Chicken Poppy Seed Salad with Greek Yogurt and Mayo
Sneak Preview: This chicken poppy seed salad uses a blend of Greek yogurt and mayonnaise for a creamy, lightly tangy dressing. With almonds, cranberries, and celery for crunch, it’s ready in about 15 minutes, plus chilling.
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This chicken poppy seed salad is the one I make when I want something lighter than a classic mayo-heavy version, but still rich enough to feel satisfying. Greek yogurt adds tang, mayonnaise keeps it creamy, and the mix-ins bring just enough crunch and sweetness.
I’ve tried plenty of chicken salad variations over the years, but this is the one I come back to most often—easy to adapt, easy to make ahead, and dependable for lunches, brunches, or simple dinners.
Ingredients & Substitutions
• CHICKEN: Use leftover cooked chicken, rotisserie chicken, or even turkey.
I prefer all white meat.
• GREEK YOGURT: Greek yogurt adds tang and freshness. Swap with mayonnaise or sour cream
• POPPY SEEDS: Chia seeds work as a backup. Store seeds in the fridge to keep them fresh.
• DRIED CRANBERRIES: Optional but adds color and sweetness. Sub with dried cherries or raisins.
• CELERY: Adds crunch. Apples can replace celery for a hint of sweetness.
• TOASTED ALMONDS: Sliced, toasted almonds work best. Pecans or walnuts are great swaps.
• LEMON JUICE: Apple cider vinegar works in a pinch.
Four Fun Ways To Serve
This chicken poppy seed salad is flexible enough to fit whatever you’ve got on hand. Spoon it onto soft, lightly sweet dinner rolls for easy sandwiches, pile it over crunchy sweet potato chips for casual snacking, or turn it into a meal by serving it over crisp salad greens dressed simply with oil, vinegar, and Parmesan. It’s also right at home spread on crackers or tucked into homemade buns for lunches and picnics.
Chicken Poppy Seed Salad Greek Yogurt and Mayo
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250 g) cooked chicken, cubed
- ½ cup (60-75 g) sliced almonds or chopped pecans, toasted
- 1 stalk (40-50 g) finely chopped celery
- 1-2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- ⅓ cup (43 g) dried cranberries
- ¼ cup (50 g) unflavored Greek yogurt unflavored
- ½ cup (112 g) mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- pinch sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Combine 2 cups (250 g) cooked chicken, cubed, 1/2 cup (60-75 g) sliced almonds or chopped pecans,, 1 stalk (40-50 g) finely chopped celery, 1-2 tablespoons poppy seeds, 1/3 cup (43 g) dried cranberries, 1/4 cup (50 g) unflavored Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup (112 g) mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, pinch sugar, and ½ teaspoon salt together in a bowl until combined.
- Chill.
Notes
Nutrition
All images and text ©️ Paula Rhodes for SaladinaJar.com
Final Thoughts
Chicken Poppy Seed Salad is more than just a recipe—it’s a versatile, crowd-pleasing dish that fits any occasion. If you are hosting a party, consider offering this old-fashioned ham salad with a bologna option, too. Your guests will appreciate having a choice.
— Paula, Home Economist
Homemade Food Worth Sharing
Need help troubleshooting?
Email me: Paula at saladinajar.com — photos help!
I make chicken salad frequently during the summer. We eat fried chicken then have chicken salad the next night. I like it better than traditional chicken salad. The cranberries give it a kick.
Chicken salad made with leftover fried chicken?? Yes, please.
Paula,
Do you have a Bread Machine dough Croissant recipe?
Hi Samantha,
I do not, but you can find many online. Make the dough with the DOUGH cycle. After that, you must roll the layers with butter, etc. It’s a process. The rolls you see on this post are sweet potato rolls that I made. You can see the instructions for making them in this post. They are not really croissants since they do not have multiple layers of butter in them. But nobody will care–they are delicious as is.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was a huge hit! It is so easy to put together, yet tastes special because of the almonds and cranberries. I used shredded chicken (canned) which really cut down on the prep time. This is definitely going into my recipe file. Thank you, Paula.
Thanks Jocelyn,
I haven’t used canned chicken much but maybe I should try it. 🙂
Paula, I made this chicken salad for my son’s 9th birthday party. He wanted a cricket themed party (the sport-my husband is South African) so I wanted something a little elegant for the adults. We had beautiful weather and I made & assembled the sandwiches on homemade buns (yes! I used my bread machine! I used a sour cream dough, however.) with a piece of romaine lettuce and a toothpick through the center to keep it all together. I received many, many compliments! Thank you for sharing your fabulous recipe & helping to make my son’s party special!
L
Made this salad and loved it! I am adding it to my list of fav Chicken Salads. Thanks for sharing!
A dear friend sent a link to me, which led me to your youtube.com salad-in-a-jar video, and I’m so glad that she sent it! After viewing that video, I just had to do a search in order to find your blog, Paula. Who could resist?
Well, you grabbed my attention right away with your yummy sounding chicken salad recipe. I know what I’ll be putting together tomorrow! I’m off to my kitchen just now to prepare dinner, but I’ll be right back to take a better peek at your site.
This sounds great! To make you laugh, I made poppy seed muffins the other day and accidently used CHIA seeds! I had bought them (because they are supposed to be so good for you) and put them in a jar just like the one that my poppy seeds were stored in. I didn’t tell anyone, and no one was the wiser. Still giggling about that…
You made me laugh Piper. So just what was your plan for the CHIA seeds? That’s a territory I have yet to explore.
This sandwich looks gorgeous. I can only imagine how it would taste on brioche. I’m going to give it a try.
Which of your bread recipes is the best to use with chicken-salad sandwiches?
That question is like asking who is my favorite child!!
Current favorite would be the sweet potato rolls followed by My favorite dinner rolls or brioche. If you want regular bread– the Sweet Milk White Bread would be fabulous.
Oh, yum. I don’t use poppyseeds nearly enough.
I always like chicken salad and this one looks yummy. I did make your sweet potato dinner rolls and we all enjoyed them for our Christmas dinner.
Happy New Year, Paula : )
Hi Lorraine,
I guess you and I were eating the same kind of dinner rolls at our Christmas dinner. Hope your new year is going well.
Ok never mind. I didn’t see the entire post on iPad mini until after clicking submit. You already answered my question.
Already made this & packed in lunch for work! Yum! And so easy to throw together! What type of bread/crackers do you recommend to go with this for maximum satisfaction of my taste buds?
Hey Susie,
I forgot to tell you that Special K Crackers in the Multi-Grain variety are really good with this salad. Actually. They’re just really good. Period. Similar to wheat thins. That’s what you see in the top picture of this post.
Hi Paula, love your chicken salad, it sounds wonderful. I think poppy seeds make everything a bit more special.
I have a favorite chicken salad recipe, too, but I’m always on the lookout for new ideas. Love this one!
This sounds like a wonderful recipe and those sandwiches look so appetizing!
I love chicken salad, your recipe looks so good! =)
Thanks!
This is a great salad, delicious! Was fortunate to receive some and I would definitely make it myself. The yogurt gives it a different texture/taste. Thanks Paula!