This cottage cheese chicken salad is fresh, flavorful and the perfect high protein meal prep for your week. I love making a big batch for chicken salad sandwiches, lunch plates and snacking with crackers.

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Why you’ll love this chicken salad

If you love a tasty chicken salad recipe, you’ll love this one! It has all of the classic chicken salad flavors you love plus it’s even higher protein with the mayo swapped for cottage cheese.

If you’re not a fan of cottage cheese texture, don’t worry! When you blend the cottage cheese first, you’re left with a silky smooth texture that adds the perfect amount of creaminess.

Protein-rich cottage cheese is combined with fresh ingredients like fresh dill and scallions to make the perfect flavorful and creamy base for a healthier version of your favorite sandwich with the classic chicken salad taste you love.

Each serving boasts a whopping 34g of protein which makes it perfect for lunch, dinner, or snacks!  I also love it as a part of a snack plate lunch.  

You can BYOC (be your own chef) and add any other ingredients you like like red grapes, chopped apples, red onion, dill pickles, or chopped walnuts to create your perfect chicken salad.  

PS if you love this cottage cheese recipe, you’ll love my Cottage Cheese Egg Salad too!

You only need a few simple ingredients. Let’s dive into what you’ll need to put together this high-protein chicken salad.  

Ingredients

• Cottage cheese – Good Culture is my favorite brand of cottage cheese but you can use whatever you like. I prefer full fat cottage cheese, but reduced or low fat cottage cheese works too.
• Cooked chicken breast – You can use store bought rotisserie chicken (my favorite time hack!), bake your or air fry your own chicken, or even use canned chicken breast here. Any will work. 
• Fresh dill – Fresh herbs add such great flavor, and you can’t beat the taste of fresh dill (especially in the summertime), but if you cannot find it at the store dried dill is fine to use here, as well. 
• Scallions (green onions) – I love the mild flavor of green onion, but you can use red onion or sweet onion here if you can’t find scallions. 
• Celery – For the perfect crunch and burst of fresh flavor! 
• Lemon juice – I love using lemon juice to add bright citrusy flavor. Use a lemon juicer to make your life so much easier! 
• Dijon mustard – The dijon mustard adds the perfect amount of spice here! Yellow mustard or honey mustard could work, as well, but would change the flavor a bit.  
• Maple syrup – This adds just a tiny amount of sweetness to balance out the salty, savory flavors. You can also use brown sugar or honey in place of maple syrup.
• Spices – You just need a few simple spices like salt, black pepper and garlic powder.

Step-by-step instructions  

1. In a blender or using an immersion blender, blend cottage cheese until smooth and creamy (you can also leave the cottage cheese with curds if you want to!). Pro tip: use an immersion blender and blend your cottage cheese right in the container it comes in! Use leftover blended cottage cheese to make cottage cheese ranch! 

2. In a medium bowl, combine blended cottage cheese, fresh dill, scallions, celery, lemon juice, dijon mustard, maple syrup, and spices. Combine well.

3. Next, add the chicken breast and combine well with the dressing. Add additional salt and pepper to taste as needed and enjoy!

Enjoy as a sandwich, with crackers, or even as a high protein dip for veggies!

Recipe FAQ

How to Store

If you plan to meal prep this for the week ahead, you can store the chicken salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.   

Do I have to blend the cottage cheese?

Nope! Blending it is a great way to eat cottage cheese if you don’t love the texture. If you don’t mind the cottage cheese curds, you can mix the chicken salad up as is and it’s still delicious!

Can I use low-fat cottage cheese?

You can use any cottage cheese, but the lower fat cottage cheese tends to be a bit less creamy. It’s really personal preference so use whichever kind you enjoy best!

I need low sodium, what should I use?

Unfortunately cottage cheese isn’t typically low sodium but I would check your local grocery store for options. Hood has a No Salt Added option that only has 60mg of sodium per serving. You can also use Greek yogurt in place of cottage cheese.

Variations

• Add dill pickles or sweet pickles for more crunch and flavor. 
• Add some tart sweetness by adding some chopped apples or red or green grapes. 
• Add avocado or chopped pecans for healthy fats.
• Add chopped red onion or sweet onion for a stronger onion flavor.  
• Swap the cottage cheese for Greek yogurt for a similar high protein chicken salad with a tangier flavor (similar to sour cream!).

What to serve it with

This healthy chicken salad is so versatile! Here are a few of my favorite ways to eat it:

• With crackers like Wasa crisps or homemade lavash crackers.
• Over a bed of lettuce with some other fresh veggies like cucumber and tomato.
• With whole grain bread as a sandwich or open-faced on toast.
• As a dip for veggies and crackers in an adult lunchable! 

Shop this recipe

1. Lemon Juicer: My citrus juicer is one of my favorite inexpensive kitchen gadgets, and it gets a surprising amount of use for all kinds of recipes. If you’re sick of fishing out lemon seeds when you squeeze by hand, you need one of these!
2. Immersion Blender: I love using my immersion blender for blending cottage cheese right in the container, salad dressings, or anything else that needs to blended quickly!

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