Chicken Waldorf Salad (Whole30)

This fresh Chicken Waldorf Salad is healthy and perfect for easy meals all week. It comes together in less than 10 minutes with omega-3 rich walnuts, sweet grapes, fresh basil, red onion, celery, and tender chicken chunks all held together with a creamy, avocado oil mayo dressing.

This recipe was originally published October 2, 2017; Updated June 18, 2021.

This Chicken Waldorf Salad is the perfect make-ahead lunch!

If you have followed us for a while (on the blog or Instagram), you’ve likely gathered that meal prepping is something we believe is a key player in eating wholesome real foods all week long.

While there are many times we’d rather skip meal prepping (and sometimes we do because … #life) we know that having ready-to-eat, nutritious meals will set us up for a healthy week ahead. We personally have found that when we don’t meal prep we tend to graze, skip meals, and lack on veggies. In turn, those eating behaviors negatively impact our energy and how we feel overall. This easy Chicken Waldorf Salad (our favorite chicken salad with grapes) is at the top of our list for easy meals you can make ahead, and you’ll be so thankful you did!

Ingredients to make Chicken Waldorf Salad (chicken salad with grapes)

It takes just 8 ingredients to make this delicious Whole30 Chicken Salad. Chock full of quality protein and healthy fats, this Waldorf chicken salad recipe will help you stay satisfied for hours and keep your blood sugars stable. Stable blood sugars = more energy & better metabolism.

• Cooked and cubed organic chicken – or use rotisserie chicken; get our recipe for perfectly cooked chicken breast here
• Grapes – can sub cubed apple, or dried cranberries or raisins
• Celery
• Red onion
• Walnuts – or use almonds, pecans, or cashews
• Fresh basil – can also use dried basil, or sub in fresh rosemary or fresh thyme
• Avocado-oil mayonnaise – we like the Primal Kitchen avocado-oil mayo and you can get 10% off Primal Kitchen products with code: REALFOODRDS
• Fresh lemon juice

How to make Chicken Waldorf Salad

This is one recipe that needs nothing more than a cutting board, a bowl, and a spoon. It’s really that easy, and it all comes together in just 10 minutes. We’d say that’s time well spent to have healthy lunches on hand for the week!

In a large bowl, combine cooked and cubed chicken, halved grapes, diced celery, diced red onion, chopped walnuts, fresh basil, mayonnaise, a squeeze of lemon, salt, and pepper. Mix it all up, and you’ve got one delicious chicken salad with grapes to enjoy now or later.

The best way to chop and shred chicken

This recipe calls for pre-cooked chicken. If you have leftover chicken (cooked, baked, or grilled!), this Chicken Waldorf Salad is a great use for it! If not, you can easily cook chicken with our easy, fool-proof method for how to make perfectly cooked chicken breast every time.

When the chicken is cooked and then cooled, simply transfer it to a cutting board and chop it into small pieces. Or, use two forks to gently pull the chicken apart into shreds. You can use either chopped or shredded chicken in this recipe. And if you want to make it even faster, you can use a rotisserie chicken, too.

How to serve and store this Chicken Waldorf Salad

You’ll love how fast and easy this delicious Chicken Waldorf Salad recipe comes together. Serve on a bed of greens, in your favorite wrap or sandwich bread, or with a handful of crackers or cucumber slices for a nutritious appetizer or snack.

Store leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Other delicious and healthy chicken salad recipes to try:

• Curry Chicken Salad
• Blueberry Rosemary Chicken Salad
• Strawberry Chicken Salad
• Creamy BBQ Chicken Salad
• Chinese-Inspired Chicken Salad
• Cranberry Chicken Salad with Apples

Hungry for More? Subscribe to get our newsletter delivered straight to your inbox! And be sure to stay in touch on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.

Pin now to make later! 

Photo Credit: The photos in this blog post were taken by Jess of Plays Well with Butter. 

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish this recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words and link back to the source recipe here on The Real Food Dietitians. Thank you!