Whole30 Meal Prep perfection! This Low Carb Curry Chicken Salad with carrots is super easy to make and totally delicious! Curry, lemon, almonds, and mayo are mixed with chicken to make for a really fun spin on classic chicken salad. Mix up your meal prep and give this Whole30 Chicken Salad recipe a try for lunch this week!
🍴 Meal Prep to the Rescue!
Repeat after me: Meal Prep. Meal Prep. Meal Prep. It’s SO important when you’re doing a Whole30, or really anytime when you’re just trying to eat healthy, save money, be more efficient, whatever.. because you definitely don’t want to be caught unprepared when life happens.
When I say life, you know what I’m talking about, right? There’s been times I oversleep a bit, my kids get sick, I get stuck at work… literally countless times that something creeps up to get in my way.
It doesn’t take a lot to derail progress. Even having kind of a long day makes me often choose convenience over health. My first round of Whole30, I was struck by how often I thought to myself, “If I hadn’t committed to Whole30, I’d be ordering pizza right now.”
So yeah, having healthy food prepared in advance is pretty important. And that’s why I made this chicken salad recipe.
You may also like: Egg Roll in a Bowl Skillet, Classic Pot Roast, Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry, Collard Wraps with Easy Chicken Salad.
I used to be absolutely awful about meal prepping!
I’d see Instagram pictures of a week’s worth of fully cooked meals with a caption: All done cooking for the week. And I’m over here thinking to myself, “That’s like one day’s worth of food for my family!” Do they expect me to make fifty individual containers with portioned out breakfasts, lunches, and dinners?
It’s just not what would work for us.
A meal prep strategy that works!
Batch cooking! What’s that? Getting a few versatile things ready, portioned in containers, so I can whip up a meal for myself or for the family on the fly.
I start by batch cooking a few proteins, maybe marinating and freezing chicken, then I wash and prep some vegetables. Usually, I’ll cook a pound of chicken breasts in the instant pot (I love it so much!) or roast a whole chicken, hard boil some eggs, cook some sweet potatoes, and wash and cut a bunch of greens, onions, broccoli, and bell peppers. It takes about an hour in total. Is it Insta-worthy? Probably not.
But I’m able to make omelets, wraps, salads, and stir frys in about 10 minutes flat all week long. In a pinch, I can even grab and go (especially with those new Tessemae’s individual salad dressings). So that’s what I do lately to set myself up for success.
And here’s another time-saving tip: Cook a big batch of something you love and freeze half of it for another day. I do that often – and my Whole30 Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs is a great one for that!
🥕 Recipe Ingredients
This week, I took some of the cooked chicken breast I had prepped and made this chicken salad recipe with a really fun spin! Just add a few simple ingredients:
- Cooked Chicken
- Curry powder
- Carrots
- Chopped almonds
- Mayo (see my list of Whole30 mayo brands)
- A squeeze of lemon juice
- Salt & Pepper
Trust me, when you mix it all up, it gives regular old chicken salad new life! Seriously, don’t knock it till you try it!
Recipe Variations:
- Add raisins or grapes for a juicy, sweet note
- If you have a nut allergy, swap sunflower seeds
- Add a little diced bell pepper
Making this Curry Carrot Chicken Salad recipe?
Let me know in the comments below, and please drop a star rating while you’re at it!
Curry Carrot Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked and cubed or shredded chicken
- 1/4 – 1/3 cup mayo (be sure it’s compliant)
- 1 small carrot
- 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1/8 teaspoons black pepper
- 1/2 lemon
- 2 Tablespoon almonds chopped or slivered
- 1 teaspoons fresh cilantro
Instructions
- In a large bowl, stir all ingredients together until well combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Cover and refrigerate up to four days. Serve over mixed greens and fresh veggies with a few lemon slices on the side.