Pesto Chicken Salad

If you were to ask me to list my top three most hated foods, the list would most certainly include mayonnaise. I just can’t stomach it and therefore I steer clear of a lot of summer favorites such as potato salad, macaroni salad, and chicken salad. This recipe is my solution to that problem and is probably one of my favorite new recipes I’ve come up with in the last couple of months. It’s very satisfying but not overly heavy, and if you buy a rotisserie chicken to use, you won’t even need to turn the oven on. An added bonus is that it’s a little healthier given that mayo has a good amount of calories in it.


The “hardest” part of making this salad is the prep work, other than that it comes together in a snap and is a great make ahead lunch or light summer supper. When we had this for dinner a couple of weeks ago we served it with a lightly toasted flatbread and some mixed greens but you can certainly enjoy it alone, either warm or cold.

Pesto Chicken Salad

*Serves 4- 6
(printable recipe)

Ingredients:
- 3 cups cooked and shredded chicken
- 1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
- 1 cup baby swiss cheese, cubed
- ½ cup chopped prosciutto
- ¾ cup artichokes, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup red onion, minced
- 3 tablespoons plain yogurt
- 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon prepared pesto
- Salt and pepper

Optional: flatbreads, pita bread, fresh spinach, arugula, or mesclun greens

Directions:

1. Prep and chop the chicken, tomatoes, cheese, prosciutto, artichokes, and red onion. Add to a large mixing bowl.

2. In a small bowl mix together pesto and yogurt. Add to the larger with the other ingredients and toss to combine thoroughly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Allow to sit for at least 15 minutes before serving to allow flavors to develop.