Healthy Dill Pickle Chicken Salad

Looking for a healthy and delicious chicken salad recipe? Look no further than this Healthy Dill Pickle Chicken Salad! This recipe is made with low-fat ingredients like Greek yogurt and cottage cheese, so you can enjoy all the flavor without the guilt. Plus, the dill pickle adds a refreshing twist that will keep you coming back for more.

This Healthy Dill Pickle Chicken Salad is a delicious low carb chicken salad recipe and perfect for my dill pickle lovers. A similar and healthy Chick-Fil-A chicken salad alternative, you can enjoy the salty and creamy recipe as a dip, as a healthy chicken salad sandwich, or as a salad topping.

Where’s the Recipe?

My readers come from all levels of experience in the kitchen, and I receive a ton of questions about my recipes from new cooks.

To better serve all of my readers, I add a lot of helpful information in all of my posts. This includes: recipe tips, detailed cooking instructions, and diet information. Some of these may be useful to you and others may be some that you already know. 

If you’d like to skip over all of the extra information, please scroll to the bottom of the page, where you will find the easy to print recipe for this dill pickle version of the classic chicken salad recipe.

Ingredients in this Healthy Dill Pickle Chicken Salad

• Chicken breast: chicken breast is low in calories, high in protein, and is rich in an array of important nutrients. I typically make my chicken for this recipe in the Instant Pot, but you can also use leftover grilled chicken or rotisserie chicken. You’ll want to read this post about homemade rotisserie chicken vs store bought, but using rotisserie chicken allows you to skip cooking the chicken and just make the sauce and chop the pickles.
• Vinegar: white vinegar is what I use and adds a nice tart flavor to chicken salad recipes.
• Chopped dill pickles: I like to use 1/2 pickles and 1/2 cucumbers to cut the sodium down. I mix them together and allow them to sit in the pickle jar for a bit while I make the rest of the recipe. The dill pickle juice makes the cucumbers taste more like pickles.
• Plain Greek yogurt: Greek yogurt is loaded with probiotics, and can promote gut health.  It is a wonderful replacement for mayonnaise or miracle whip in healthy recipes.
• Cottage cheese: Blended cottage cheese is taking over the healthy eating world. It’s a great substitute to clean up recipes, and the best part is that cottage cheese is high in protein, packed with nutrients, and low in calories. My method of blending cottage cheese and greek yogurt together gives you a creamy base but makes it so you truly cannot tell that you are eating either ingredient. 
• Parsley: using fresh parsley is a delicious way to brighten up this easy chicken salad recipe.
• Dill: I love using fresh dill for this recipe. 
• Chives: chives or green onions add tons of flavor to this recipe.
• Garlic: I love to use fresh garlic cloves, but garlic powder will work too.
• Black pepper

Instant Pot Directions

1. Add the chicken and vinegar to the Instant Pot insert.
2. Close the lid and turn the pressure valve to sealing. Cook the chicken on high pressure using the manual or pressure cook setting for 10-12 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for at least 10 minutes before doing a quick release.
3. In a food processor or blender, mix together the Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, garlic, and pepper until smooth. 
4. Remove the lid from the food processor or blender then add the chicken to the food processor. You may need to break the chicken breasts in half so that they fit.
5. Use the food processor or blender to shred the chicken and mix it with the sauce. It will only take about 5-15 seconds to shred the chicken.
6. Take off the lid and remove the blade. Fold the chives, dill, parsley, and dill pickles (with cucumbers if you’ve chosen to use them) into the dip. Garnish and serve with sliced veggies to dip.

How to make Healthy Dill Pickle Chicken Salad on the Stove Top

1. Add the chicken and vinegar to a sauce pan.
2. Cover the sauce pan with a lid and cook the chicken on medium high heat for 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
3. In a food processor or blender, mix together the Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, garlic, and pepper until smooth.
4. Remove the lid from the food processor or blender then add the chicken to the food processor. You may need to break the chicken breasts in half so that they fit.
5. Use the food processor or blender to shred the chicken and mix it with the sauce. It will only take about 5-15 seconds to shred the chicken.
6. Take off the lid and remove the blade. Fold the chives, dill, parsley, and dill pickles into the dip. Garnish and serve with sliced veggies to dip.

