Name: Smoked Chicken Salad
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 2 cups smoked chicken diced or shredded; 2/3 cup green onions diced (3-4 green onions); 1/2 cup celery finely diced; 1/3 cup mayonnaise; 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream; 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard; 1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper; 1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke; 1 teaspoon red or white wine vinegar; *1/4 teaspoon garlic salt taste first, if chicken is generously seasoned, you may want to skip

This easy smoked chicken salad recipe made with seasoned chicken breasts on your Traeger pellet smoker along with crunchy celery, green onion and a simple and flavorful dressing is a quick and delicious sandwich you will love.

smoked chicken salad sandwich on wooden tray

Traeger Smoked Chicken Salad Recipe

If you’ve made our Traeger Smoked Chicken Breasts, you know just how juicy and flavorful they are! They are so good that you can enjoy them all on their own with a side of potato salad or perhaps atop a hearty Southwest Cobb Salad.

If you are like me and when firing up your pellet smoker, you cook far more meat than you need for one meal. You are then left with lots of tender chicken breast leftovers and in that case I have got the perfect Smoked Chicken Salad Recipe for you!

Smoked Chicken Sandwich

Enjoy this smoked chicken salad by scooping it up with some of your favorite crackers, or even all on it’s own for a low-carb lunch option. Honestly, you will have a hard time resisting it right out of the bowl.

If you want to make a meal out of it, pile it high with lettuce and tomato or a Smoked Chicken Sandwich. Grab a nice bun from the bakery and you’ve got yourself an easy lunch or dinner with leftovers. It doesn’t get much better than that!

hand holding smoked chicken salad sandwich with lettuce and tomato

How to make smoked chicken salad

Always allow your chicken breasts to cool for at least 5 minutes off the pellet smoker before you cut into them to make chicken salad. If you cut into the meat right off the heat, you will loose a lot of the juices and be left with dry meat, which will require more dressing.

smoked chicken salad on sesame buns with lettuce and tomatop

smoked chicken salad ingredients on table in bowls

Chicken Salad Dressing with Liquid Smoke

We are using smoked chicken breasts for this simple sandwich recipe, but we are going to accentuate the smoky flavor with a tiny splash of liquid smoke.

If you are wondering what Liquid Smoke is, like I was the first time I discovered it, wonder no more. It is a liquid flavoring that is typically made from condensing the smoke from wood. It packs quite a punch, so use it with a light hand.

Liquid smoke is also a great way to add smoky flavor if you don’t have any smoked chicken on hand. You can omit it if you don’t have any, but I highly recommend grabbing a small bottle, because it goes a long ways in adding great flavor to dishes like this Smoked Cheese Curd Burger Salad.

Smoked Cheese Curd Burger Salad

Mayonnaise or Salad Dressing on Chicken Salad

Mayonnaise is the base for all good chicken salads. It offers that tang and richness that coats the chicken so well. While some people like salad dressing, aka Miracle Whip, I really suggest sticking to mayonnaise.

I don’t like straight mayonnaise dressing on my chicken salad though. It’s a bit too much for my liking. I like to cut it with sour cream or plain Greek yogurt. Whatever I have on hand works great. The Greek yogurt makes or a healthier options which is great as well.

In a large bowl whisk together the following ingredients for the chicken salad dressing

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke

Easy Chicken Salad Recipe

Whisk together your dressing ingredients and add the diced chicken breasts, celery and green onion. Mix until the chicken is well coated.

Taste the chicken salad to make sure it is seasoned well. If you seasoned your smoked chicken breasts well, the chicken salad may not need anymore salt.

If you didn’t season your chicken with much salt, then add 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt. Season the chicken salad to taste and keep in mind it will be piled high on bread, so you want to make sure it is flavorful to hold up to the balance of bread.

Top the chicken salad with a slice of tomato and some fresh lettuce and you’ve got the best chicken salad sandwich!

white bowl with diced smoked chicken, green onion and celery

sesame bun with smoked chicken salad, lettuce and tomato slice

Seasoning for chicken salad

The majority of your flavor for this easy chicken salad is coming from whatever you seasoned your chicken with. The chicken salad will take on the flavors of the chicken rub, whether that’s BBQ, Greek, spicy, etc.

That is the beauty of this smoked chicken salad recipe. It can offer so much variety just depending on you decided to smoke your chicken that day!

Here are a few of my favorite chicken breast rubs that translate into delicious chicken salad

EVERYTHING rub – This is the rub I use most often for my smoked chicken. It is a great rub to use on chicken, beef and pork. If you aren’t one to have lots of spices on hand, grab this general rub to cover all your smoking needs!

BBQ Rub – If you want to add a little sweet and spicy BBQ flavor to your chicken salad, simply season your chicken breasts with your favorite BBQ rub.

Greek Freak Mediterranean Spice Blend – I love all things Greek and this is no exception. It has a tiny hint of spice along with orange peel, garlic, onion, parsley and additional spices.

Nashville Hot Chicken – If you loves a good spicy chicken sandwich, this rub is a must try.