Dill Pickle Chicken Salad
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Pickle lovers, you need this Dill Pickle Chicken Salad on your plate! This high protein meal includes lean chicken breast, crunchy pickles, red onion, fresh dill, creamy mayo, and garlic. It’s an easy and delicious way to mix up your weekly meal prep!
2025 Update: This recipe is still a family favorite and has been updated to simplify the cooking instructions and add extra cooking tips for our readers. We hope you love it as much as we do!
Instant download of our tips to cook the best chicken!
Dill Pickle Chicken Salad Recipe
If you’re tired of boring, flavorless chicken salad, this recipe is the answer to your meal prep blues! It’s absolutely delicious, made with pickle juice-infused chicken breasts, lots of fresh herbs, red onion, diced pickles, and creamy mayo.
Salads like this are a big time saver for any busy family. You can prep the pickle salad on a Sunday, then use it for lunches or a light dinner later in the week.
Rather than spending days brining the meat, the pickle juice is used as the cooking liquid. The juice penetrates the chicken, infusing it with a delicious tangy flavor.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Versatile. Sandwiches, lettuce wraps or cups, or toss it with pasta for a heartier meal.
- High in protein and gluten-free. A one-half cup serving of dill pickle chicken salad has a whopping 24 grams of lean protein! Another high-protein meal my family loves is cobb salad!
- A nice balance of textures. The bits of red onion and pickles add crunch while the mayo-based dressing adds creaminess.
If you like fun takes on traditional lunches, you may also like my Mexican tuna salad, tuna salad cucumber cups, and pesto chicken salad recipes!
If you are looking for something a little more indulgent with that delicious dill pickle flavor, check out this fried pickle dip or a fun twist on pico de gallo, pickle de gallo!
Recipe Ingredients and Substitutions
Okay, here’s what you need to make this recipe happen:
- boneless skinless chicken: To keep the protein lean, use chicken breasts. If you prefer dark meat, boneless chicken thighs are a great choice.
- mayonnaise: I like to use sugar free, Whole30 mayo, but use what your family likes. Full fat mayo will add the most flavor, and light mayo will also work. If you aren’t a fan of mayonnaise, you can substitute it with plain Greek yogurt, or a vinaigrette dressing instead.
- red onion: You can omit the onions if you want to, or substitute it with shallot or a sweet Vidalia onion.
- dill pickles and pickle juice: The brine from the pickle jar is what the chicken is cooked in. If you don’t want chunky pieces, you can use pickle relish instead.
- spices and herbs: You’ll need some garlic powder, fresh dill weed, and black pepper.
Note: There isn’t salt in this recipe because the pickles are already salty enough. If you find you need a little salt though, feel free to sprinkle away!
How to Make Dill Pickle Chicken Salad
What makes this chicken salad extra flavorful? It’s all about how you cook the bird! Basically, it’s poached in the pickle juice.
Scroll to the recipe card for the full step by step instructions! ⬇️
- Cook the chicken. Use whatever method works best for you. Personally, I use my Instant Pot Shredded Chicken recipe.
- Dice or shred the chicken and prep the remaining ingredients. Feel free to chop the pieces as large or small as you like them.
- Mix to combine.
Lastly, all you’ve got to do is mix everything together! Take a taste, then season with salt and pepper, but only if you think it needs it. Keep in mind that pickles are very salty.
Tips for Success
Here are some time-saving tips to help you with your meal prep:
- Instead of cooking the chicken yourself, you can use store-bought rotisserie chicken, canned chicken, or leftover chicken. The salad will still be absolutely delicious, and you’ll still have dill flavor from the herbs and diced pickles.
- If you want to prep the ingredients ahead of time, the chicken will keep for a few days in the fridge. Just be sure to store it in an airtight container. Because the mayo can weigh down the ingredients, it’s best to wait until just before serving to combine the ingredients together.
Serving Ideas
I like to serve Dill Pickle Chicken Salad in lettuce wraps, but there are a lot of ways to serve it.
- in sandwiches
- on salad greens
- stuffed in tomatoes or bell peppers
- on seeded crackers, pita bread or sourdough crackers
Pickle Salad FAQ
Some pickles, including dills, are fermented. Fermented foods are known to be good for gut health, and they also have antioxidant properties.
Absolutely! As long as you don’t mind the sugar in the sweet pickle brine, you can definitely use it.
Other Easy Meal Prep Recipes
I’d love to hear about your experience making this recipe! Please leave a comment and rating below!
Dill Pickle Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1.5 lb chicken breasts
- 2 cups dill pickle juice
Dill Pickle Chicken Salad
- 3/4 – 1 cup mayo
- 1 cup diced dill pickles
- 3 Tablespoon diced red onion
- 1 Tablespoon fresh dill
- 1 teaspoons black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
Video
Instructions
Cook the Chicken
- Oven Instructions: Preheat your oven to 375. Season the chicken lightly with black pepper. Add the chicken to a medium baking dish and pour in the pickle juice. Cover tightly with tin foil and bake for 40 minutes.
- Slow Cooker Instructions: Add the chicken and pickle juice to your slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 2.5 hours or high for 1.5 hours.
- Instant Pot Instructions: Add the chicken and pickle juice to your Instant Pot. Cover and set to High Pressure for 10 minutes. Allow for a NPR (Natural Pressure Release) by allowing the steam to dissipate slowly, and without turning the vent knob.
Prep the Ingredients
- Once the chicken is cooked, set it aside to cool. Meanwhile, dice the pickles and red onion and chop the fresh dill. Once the chicken is cool, dice the chicken into bite-sized pieces, or however small you prefer the pieces of chicken to be.
Make the Chicken Salad
- In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients together. Start with less mayo and add more if you like a little more. Season to taste and enjoy!