How to make Healthy Dill Pickle Chicken Salad in the Crock Pot

1. Add the chicken and vinegar to your slow cooker.
2. Cover the slow cooker with the lid and cook the chicken on high heat for 2-3 hour, low heat for 4-5 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through.
3. In a food processor or blend mix together the Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, garlic, and pepper until smooth.
4. Remove the lid from the food processor or blender then add the chicken to the food processor. You may need to break the chicken breasts in half so that they fit.
5. Use the food processor or blender to shred the chicken and mix it with the sauce. It will only take about 5-15 seconds to shred the chicken.
6. Take off the lid and remove the blade. Fold the chives, dill, parsley, and dill pickles into the dip. Garnish and serve with sliced veggies to dip.

Recipe Tips

• This very tasty pickle chicken salad recipe can be eaten in so many ways. It’s delicious as a dip, stuffed into mini bell peppers, topped on a salad, or made into lettuce wraps or sandwiches. 
• If you have a small food processor or blender, don’t make yourself crazy by trying to fit the entire recipe in it. Mix it in small batches and transfer to a mixing bowl to get it all blended and chopped up.
• If you don’t have a food processor or blender to cut this recipe up, no worries! You can shred the chicken and mix the sauce in. It’ll be longer strands of chicken, but absolutely edible in any form (as a dip, etc) and still delicious.
• This is a great recipe for meal prep and can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 5-6 days.

Healthy Eating Plans

21 Day Fix

For the entire recipe: 6 red containers, 1 green container. Per serving: 1 red container, 1/6 green container.  

Pickle fans rejoice! Pickles were added to the Ultimate Portion Fix in 2019. I know a lot of you love pickles and were bummed that they weren’t on the approved food list before.

I do (personally) caution you against using your green container for pickles. There is a huge difference between fresh cucumbers and cucumbers that have been brined in salt and vinegar and often sugar. As pickles are considered a green container on the 21 Day Fix now, I will still not use them more than once every few weeks at the most. Not sure what the Beachbody team is thinking about adding pickles to the list as a green, but they must have a good reason.

For this recipe, I like to use half dill pickles and half cucumbers. They sit together in a bowl together while I’m preparing the rest of the recipe. The taste is not compromised at all this way. It cuts the sodium of the pickles in half, too!

Weight Watchers

One serving of this recipe (about 3/4 cup) is 0 2023 Points, 1 Blue Plan Point, 2 Green Plan Points, and 1 Purple Plan Point when you use fat free Greek yogurt and lowfat cottage cheese.

Pickles are very high in sodium and though they are 0 points on Weight Watchers, they can easily stall your weight loss or even cause weight gain while you’re trying to lose weight.

I calculated the points for this recipe online using the calculator provided on the Weight Watchers website.

Trim Healthy Mama

This is a THM-S recipe – if using full fat cottage cheese and Greek yogurt, dill pickles (not bread and butter type), and make sure that sugar hasn’t been added to the pickles. You’d be surprised where you find sugar!

More Healthy Dip Recipes

• Healthy Buffalo Chicken Dip I have to admit that this one is my favorite. I always have some made in the freezer, and I love having it for lunch and an easy snack.
• Healthy Crack Chicken Recipe Again, a super versatile recipe that can be made multiple ways. It can also be cooked in the Instant Pot, on the stove, or in a Crock Pot.
• Healthy Spinach Artichoke Dip This dip (actually, all of the ones in this list) uses cottage cheese and Greek yogurt to get the creaminess without the calories. This is another favorite!
• This easy and Healthy Elote Dip Recipe is a crowd pleasing side dish. If you love the flavors of Mexican Street Corn, you’ve got to give this Mexican Corn Dip recipe a try!
• Spicy Mexican Corn Dip I’d say that this hot Corn Dip is good, or easy, or popular–but seriously, it’s amazing. And it’s gotten a healthy makeover!

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Healthy Dill Pickle Chicken Salad

Created by: Becca Ludlum

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 22 minutes mins

Approximate Serving Size: 3/4 cup

Servings 6

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This healthy Dill Pickle Chicken Salad is a delicious low carb chicken salad recipe. A similar and healthy Chick-Fil-A chicken salad alternative, you can enjoy the salty and creamy recipe as a dip, on a sandwich, or as a salad topping.

