Guacamole meets chicken in this mouthwatering avocado chicken salad. This twist on chicken salad is made with fresh cilantro, lime, avocados, and sour cream.

My friend and neighbor, Paula, brought me this avocado chicken salad when I was recovering from surgery. It's like eating a bowl of guacamole loaded with chicken. How can you get any better than that?!! I adore all of the flavors in this chicken salad. I was kind of wishing that I photographed it in a big taco salad shell loaded with lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, cheese, and a little extra sour cream. Doesn't that sound amazing?!
I couldn't wait to share this recipe with all of you. Paula doesn't measure anything when she makes this, she just told me her ingredients and came up with my best possible guess. You can really play around with the flavors and adjust the amounts to fit your taste buds. You can also swap out the sour cream for plain Greek yogurt, or even do half and half, for an added nutrition boost.
First, make sure that you use perfectly ripe avocados. You need them to be very ripe for mashing.
How To Make Avocado Chicken Salad
Ingredients You'll Need:
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 cloves garlic, mashed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 medium ripe avocados, mashed
- 2-3 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
- ¼ cup finely chopped onion (I use sweet Vidalia onions)
- juice of ½ a lime
- dash of Tabasco sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Directions:
First, poach the chicken. In a large pot, add 2 quarts of water, garlic, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a full boil, add chicken, bring back up to a boil, cover, and immediately remove from the heat. Allow the chicken to sit for 20 minutes until the center of the breast reaches 165 degrees F. Drain the chicken and set it aside to cool. Shred the cooled chicken in a large bowl and add the remaining ingredients, except onions and cilantro. When the chicken mixture is blended, stir in the cilantro and onions.
Ways To Serve Avocado Chicken Salad
- In a lettuce wrap topped with diced fresh tomatoes
- On a bed of mixed greens
- On your favorite bread (croissant, ciabatta, sourdough, whole-grain toast, etc.)
- In a corn or flour tortilla with tomatoes and greens
- Hollow out a large tomato and stuff with chicken salad- so good and makes a pretty presentation)
- Topped on crackers
This chicken salad would make the perfect Cinco De Mayo lunch recipe!
If you love chicken salad recipes, you should also try this Chicken Salad with Lemon and Sage and Blueberry Almond Chicken Salad!
Avocado Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 cloves garlic mashed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup sour cream or Mexican crema
- 2 medium ripe avocados mashed
- 2-3 tablespoon fresh cilantro chopped
- ¼ cup finely chopped onion
- juice of ½ lime
- dash of Tabasco sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- First, poach the chicken.
- In a large pot, add 2 quarts of water, garlic, and 1 teaspoon of salt.
- Bring to a full boil, add chicken, bring back up to a boil, cover, and immediately remove from the heat.
- Allow the chicken to sit for 20 minutes until the center of the breast reaches 165 degrees F.
- Drain chicken and set aside to cool.
- Shred chicken into a large bowl and add all other ingredients, except onions and cilantro.
- When mixture is blended, stir in onions and cilantro.
- Serve over a bed of greens or in your favorite wrap.
Nutrition
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Deanna Segrave-Daly
I haven't made chicken salad in years - this is the recipe that will change that around...
Amee Livingston
Deanna, I think your homemade guac would be great with shredded chicken thrown in!
Jessica @ Nutritioulicious
perfect for cinco de mayo lunch this week! Great to see you back at the blog!
Amee Livingston
Thank you Jessica! It's great to be back! 🙂
EA Stewart
This looks amazing Amee! And, bonus, I'm pretty sure my kids and hubby will love it too!!
Amee Livingston
Thank you EA! It's a new favorite for us!
Meal Makeover Mom Janice
Wow, this sounds SO good - all my favorite flavors in one dish! Will be making this soon. 🙂
Amee Livingston
Thank you Janice!
glenda
Made it with canned chicken, it was all I had. It was so good!
Amee Livingston
Hi Glenda! That's a great shortcut! I'm so glad that you enjoyed it! 🙂