Garden Fresh Chicken Salad Recipe With Vegetables Is Fast & Easy by Melissa Vickers

As we try to continue to reduce our sodium intake, my husband and I are faced with new questions of, "What do we have for lunch today?” and “What do we do with the things in our cabinets that, by themselves, are higher in sodium than we’d like?” My approach to especially the second question is to use the law of averages to make an otherwise questionable ingredient OK in the grand scheme of low-sodium cooking.

Today’s chicken salad recipe started with a can of chunk chicken breast that I rinsed to get off any salt lurking in the water it was packed in, and I chopped up a bunch of the fresh vegetables I had – carrots, celery, red onion, mini sweet peppers and broccoli. I had just cooked some purple hull peas (similar to black-eyed peas) with no salt added, so I added some of those. The chicken Caesar salad dressing came from Dick Logue’s 500 Low-Sodium Recipes. The only ingredient that went into that that has sodium is Worcestershire sauce, and that was minimal.

End result? A tasty and filling chicken salad that can be eaten by itself, over a bed of fresh spinach or lettuce, or tucked in a whole wheat pita bread for a yummy sandwich.

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Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 2 to 4

Ingredients

Salad

• 1 can (12.5 ounces) chunk white chicken, drained and rinsed 
• 3/4 cup (or more) each: carrots, celery, red onion, mini sweet bell peppers, broccoli, chopped
• 3/4 cup (or more) cooked and unsalted purple hull peas (or your favorite peas)

Caesar Salad Dressing

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Helpful Products

• Mixing Bowl
• Cutting Board
• Chef Knife
• Black Pepper

Recipe Notes

• Total sodium per serving of the salad is less than 183 mg (depending on how much of the chicken sodium I successfully rinsed away).

• Add whatever vegetables you have and like! Include enough to make the chicken just one part of the salad, not the main ingredient.

• To reduce the sodium even more, cook your own chicken breast seasoned with black pepper or no seasoning at all.

• I only added half of the salad dressing to the salad, even further reducing the sodium from the Worcestershire sauce.

Here’s how to make it:

1. In a large bowl, break up the drained and rinsed chicken. Add the chopped vegetables.
2. Mix dressing in a jar with a lid and shake well. Add to taste.
3. Serve over a bed of fresh spinach or put salad and spinach into a whole-wheat pita bread.

Nutrition Facts Per Serving

Calories: 423

Total Fat: 32.5g

Saturated Fat: 5.6g

Cholesterol: 55mg

Sodium: 501mg

Total Carbohydrate: 12.2g

Dietary Fiber: 3g

Total Sugars: 4g

Protein: 22.1g

Vitamin D: 0mcg

Calcium: 48mg

Iron: 2mg

Potassium: 378mg

Recipe cooking times, nutritional information and servings are approximate and provided for your convenience. However, 30Seconds is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe, nor may you have the same results because of variations in ingredients, temperatures, altitude, errors, omissions or cooking/baking abilities. This recipe has been analyzed by VeryWellFit. However, any nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and it is up to the individual to ascertain accuracy. To ensure image quality, we may occasionally use stock photography.

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