Healthy Dill Pickle Chicken Salad

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

Dill Pickle Dip is popular right now, and I love taking popular recipes and making them healthier to enjoy. Good nutrition is a source of good health, and I enjoy making these easy to meal prep and easy to serve recipes for my family and friends.

What makes this recipe healthy?

Instead of using sour cream, cream cheese or extra pickle juice in this recipe and suggesting potato chips to dip in it, I blended Greek yogurt and cottage cheese (don’t knock it until you try it!) for a creamy base and skipped any extra sodium (I used garlic powder instead of garlic salt) to simplify the recipe and allow the flavor of the chopped pickles to really come through.

If you love chicken salad and pickles, this will be a new favorite recipe of yours.

Ingredients in this Dill Pickle Chicken Dip recipe:

• chicken breast
• white vinegar
• chopped dill pickles (I like to use 1/2 pickles and 1/2 cucumbers. After mixing them together and allowing them to sit for a bit while I make the rest of the recipe, the juice from the pickles makes the cucumbers taste more like pickles, but you’re able to cut the sodium down on this recipe a ton)
• plain Greek yogurt
• cottage cheese
• parsley
• dill
• chives (green onions are ok too)
• garlic
• black pepper

Optional Ingredients:

• celery
• red onion

How to make Dill Pickle Chicken Salad in the Instant Pot

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.

To make this recipe 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 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 Crock Pot Dill Pickle Chicken Salad

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

• 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.
• There are instructions below for making this dip without chicken and also for making it with rotisserie chicken.

How to eat this dip

So. many. ways. I’d love it inside mini bell peppers like in this recipe, but you could also eat it as a vegetable dip, on a salad, on a pizza if you’re feeling crazy, or even make it without chicken and top a burger or chicken sandwich with it!

Can I make this recipe with rotisserie chicken?

You can! 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. In a bowl, combine shredded chicken, pickles, and sauce. You might want to add a touch of vinegar as well, because that’s part of the tart flavor.

A quick note that store bought rotisserie chicken can sometimes contain preservatives like extra sodium. Make sure you’re looking at the ingredients in the chicken and buying the cleanest one you can find.

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 1/2 dill pickles and 1/2 cucumbers. I allow them to sit together in a bowl while I’m preparing the rest of the recipe and I’ve found that 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

I love easy chicken dips and salads because you can eat them as a dip, on top of a salad, or even as a sandwich or pizza topping. They freeze very well and are easy to pull together fast for a party or happy hour.

• 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!

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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

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

Instructions

Instant Pot Directions:

• Add the chicken and vinegar to the Instant Pot insert.
• 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.
• 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.

Stove Top Directions:

• Add the chicken and vinegar to a sauce pan.
• 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.
• 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.

Slow Cooker Directions:

• Add the chicken and vinegar to your slow cooker.
• 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.
• 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.

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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