Chicken Salad with Apples, Cranberries, and Pecans

This Chicken Salad with Apples, Cranberries, and Pecans is crunchy, both sweet and sour, and loaded with flavor.

This post is sponsored in conjunction with AppleWeek. I received product samples from sponsor companies to aid in the creation of the AppleWeek recipes. All opinions are mine alone.

This recipe was given to me by my friend and colleague Melanie, who raved about it. I hung onto it for more years than I'd like to admit... there are so many recipes I want to try! I wish I hadn't waited quite so long, because this salad is refreshing and delicious.

Two tricks for making this salad extra delicious are roasting bone-in and skin-on chicken breasts (the skin and the bones add flavor and moisture to the meat) and toasting the pecans to really develop their flavor.

This apple cranberry chicken salad is also very light. The dressing consists of Greek yogurt, light mayonnaise, and apple cider or champagne vinegar. It's loaded with Granny Smith apples and flavored with shallots and minced rosemary.

This chicken salad is wonderful served on a bed of lettuce. It's also pretty good as a filling for a chicken salad sandwich. The contrast of the tart apples, the sweet/tart cranberries, and the toasty pecans is very tasty. It tastes way better than it looks.

Today is the last day of Apple Week!

Thankfully, you have another week to enter to win one of several prizes, including one from Swiss Diamond Cutlery, who gave us this 3.5 inch paring knife, which I used to cut the apples for this salad. I love the heft and feel of this knife. In fact, it's my new favorite paring knife. Swiss Diamond is giving away a fabulous 10-piece set of pans that I would pretty much wrestle you for if I could. I'm sad I can't enter! They are amazing. Check them out in this post.

After the recipe, be sure to check out the rest of the Apple Week recipes. And enter here to win!!

salad, apple, chicken

Salads

American

Yield: 4 servingsAuthor: Karen Kerr

Chicken Salad with Apples, Cranberries, and Pecans

ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
• Olive oil, plus salt and pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise (light or regular)
• 2 tablespoons apple cider or champagne vinegar (I used champagne)
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
• 1/4 cup pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 1/3 cup diced (1/4 to 1/2 inch dice) Granny Smith apples
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped

instructions

1. Heat your oven to 375 degrees F. Rub the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake the chicken on a baking sheet for 35 minutes, until cooked through. Set aside to cool. 
2. Remove the skin from the chicken. Remove the meat from the bone. Dice or shred the chicken into 1/2 inch cubes. 
3. Mix together the Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, vinegar, and rosemary. 
4. In a large bowl, combine the chicken, pecans, shallots, green apple, and cranberries. Toss with the dressing until combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill until ready to serve, at least an hour. 

Karen's Kitchen Stories

Created using The Recipes Generator

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