Simple Low FODMAP Chicken Salad
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Ingredients
- 2 cups of cooked chicken or about 2-3 chicken breast or thigh pieces. Make sure the chicken is unseasoned to ensure that it will work with your low FODMAP diet
- ½ cup red grapes halved
- ½ cup celery sliced
- ¼ cup green chives sliced
- 1-2 cups of spinach baby lettuce, or other greens
Dressing:
- ½ cup low FODMAP or vegan mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary minced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic-infused olive oil
Instructions
- To start prepping the salad itself, dice your chicken breast or thighs into small pieces. If the chicken is precooked, move to step three.
- If the chicken is not cooked, cook the chicken at this point for about five minutes. To prevent the chicken from sticking to your pan, use 1 tablespoon of garlic-infused olive oil.
- Next, place the dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight lid. Shake the jar well to combine. You can alternatively place the ingredients in a bowl and mix using a whisker, or use a mini blender or processor.
- Combine the chicken and salad ingredients in a medium-sized bowl, then add the dressing ingredients and mix everything well.
- For the best flavor, we recommend refrigerating the salad for about one hour. Overnight is even better since it will allow the flavors to marinate fully.
- Then enjoy the salad however you like. We prefer placing it on a bed of spinach or baby lettuce greens.
Video
Nutrition
Ah, chicken salad: light, tasty, and the perfect choice for a lunch out with friends in any weather. Even better, it’s a great way to spice up lunch time and avoid having to make yourself yet another sandwich that fails to inspire any of your taste buds.
But that’s not all. Chicken salad is usually low FODMAP by default, though it can be tough to find recipes that are guaranteed to have low FODMAP ingredients from start to finish. Fortunately for you, we’ve got the best low FODMAP chicken salad recipe you’ll ever find.
Not only does it take just a handful of key ingredients for the salad and the dressing, but it’s also very easy to make in 20 minutes or even less. You can enjoy this at home or take it to work so you actually look forward to lunch time instead of dreading it.
Let’s break down this recipe in more detail.
Notes & Tips
This recipe is very quick to whip up and should last for a very long time when refrigerated properly. Once again, we recommend allowing the salad chicken and dressing ingredients to marinate overnight. Doing this will result in a tastier, more satisfying salad no matter which greens you decide to pair with the dressing and chicken.
We also recommend shredding or cutting the chicken before cooking it. Not only will this help the chicken cook more quickly, but it also means you won’t have to cut the chicken with a fork after making your salad.
You can even get pre-shredded chicken at your local grocery store if you want to cut down on time. This could shave five or so minutes off the total preparation process for this low FODMAP chicken salad.
If needed, you can eat this low FODMAP chicken salad very quickly after making it. It just needs to be refrigerated down to a level where it is cool instead of warm, which should take about 30 or so minutes in your fridge. Then you can combine it with the greens of your choice for a complete salad meal.
Substitutions
There are tons of tasty additions and substitutions you can combine with this low FODMAP chicken salad recipe if you desire. After all, that’s one of the best things about salad in general; you can really make it your own with a couple of tweaks.
Some optional toppings you can add to the salad while keeping it low FODMAP include:
- 1/3 cup of almonds, raw or toasted. We recommend chopping or slicing the almonds so they don’t overwhelm the texture of the salad
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- 5 tablespoons sunflower seeds
- ¼ cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese, which is low FODMAP when not consumed in large amounts
- ¾ cup pecans, toasted or raw like the onions. As before, we recommend chopping or slicing the pecans so they blend well with the texture of the rest of the salad
Common Questions
Yes. While it isn’t a vegan or vegetarian salad since it includes chicken, this is a gluten-free and dairy-free salad recipe as well. In short, it’s a great salad if you have a very sensitive digestive system and want to avoid anything that could possibly upset it or lead to irritable bowel syndrome.
We particularly like toasted almonds and pecans compared to their raw counterparts. But toasting almonds and pecans can take quite a while, unless you pick up pre-toasted nuts at the grocery store. Raw almonds and pecans can still be very delicious.
We recommend ½ teaspoon of both, though you can also add salt and pepper to taste like you can with many of the recipes. The more you make this salad, the more experienced you’ll be at estimating how much salt and pepper you need to add for maximum flavor satisfaction.
Sides and Pairings
Aside from pairing this salad with lettuce or spinach, you can also place the salad on toasted bread. This adds a few more carbs to your diet, which may go against your low FODMAP goals. But it can also complete the lunch and make it feel more substantial and satisfying. Ultimately, whether or not you want to add bread to this recipe is dependent on how many FODMAPs you usually eat in a day.
