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Keto Chicken Salad with Video – Low Carb Recipe

easy keto chicken salad

Chicken salad is such a delicious classic, and fortunately, a perfect fit when you’re practicing a keto lifestyle. Keto chicken salad is ridiculously easy to make, making it a great choice for a weeknight meal. It’s really no different from a traditional chicken salad recipe, so don’t let “keto” in the title scare you away!

From start to finish, this delicious and easy meal only takes about 20 minutes. Even less if you chose to use pre-cooked chicken.

Why You Should Make Keto Mayonnaise From Scratch

Bottom line, most store-bought mayonnaise is full of crappy oils. Making it at home is really easy and you can control what oil you use. Hellmann’s “Real” Mayonnaise is probably the most popular but it’s full of soybean oil. It’s the very first ingredient. Not only are most soybean oils full of GMO vegetables, it’s very high in Omega 6. Because of the standard American diet, most people have an inflammatory Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio.

I wouldn’t want to use regular mayo in my keto chicken salad when there are better, healthier options.

primal kitchen mayo for easy keto chicken salad

The ketogenic diet is naturally anti-inflammatory but making sure you choose the right types of fats is important. Check our Complete Beginner’s Guide to the Ketogenic Diet for more information on making the healthiest choices for your keto diet.

According to the NCBI,

Excessive amounts of omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and a very high omega-6/omega-3 ratio, as is found in today’s Western diets, promote the pathogenesis of many diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, whereas increased levels of omega-3 PUFA (a low omega-6/omega-3 ratio) exert suppressive effects. In the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, a ratio of 4/1 was associated with a 70% decrease in total mortality.

It’s unfortunate, but most store-bought condiments tend to use Omega 6 oils. Because of all the government subsidies, they’re cheaper than healthier oils.

If you’d like to make your own mayo, it’s very easy! Check out our recipe and video to learn how to make keto mayo from scratch.

Disclaimer: Links below may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here.

Don’t Have Time To Make Keto Mayo From Scratch for Keto Chicken Salad?

Easy Chicken Salad

Fortunately, there are now a few good choices for healthy mayonnaise. My favorite is Primal Kitchen Mayonnaise with avocado oil and it’s the one I use most often for my keto chicken salad. I usually get it from Amazon, but you can also find in a lot of Kroger and Whole Foods stores. I like it because it tastes great and is made with healthy avocado oil.

You can easily pronounce all of the ingredients and it is sugar, gluten and soy free! Right now Primal Kitchen has a promotion for a thousand island dressing when you create a bundle. You can also get 10 percent off of your order by using our discount code, HNG10.

Speaking Of Good Keto Fats

While this recipe has about 44 grams of monounsaturated fat, the overall fat content is only about 30 percent. Always do what works for your macros, but one of my favorite accompaniments to chicken salad is diced avocado.

Adding Avocado to Keto Chicken Salad

Sometimes I mix the avocado into the chicken salad, sometimes I just add diced avocado to the top. It’s also amazing with a couple of fresh strawberries as garnish and paired with a nice Rose from Dry Farm Wines. It would also be great on toasted keto bread as a sandwich. As a summer dish, it’s really awesome with our Creamy Raw Zucchini and Avocado Chilled Soup or Chilled Cucumber Feta Soup.

If you’re looking for other summer favorites, go here to see 13 of my best summer salad recipes.

Easy Keto Chicken Salad

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 6
This keto chicken salad couldn't be easier taking only 20 minutes or even less if you use rotisserie or precooked chicken. Double or triple this recipe for a week of super easy meal prep.

Ingredients 
 

  • 1.5 pounds chicken breast, diced
  • ½ cup walnuts, chopped
  • 1 cup celery, diced
  • ½ teaspoon ground mustard
  • ½ teaspoon celery salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup mayonnaise

Optional Garnish

  • avocado
  • spinach

Instructions

  • Cook chicken breasts using your preferred method. For ease and quickness, we like to cut raw chicken into chunks and boil in salted water. You could also roast or use a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken.
  • Chop cooked chicken into bite sized pieces.
  • In a large bowl, combine all ingredients until mixed well.
  • Our favorite way to serve is over spinach and topped with diced avocado. It also makes a great sandwich!

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 214kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 25gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 75mgSodium: 459mgPotassium: 506mgFiber: 1gSugar: 0gCalcium: 22mgIron: 0.8mg

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Author

  • Cheryl McColgan

    Cheryl McColgan is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Heal Nourish Grow, where she has published evidence-based health and nutrition content since 2018.

    With over 30 years of experience in fitness, nutrition, and healthy living, and nearly 20 years of professional editorial and journalism experience, she brings both subject-matter depth and trained editorial judgment to everything on the site.

    Cheryl holds a degree in Psychology with a minor in Addictions Studies, completed graduate training in Clinical Psychology, and is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and E-RYT Certified Yoga Instructor and trained in Yoga Therapy.

    She is the author of 21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart, Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight, The Grain Free Cookbook for Beginners, and Easy Weeknight Keto.

    Read more about Cheryl and the journey that created Heal Nourish Grow on the about page.

    Cheryl McColgan is the founder of Heal Nourish Grow, where she writes about protein, body composition, healthy aging, and evidence-based nutrition and wellness along with the everyday habits that actually make those things work in real life.

    With a background in psychology and graduate training in clinical psychology, plus nearly 20 years of experience in editorial and publishing, Cheryl approaches health from both a research and real-world perspective. She’s also been immersed in fitness and nutrition for more than 25 years, which gives her a practical lens most purely academic content tends to miss.

    Her work today focuses heavily on protein intake (especially for women), muscle retention, metabolic health, and sustainable fat loss, along with topics like sleep, wellness, recovery, and wearable health tech. You’ll also find a mix of high-protein, low-carb recipes designed to make hitting those goals easier without overcomplicating things.

    Cheryl’s interest in health and nutrition became more personal after navigating her own health challenges, which pushed her to dig deeper into how lifestyle, diet and daily habits impact long-term health. That experience continues to shape how she approaches everything on this site: practical, realistic, and focused on what actually works over time.

    What Cheryl Covers

    Most of the content here falls into a few core areas:

    Protein & Muscle Health: how much you actually need, especially for women and how to use protein to support strength, body composition, and aging
    Fat Loss & Metabolic Health: sustainable approaches that prioritize muscle retention and long-term results
    Healthy Habits & Lifestyle: sleep, movement, strength training, consistency, and the small things that compound over time
    Wearables & Recovery: real-world testing and comparisons of tools like Oura, Whoop and others
    High-Protein & Low-Carb Recipes: simple, realistic meals that support your goals without feeling restrictive
    Travel & Lifestyle: wellness-focused travel, outdoor experiences, and a slightly more elevated take on healthy living

    If you're new, here are a few good places to begin:

    30 Day Healthy Habits Challenge

    Protein Foundations

    High Protein Recipes

    About Cheryl & Heal Nourish Grow

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