making this too much ahead of time since the avocados will eventually brown after multiple days, even with the lemon dressing. You can do the chicken ahead of time if you are cooking and shredding it.  

Store leftover avocado chicken salad in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. So long as you’ve tossed the salad well in the lemon dressing, the avocados should stay fine for a couple of days. If using plastic wrap, cover the entire bowl or dish with plastic wrap and have the plastic wrap pressed in and touching the chicken and avocado salad. This will help prevent the avocados from browning. 

This chicken salad won’t freeze well due to the avocados. Avocados will become mushier in texture, darker in color, and different in flavor. 

Recipe FAQs

More Avocado Recipes

• Avocado and Egg Toast
• Corn Avocado Feta Salad
• Tuna Avocado Macaroni Salad