This post is sponsored by Blue Diamond Nut Thins.
Canned Chicken Salad with eggs, relish, celery and mayo. Meal prep this classic southern recipe because canned chicken recipes are easy!!
Southern Canned Chicken Salad
Looking for an easy meal prep idea for your busy week? Look no further than this gluten free traditional southern recipe!
How to make chicken salad with canned chicken?
I grew up on this southern recipe. There’s something about this recipe that’s so comforting and delicious, and it couldn’t be easier to toss together in ONE BOWL.
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Step 1: Get out a big bowl. Drain your chicken in the sink, add the chunks to bowl, and shred with a fork.
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Step 2: Add mayo and season with salt and pepper; gently stir in relish, celery, and hard boiled eggs.
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Step 3: Dig in! Eat straight out of the bowl, serve on a bed of greens or your on top of your favorite crackers.
Ingredients for this recipe
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Canned chicken (I use white meat chunked)
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Hard boiled eggs
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Celery
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Relish
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Mayo
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Salt and pepper
While I love. love. love a good Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad with Grapes made with incredibly tasty lemon yogurt, nothing takes me back like this southern mayo-based recipe.
I like using premium white meat chicken for this recipe because it actually makes the salad juicer with less need for mayo.
And this lunch recipe = low carb, high protein
I’m not a mayo-phobe {it is eggs and oil after all} but I don’t like gobs of it smothering my chicken. Maybe canned chicken is a nostalgic thing for me too since mom always used it in her recipe, it just doesn’t taste right without it.
Also, let’s chat nutrition for this recipe. Per serving, this tasty lunch idea contains…
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26g protein
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9g fat
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7g carbohydrates
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6g sugar
Low carb, high protein lunch FTW!
Best way to eat canned chicken salad?
We hardly ever make traditional sandwiches with this recipe; instead eat this stuff right out of the bowl with crackers.
So be sure to pair this southern creamy recipe with your favorite snacking crackers, like these Nut-Thins.
What’s traditional about this southern chicken salad?
The combo of hard boiled eggs, mayo, and relish is what gives this chicken egg salad a traditional twist! Putting eggs in chicken salad is basically a must – it’s not the same without them!
The hard boiled yolk mixed with the mayo creates the creaminess in this traditional recipe.
Best high protein wraps for lunch?
If you’re not eating this stuff out of the bowl, might as well wrap it chicken up in a tortilla for a high protein lunch! It’s also slightly more filling when served as a lunch wrap.
With lots of wraps in the market these days, some are higher in protein than others. A Chick Fil A Grilled Chicken Cool Wrap has 42 grams of protein per wrap and an Oven Roasted Chicken Wrap from Subway has 38 grams of protein.
Honestly, I might stick with this chicken egg salad out of the bowl with 26 grams of protein per 1/3 cup. And life is better when you eat right out of the bowl, right? Dig in. Make life and meal prep simple with this classic southern chicken salad recipe.
More chicken salad recipes?
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Thai Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps
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Waldorf Chicken Salad Wrap
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Curry Chicken Salad
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Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad with Grapes
Southern Canned Chicken Salad Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 0 mins
- Total Time: 5 mins
- Yield: 3 servings 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Canned Chicken Salad with eggs, relish, celery and mayo. Meal prep this classic southern chicken salad recipe because canned chicken recipes are easy!!
Ingredients
- 12.5 ounces canned white chunk chicken, drained
- 3 tablespoons mayo
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 hard boiled eggs, diced
- 1/4 cup diced celery
- 1/4 cup relish
- Artisan Flax Seed Nut Thins
Instructions
- Get out a big bowl. Drain your canned chicken in the sink and add canned chicken breast chunks to bowl, and shred with a fork.
- Add mayo and season with salt and pepper; gently stir in relish, celery, and hard boiled eggs.
- Dig in! Eat straight out of the bowl, serve on a bed of greens or your on top of your favorite crackers.
Notes
Note: Nutrition facts do not include crackers
- Category: Lunch
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/3 recipe
- Calories: 225
- Sugar: 6g
- Sodium: 717mg
- Fat: 9g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 7g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 26g
- Cholesterol: 156mg
Keywords: canned chicken salad, canned chicken recipes
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Hi I’m Kristina LaRue, registered dietitian and millennial mom of two active and hungry boys. Here on Love & Zest, you’ll find (mostly) healthy recipes to fuel the whole family and real life stories of modern motherhood. I’m all about veggie-filled breakfast meal prep recipes, healthier sweets, and easy weeknight dinners made in the Instant Pot or sheet pan.
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I like for my chicken to be flaked a little more but the recipe was good. I tweaked it a little bit by adding dill and sweet relish, a little ranch dressing and no mustard.
Just made this for lunch, added a little cayenne pepper, but that is all! Perfect and delicious!
Do you use sweet relish? Your photo looks like bigger chunks of pickles. Do you make it with sweet pickles or dill pickles? Which works better? I’m thinking sweet.
★★★★
Either would work! My mom swears by sweet relish.
Thanks for this raspberry salsa recipe! I’ll forward this to a friend who loves all kinds of salsa. Maybe we can have as a weekend snack!
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You’re welcome!!
Love this recipe so delicious…..
★★★★★
Thanks Barbara!
This looks delicious! Love the addition of eggs in this!
I’ve never used (or seen) canned white chicken, so I’m assuming I can just sub for poached and shredded chicken? I imagine they’re quite similar! X
Yep! You can add in regular chicken breast, but the recipe becomes a bit more dry so you may need more mayo? Or just make sure not to overcook the chicken 🙂
Yep! You can add in poached or shredded chicken breast, but the recipe becomes a bit more dry so you may need more mayo? Or just make sure not to overcook the chicken 🙂
Kristina, I just made this for lunch this week — it’s AWESOME (and I don’t even eat Chicken Salad). I have only had it one other time, and I didn’t like it. This was SO good – filling, light, and quick to make. I used dill relish (I don’t like bread & butter) and Olive Oil and Cracked Pepper Triscuits. SO YUMMY! (And only 8 points on WW, if you’re doing it). Thanks for sharing!
glad you loved it!! thanks for your feedback!
I’ve never had eggs in my chicken salad before, but I’m definitely going to give it a try. Thanks for sharing, Kristina! 😉
It’s shocking to me that so many people haven’t tried eggs in chicken salad– this was our chicken salad staple. I guess it really is a southern thing?
This sounds great. I wasn’t raised on chicken salad like this, but I love the idea of having egg and relish in chicken salad.
I love hearing about regional differences in what we ate growing up. So funny that eggs and relish are “out of the ordinary” for you.
These are hands down our favorite cracker! My husband and I love them… I buy 2 boxes at a time because we go through them so fast. #TrueStory 🙂
OMG–tell me about it. #loveatfirstbite