Avocado Chicken Salad

A super easy lunch recipe ready in minutes, this avocado chicken salad will quickly become a lunch staple. Swap the mayo for avocado and yogurt in this healthy lunch recipe loaded with fresh basil.

If you know me, you know that I’m not the kind of person to swap in and out ingredients to make things healthier. I’m not the kind of person to add chickpeas to make healthier ‘cookie dough’ or add avocado to chocolate icing, I’m more into the idea of balance and cooking unabashedly delicious food that just happens to be healthier and based on real food.

For example, I had a massive bowl of ramen for lunch the other day but balanced it out with an equally ginormous bowl of salad for dinner. So, this avocado chicken salad is definitely lighter and healthier than your traditional mayonnaise-loaded chicken salad, but that wasn’t the reason for adding avocado and yogurt to this recipe instead of mayonnaise. The truth is, my favourite flavour-combination of the moment is avocado and basil.

Have you tried avocado and basil together before? Usually you’ll have avocado and cilantro (ahem, guacamole), but basil and avocado is an incredible combination of flavours that just screams summer to me. The first time I had these two together was in a sandwich of avocado, tomato and basil. I couldn’t get enough of it and have been dreaming up ways of creating a similar recipe to share with all of you.

For this recipe, I poach chicken then shred it, but you could easily use store bought rotisserie chicken here as well. I’m not one to judge because I secretly (well not so secretly now) love those store bought chickens. Along with avocado, basil and yogurt, I also add some green onions in here for a tiny bit of a mild kick.

I just love green onions and add them to pretty much all of my recipes. I love how mild they are, with a hint of onion flavour and I also love that you don’t end up with 3/4 or 1/2 an onion sitting in your fridge. I’m not the kind of person to use half of this and a quarter of that, it just gets a little annoying to have bits and bobs of ingredients floating around the fridge.

If you love chicken salad and are looking for something a little on the healthier side, or if you just love avocados, or maybe you’re super into basil right now (it is August after all), then you have to give my avocado chicken salad a try. It’s insanely simple but elevates and updates the somewhat dated chicken salad.

Louisa Clements

Yields 2

Avocado Chicken Salad

10 minPrep Time

21 minCook Time

31 minTotal Time

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Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts
• 3/4 tsp salt, divided
• 2 avocados
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced basil
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Instructions

1. In a medium pot, bring water and 1/2 tsp salt to a boil. Add chicken, cover and cook for 3 minutes, remove from heat and let sit covered for 18 minutes. Discard water and shred chicken.
2. In a large bowl, mash avocado with yogurt. Sitr in basil, green onions, olive oil and lemon juice. Add chicken and mix until combined.

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