Equipment

• Instant Pot 6 qt
• Kitchen Knife
• Cutting Board

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

• ▢ 1 pound chicken breast about 2 breasts
• ▢ 1/3 cup vinegar I use white
• ▢ 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt I prefer 2%
• ▢ 3/4 cup cottage cheese
• ▢ 1 tsp garlic
• ▢ 1 tsp black pepper
• ▢ 1 tbsp fresh chives chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
• ▢ 1/2 tbsp fresh dill chopped (or 1/2 tsp dried)
• ▢ 1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
• ▢ 1 cup dill pickles chopped, please see note in post about using 1/2 pickles and 1/2 cucumbers

Instructions

Instant Pot Directions:

• Add the chicken and vinegar to the Instant Pot insert. 1 pound chicken breast, 1/3 cup vinegar
• Close the lid and turn the pressure valve to sealing. Cook the chicken on high pressure using the manual or pressure cook setting for 10-12 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for at least 10 minutes before doing a quick release.
• In a food processor or blender, mix together the Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, garlic, and pepper until smooth. 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt, 3/4 cup cottage cheese, 1 tsp garlic, 1 tsp black pepper
• Remove the lid from the food processor or blender, then add the chicken to the food processor. You may need to break the chicken breasts in half so that they fit.
• Use the food processor or blender to shred the chicken and mix it with the sauce. It will only take about 5-15 seconds to shred the chicken.
• Take off the lid and remove the blade. Fold the chives, dill, parsley, and dill pickles into the dip. Garnish and serve with sliced veggies to dip. 1 tbsp fresh chives, 1/2 tbsp fresh dill, 1 tbsp fresh parsley, 1 cup dill pickles

Stove Top Directions:

• Add the chicken and vinegar to a sauce pan. 1 pound chicken breast, 1/3 cup vinegar
• Cover the sauce pan with a lid and cook the chicken on medium high temperature for 15-20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
• In a food processor or blender, mix together the Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, garlic, and pepper until smooth. 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt, 3/4 cup cottage cheese, 1 tsp garlic, 1 tsp black pepper
• Remove the lid from the food processor or blender, then add the chicken to the food processor. You may need to break the chicken breasts in half so that they fit.
• Use the food processor or blender to shred the chicken and mix it with the sauce. It will only take about 5-15 seconds to shred the chicken.
• Take off the lid and remove the blade. Fold the chives, dill, parsley, and dill pickles into the dip. Garnish and serve with sliced veggies to dip. 1 tbsp fresh chives, 1/2 tbsp fresh dill, 1 tbsp fresh parsley, 1 cup dill pickles

Slow Cooker Directions:

• Add the chicken and vinegar to your slow cooker. 1 pound chicken breast, 1/3 cup vinegar
• Cover the slow cooker with the lid and cook the chicken on high heat for 2-3 hour, low heat for 4-5 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through.
• In a food processor or blender, mix together the Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, garlic, and pepper until smooth. 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt, 3/4 cup cottage cheese, 1 tsp garlic, 1 tsp black pepper
• Remove the lid from the food processor or blender then add the chicken to the food processor. You may need to break the chicken breasts in half so that they fit.
• Use the food processor or blender to shred the chicken and mix it with the sauce. It will only take about 5-15 seconds to shred the chicken.
• Take off the lid and remove the blade. Fold the chives, dill, parsley, and dill pickles into the dip. Garnish and serve with sliced veggies to dip. 1 tbsp fresh chives, 1/2 tbsp fresh dill, 1 tbsp fresh parsley, 1 cup dill pickles

Video

Notes

21 Day Fix container counts for the entire recipe: 6 red containers, 1 green container. Per serving: 1 red container, 1/6 green container.

Weight Watchers: One serving of this recipe (about 3/4 cup) is 0 2023 Points, 1 Blue Plan Point, 2 Green Plan Points, and 1 Purple Plan Point when you use fat free Greek yogurt and fat free cottage cheese.

Nutrition

Calories: 135kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 51mg | Sodium: 423mg | Potassium: 326mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 169IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 64mg | Iron: 1mg

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