This cottage cheese chicken salad combines fresh cheese, shredded chicken, fruit, veggies and herbs. It's a high protein salad that's perfect as it is, or it can be enjoyed as a sandwich filling or to top crackers for lunch or as snack!
I'm often looking for a hearty high protein lunch or snack that's easy to make with ingredients I have to hand, because who wants to run to the store everyday! Salads with cottage cheese or cottage cheese bowl recipes tick so many boxes.
Just like my cottage cheese fruit salad and blueberry cottage cheese bowl, this recipe uses affordable ingredients, has all simple steps and is kid-friendly too. The kids in my family, who are always the best recipe testers, like this protein chicken salad on crackers!
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Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Chicken - I suggest to use boneless skinless chicken breast that we cook and then shred with two forks. This is likely best for low histamine readers, and you could easily use my air fryer shredded chicken recipe. A rotisserie chicken can also be used, if not low histamine.
- Cottage cheese - I like the full fat 4% cottage cheese for it's creamier taste and texture. Similarly to my chicken salad without mayo, we leave mayo out of this recipe and the cottage cheese 'sauce' works as a good swap.
- Apple - choose red for a sweeter flavor, or green Granny Smith apples for a more tart taste.
- Celery - a classic chicken salad ingredient, I suggest to remove any strings and dice quite finely.
- Red onion - this is optional, and you can swap for white onion (which scores 0 on the SIGHI list) if you prefer.
Swaps and Variations
Add blueberries. Dried cranberries can be added to this cottage cheese chicken salad, but likely aren't suitable for low histamine readers. Using fresh blueberries, cut into halves would be a nice swap and pop of sweetness!
How to Make Chicken Salad with Cottage Cheese
With juicy shredded chicken, whipped cottage cheese, fruits and veggies, this is such a fun and hearty salad, and has all simple recipe steps. All you need is a food processor.
All the instructions are in the recipe card below, but these step by step photos should help guide you.
Step 1: Cook the chicken
Cook your boneless skinless chicken breasts to preference, whether baked, poached or in the air fryer. Allow to cool, then shred with two forks or with the appropriate attachment in a stand mixer (image 1).
Step 2: Whip the cottage cheese
Add cottage cheese and a tablespoon of water to your food processor. Blend the cottage cheese so that the texture is smooth and without any lumps (image 2).
Step 3: Dice the fruit and veggies
De-core and dice the apple, and dice the celery, radishes, red onion (if using), parsley and dill into small pieces (image 3).
Step 4: Combine the salad
Combine the shredded chicken, cottage cheese, fruits, veggies and herbs in a large bowl, then mix together (image 4). Serve as is, in a sandwich or perhaps on my chia and flax seed crackers!
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Whip the cottage cheese, or not! I like to whip the cottage cheese so it's smooth, doesn't have the lumps and, with the addition of the herbs, almost feels like cottage cheese tzatziki (without the cucumber, of course). But you can simply leave it unblended and enjoy as is.
- Dice the fruits and veggies. I suggest to dice to a similar size, and it's up to you whether they're quite small in size or larger for a chunkier salad.
Frequently Asked Questions
It's totally down to preference. Whip the cottage cheese for a smoother texture, or leave unblended for a more chunky texture.
I suggest to make and use it fresh, as cottage cheese doesn't freeze well and the texture can change.
More Cottage Cheese Recipes
Whether it's my cottage cheese chicken or cottage cheese salad dressing, you'll find lots of high protein recipes here using this fresh cheese, including these ideas:
I'm always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And I love to hear from you, so please do leave a star rating ⭐⭐⭐ and comment if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Cottage Cheese Chicken Salad
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts boneless, skinless
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper optional
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 1 tablespoon water
- ⅓ cup celery finely diced
- ¼ cup radishes finely diced
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill diced
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley diced
- ½ apple red or green to preference
- ¼ cup red onion diced, optional
Instructions
- Season the chicken breasts with salt and black pepper (if using). Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes (adjust timing to the size of the chicken breast) or until they reach 165F as an internal temperature using a meat thermometer (alternatively, poach or air fry). Set aside to cool. Once cool enough to handle, shred the chicken with two forks or in a stand mixer.
- Add the cottage cheese and water to a food processor and blend so that it becomes whipped, smooth and creamy in texture.
- De-core the apple, and dice along with the celery, radishes, red onion (if using), parsley and dill.
- Combine the chicken, cottage cheese, fruits, veggies and herbs in a bowl and stir together. Taste test, then season to preference.
Notes
- I suggest low histamine readers cook and shred fresh chicken, but for others, rotisserie chicken can be used.
- Whipping the cottage cheese in a blender is down to preference, and you can use as it is, if you prefer. Some just prefer no lumps!
- Dice the fruit and veggies to a similar size.
- Nutritional information is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- cottage cheese is on the 'allowed' list on the SIGHI elimination diet for histamine intolerance, but does not appear on the mast cell disorders version.
- black pepper, which scores 2.
- red onion isn't rated. White onion can be used as a swap, and scores 0.
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