Bacon Ranch Chicken Salad
Bacon Ranch Chicken Salad – This delicious chicken salad is a must for spring and summer lunches and is super simple to prep! Mixed with celery, onion, crispy bacon, and ranch seasoning. Enjoy on a salad, sandwich, wrap, or with crackers!
Summer is just about here and super simple lunches that don’t require heating are my jam, especially when they make for a great make-ahead meal prep day. Chicken salad always makes for an easy lunch and I prefer to make my own as I hate when chicken salad is just drowning in mayo or has too many mix-ins that I don’t like. This bacon ranch version is a definite win and was super easy to prep for the week! You can use rotisserie chicken to save time or make your own.
To make Bacon Ranch Chicken Salad, you will need:
- Cooked chicken (rotisserie or make your own)
- Celery
- Red onion
- Mayo
- Ranch seasoning
- Salt
- Apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
- Crumbled bacon
- Green onions (optional)
Recipe Tips and Suggestions:
- I like to use rotisserie chicken for this as it’s simple, but you can always cook up your own chicken breast and dice into small pieces.
- Since I added red onions directly in the chicken salad, I only added green onions as a garnish, but you can also add them into the mixture if you are a big onion fan.
- Feel free to mix-in additional things if you’d like – shredded cheddar cheese would be a nice addition with the bacon ranch flavor.
- You can enjoy this chicken salad in a variety of ways – on greens as a salad, on a sandwich or wrap, scooped with crackers, or heck, just eat directly out of the container because this stuff is scrumptious!
- This chicken salad can be prepped ahead of time for the week ahead. I recommend using it up within 4-5 days for max freshness.
- If you are like me and want that texture of crispy bacon, you can store the bacon separately in a little baggie to keep it from getting too soft.
- I prefer my chicken salad to be less mayo-y so this recipe reflects that. Of course, if you prefer to add more, go for it. Same goes for the ranch seasoning, adjust to your taste.
Craving more chicken salad recipes? Try these!
Greek Chicken Salad
Avocado Mango Chicken Salad
Low-Fat Chicken Salad
Avocado Chicken Salad
Bacon Ranch Chicken Salad
Bacon Ranch Chicken Salad - This delicious chicken salad is a must for spring and summer lunches and is super simple to prep! Mixed with celery, onion, crispy bacon, and ranch seasoning. Enjoy on a salad, sandwich, wrap, or with crackers!
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked chicken breast (like rotisserie)
- 3/4 cup diced celery
- 2/3 cup finely diced red onion
- 2/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons ranch seasoning
- 4 slices bacon, cooked
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Dice chicken into small pieces and add to a mixing bowl. Add the diced celery and red onion. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the mayo, apple cider vinegar, and ranch seasoning. Add the dressing to the chicken mixture and stir until well-mixed. Can add additional mayo or seasonings if desired. Cover and chill for least 3 hours.
- Remove from the fridge. Crumble bacon and mix in. Serve as desired. Store leftovers in covered container in the fridge. Chicken salad is best enjoyed within 4-5 days of mixing.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1/4thAmount Per Serving: Calories: 455Total Fat: 31gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 25gCholesterol: 105mgSodium: 787mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 34g
Nutrition only includes the chicken salad itself.
