This healthy Tzatziki Chicken Salad with Greek Yogurt is packed with cucumbers, herbs, and garlic! The Greek and Mediterranean flavors are so delicious in this easy lunch recipe, and it’s a great way to use leftover tzatziki sauce, too.
Lately, I’ve been on a personal mission to eat more Greek yogurt. I love it with honey and cinnamon and almonds in the mornings for breakfast. I love using it to cook with in things like healthy blueberry muffins and cardamom spiced orange olive oil cake.
And this healthy tzatziki chicken salad is a great way to use it in a savory way! It’s cool, refreshing, tangy, and healthy. Using Greek Yogurt in chicken salad (or in egg salad!) is a great way to cut down on calories and increase the nutrition.
What is tzatziki sauce?
Tzatziki is a Greek / Middle Eastern / Mediterranean sauce which, on it’s own, is simply delicious.
A mixture of Greek yogurt, cucumber, herbs, and lemon juice or vinegar, it’s ideal in which to dip pita or vegetables or add to a gyro sandwich or burger.
And when you add cooked shredded chicken to it, it becomes a delicious and healthy creamy base to traditional chicken salad.
Can I use leftover tzatziki sauce for this?
Absolutely! If you have a batch of homemade tzatziki sauce already made, or even a store-bought version, you can use it as a base for this chicken salad.
Just mix about a cup of it with 2 cups of shredded chicken, season to taste, and you’re good to go!
Alternatively, you could make Greek Tacos with Lamb with your prepared tzatziki sauce, too.
How to serve Tzatziki chicken salad
Zach and I chowed down on this for dinner tonight in pita pocket sandwiches, but it’s probably more appropriate for lunch, and would make an excellent appetizer served with small pieces of toast or crackers.
Or, let’s be honest- eaten with a spoon from the fridge. Which is exactly what I plan on doing in about a half an hour.
For a low carb version, you can serve it on lettuce wraps on on top of a bed of baby greens.
Tips and tricks
The best thing about this meal is how easy it is. It takes 10 minutes to put together, and it’s a great way to use up leftover cooked chicken (such as roast chicken, or from a chicken sheet pan dinner). Plus, you can make a ton of it and have it all week for lunch (or dinner!).
Here are some tips and tricks to help.
- Remove as much water from the cucumber as possible. I recommend grating the cucumber on top of a clean towel and then wringing as much water out as possible. Alternatively, you can add the grated cucumber to a mesh sieve on top of a large bowl, sprinkled with salt. The salt will draw the water out and then you can pat the cucumbers dry with a towel.
- Use GREEK yogurt. Greek yogurt is healthy, packed with protein and other benefits. But it’s also thicker than regular yogurt because it’s been strained. Alternatively, you can also strain regular yogurt to make your own Greek-style yogurt. Regular yogurt may be too thin to use for this recipe.
What herbs to use
The recipe below calls for 1/4 cup of chopped herbs. I recommend a mixture of dill and mint, but you can use any combination you want, including parsley, scallions or chives, basil, etc.
Other Chicken Salad Recipes
- Chicken Salad with Grapes and Walnuts
- Curried Chicken Salad with Apples and Raisins
- Apricot Chicken Salad with Dill
- Southwest Chicken Salad with Avocado
Here are all my easy lunch recipes.
Did you make this Tzatziki chicken salad recipe? Please click the stars below to comment and Rate this Recipe
Tzatziki Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked shredded chicken such as rotisserie
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cucumber grated, and liquid squeezed out with a clean towel
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped herbs parsley, mint, chives, scallions, and/or dill
- 1 small clove garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or red wine vinegar
- kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
- Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.
- Serve chicken salad in pita bread, in lettuce wraps, or on crackers/toast.
Notes
- Make ahead/storage: Make this in bulk and take it for lunch all week- stays good in the fridge for 3-5 days! Give it a stir to mix it up a bit before servings, since the yogurt will separate a bit.
- For a dairy-free version, use mayo instead of yogurt, or a dairy free yogurt substitute.
- To save time, use leftover tzatziki sauce or store-bought tzatiziki, by mixing about a cup of it with the chicken and seasoning to taste.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Paweł
Just made it :) since the chicken was lean, as a base I used 150g of original 10% fat Greek yogurt (actually from Greece). Added 1/4 cup of mixed parsley, dill and scallions and on top of lemon juice 5g of red wine vinegar.
Served it inside 2 big grilled pitas, with some lettuce :) absolutely delicious, thank you for the recipe! Definitely going into my chicken salad rotation!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!