One of the best things to make at the beginning of the week that will last you all week long for easy grab and go lunches is a good chicken salad. With a store-bought rotisserie chicken, you can have this Whole30 Sonoma Chicken Salad whipped up in no time but, be sure to check the labels on your rotisserie chicken! A lot of rotisserie chickens are filled with a bunch of sugar and junk… I choose to buy mine from Whole Foods and I purchase the “plain” or “classic” one. It’s super clean and delicious and great for making chicken salads or even just tossing on top of a quick salad throughout the week.
Both Whole Foods and Central Market sell a fantastic Sonoma Chicken Salad that I absolutely love. It’s a traditional chicken salad with celery, grapes, and poppy seeds but I never buy it anymore as it has sugar added to it. This recipe here is my copy cat, make at home, Whole30 rendition of the store-bought version. Since the store-bought versions have quite a bit of sweetness to it, I added a date to my mayo mixture to help boost the flavors a bit and it turned out delicious!
If you are doing a September Whole30 next month, this Whole30 Sonoma Chicken Salad will be a great make-ahead meal to make your days a little bit easier. I also love my Buffalo Chicken Salad or Pesto Chicken Salad to change things up a bit!
- 3 tablespoons homemade mayo
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 pitted medjool date (soaked in warm water for 10-15 minutes, then drained)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 cups shredded chicken (or 1 rotisserie chicken)
- 3/4 cup loosely chopped celery (or 1 large celery stalk)
- 1 cup red grapes
- 1 medium shallot, diced fine
- 1 teaspoon poppyseeds
- Place the mayo, lemon juice, garlic, date, and kosher salt in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
- In a large bowl, combine the shredded chicken, grapes, celery, shallot and poppyseeds. Spoon the mayo mixture over the shredded chicken and toss to coat evenly.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving to allow flavors to mend.
