Chunks of pineapple, crunchy nuts, and spicy peppers make this Hawaiian Chicken Salad a delicious and healthy dinner choice. Enjoy this easy salad on rolls or lettuce wraps!
After two weeks of traveling for work and to see friends and family, we are finally back home. Yesterday was a long day of traveling across the country. I never want to ride in a car again.
In fact, my husband and I both agreed that the 18 hour drive is just too much. I think he is finally convinced that flying is the way to go. Driving is definitely cheaper, but you lose so much time.
Today is going to be spent catching up on laundry, scheduling appointments, meal planning, and doing some grocery shopping because the fridge is pretty empty right now. So, I guess I have to jump back in the car for a quick trip to the store for some healthy food.
Over the years we have tried so many different recipes for our meals. Some of these recipes were keepers, and others never were made again.
This Grape Pecan Chicken Salad is one recipe that we make every couple weeks because it's that good. Our whole family enjoys this easy chicken salad during the hot summer months.
Who am I kidding? We eat it all year long. Mexican Chicken Salad is one of my first choices to bring to summer picnics and potlucks. Everyone loves it and asks for the recipe when we share it.
It's also such a great recipe to change up with different fruits and nuts. I like to make this Cherry Walnut Chicken Salad for a change of pace every once in a while.
Tips for making Hawaiian Chicken Salad:
Shred your cooked chicken into a big bowl. You can either purchase a rotisserie chicken from the store or you can cook a whole chicken in a crock pot. I like to buy two chickens at a time and freeze the extra one for future dinners.
Stir in the chopped nuts, a can of drained pineapple tidbits, cilantro, and diced jalapeños and red peppers. The little bit of jalapeño in this salad adds just a little bit of spicy flavor. It really isn't that spicy, but feel free to leave it out if you want.
Whisk together the Greek yogurt, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and red wine vinegar and pour it over the chicken mixture. Refrigerate for at least an hour, so the flavors can melt together.
Serve this Hawaiian Chicken Salad on dinner rolls, bread, lettuce wraps, or a leafy green salad. It's also perfectly delicious eaten alone or with pretzels.
If you love this chicken salad, you may enjoy some of these easy salad recipes:
- Mexican Street Corn Salad - all the flavors of street corn in a giant leafy green salad bowl
- Spinach Chicken Caprese Salad - mozzarella, tomatoes, and chicken drizzled in balsamic glaze is a great dinner option
- Italian Veggie Salad - your favorite veggies tossed in a light salad dressing makes a delicious and healthy side dish
- Chinese Coleslaw from Shugary Sweets - this crunchy and sweet salad is great with all your grilled dinner choices
- Asian Chicken Cranberry Salad from Reluctant Entertainer - a sweet and tangy dressing add so much flavor to the cabbage, almonds, and cranberries
Hawaiian Chicken Salad recipe:
Recipe
Hawaiian Chicken Salad
Chunks of pineapple, crunchy nuts, and spicy peppers make this Hawaiian Chicken Salad a delicious and healthy dinner choice. Enjoy this easy salad on rolls or lettuce wraps for dinner tonight.
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
- ¾ diced macadamia nuts
- 1 - 20 ounce can pineapple tidbits, drained well
- ½ cup diced cilantro
- ¼ cup finely diced fresh jalapeño peppers (2 small peppers)
- ½ cup finely diced red pepper
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 ½ Tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ¾ teaspoons garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Stir together the shredded chicken, nuts, pineapple, cilantro, jalapeños, and red pepper in a large bowl.
- Whisk together the yogurt, red wine vinegar, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Pour over the chicken mixture and stir until everything is coated. Refrigerate at least one hour or longer before serving.
- Serve on bread, rolls, lettuce wraps, or salad.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 163Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 39mgSodium: 249mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 2gSugar: 9gProtein: 16g
dean kehaulani davis
Jeeeeezee, you just can't throw pineapple in something and call it Hawaiian. this recipe looks disgusting and there is N0THING Hawaiian about it.
Jocelyn
Cool, thanks for the comment.
Lou
Can I leave out the nuts??
Jocelyn
Yes, you can leave the nuts out. If you wanted the extra crunch, try adding green bell pepper in place of the nuts. I hope you enjoy the chicken salad!
Cathy Gilbert
These look great ty
Aimee Shugarman
This sounds amazing!! I love pineapple with chicken 🙂