Chicken Salad in Lettuce Wraps

Each summer my sister and I make a point to be together, even though we live on opposite coasts. Inevitably, cooking plays a significant role in how we spend our time. As a result, we’ve developed a small repertoire of dishes that we repeat each year because it just doesn’t feel like summer without them: oysters on the grill, stewed summer fruit with Greek yogurt, abundant tomato and grilled vegetable salads, little ice cream sandwiches, and this chicken salad.

Recently, with half of a left over chicken in the fridge and the need for lunch boxes to be filled, I made our chicken salad. With no bread in the bread basket, I packed lettuce leaves instead, leaving it up to the kids to make chicken salad in lettuce wraps at the lunch table. They loved it. Now so can you.

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Chicken Salad in Lettuce Wraps

Perfect for a school lunch, desk lunch, or summer picnic, feel free to make this salad your own. Tinker with the fixings by using fennel in place of celery, leaving out the apple, substituting pecans for walnuts, and adding freshly chopped herbs such as dill or tarragon if you have them on hand.

Course Lunch

Prep Time 15 minutes

Servings 4 cups of chicken salad; 4 to 6 servings

Calories 226 kcal

Author Katie Morford

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups cooked, cubed chicken (about 1 pound uncooked)
• 1 medium apple, diced (1 1/3 cups)
• 3 celery stalks, diced
• ½ cup finely diced red onion
• ½ cup walnuts, roughly chopped
• ½ cup Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 small head butter lettuce
• 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon or dill (optional)

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients except the lettuce. Stir well with a spoon, taste, and add more salt, pepper, or lemon juice to taste as desired.
2. Pull the leaves off the head of lettuce, being sure not to tear them. Wash, and dry well.
3. Serve the chicken salad alongside lettuce leaves, filling the lettuce like little tacos. For a lunch box, pack the lettuce and chicken in separate containers and include a small freezer pack to keep things chilled.