This easy chicken lettuce wrap recipe is ready in minutes thanks to a rotisserie chicken and a quick Greek yogurt dressing! Fresh, diced apples are our secret weapon here: They lend a bit of sweetness and crunch to this simple chicken salad. Ready in less than 20 minutes! Gluten-free.
It's hard to overstate the love we have for quick lettuce wraps. They're crisp, light, and perfect with all kinds of fillings - like this easy apple chicken salad recipe (we also love them in our hoisin shrimp lettuce wraps!) A quick chicken salad lettuce wrap is our go-to for quick lunches, but we'd also file this recipe under "favorite dinner ideas."
This chicken wrap recipe comes together in just a few minutes thanks to a bit of shredded, pre-cooked chicken (grab a rotisserie chicken or use some meal prepped slow cooker chicken to keep things simple!) Just whisk up a quick, creamy dressing, toss everything together, and scoop it directly into some big lettuce leaves.
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Ingredients
For a full ingredients list with exact quantities, scroll to the recipe card below.
This is a very simple recipe, but we want to highlight a few things before you jump in:
- Cooked chicken. This is a perfect place to use a rotisserie chicken, slow cooker meal prep chicken, or leftover grilled/roasted chicken from earlier in the week. (This recipe is also great with leftover maple dijon chicken or leftover Thanksgiving turkey breast!) Dice or shred your cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces for easy mixing.
- Apples. Opt for a fairly sweet apple here to bring some balance to the tanginess of the dressing - if you use something especially tart (like a Granny Smith apple), the chicken salad can be a little bit too sour. Fuji, Gala, or Honeycrisp apples are all great here!
- Greek yogurt is the base of our bright, tangy salad dressing (and it gives us an extra punch of protein). Lemon juice lends some acidity (and helps keep the apples from browning!), while a bit of mayonnaise and a drizzle of honey balance out the more sour flavors.
- Butter lettuce leaves are one of our favorite lettuce wrap options: They're large, crisp, and easy to roll around the filling. Large romaine leaves, big green-leaf lettuce, kale, or even cabbage leaves will work here as well! Look for fresh, crisp leaves with lots of surface area.
Variations and Substitutions
This is a fairly forgiving recipe: It's easy to customize with whatever you have on hand! A few of our favorite riffs:
- Adjust the dressing. If you don't like Greek yogurt, you can use plain yogurt or additional mayonnaise in its place. If the Greek yogurt is a little too sour for your taste, you can also adjust the mayo, honey, or lemon to land on a flavor combo you like, or add a spoonful of dijon mustard for extra flavor (we love this dijon + apple combo in our apple spinach salad!)
- Add extra veggies! For more texture (and a burst of color!) stir some chopped bell peppers, diced celery, red onion, or shredded cabbage into this chicken salad.
- Optional add-ins: This chicken salad is also delicious with crispy bacon bits, dried cranberries, toasted nuts (like walnuts, almonds, or pecans), or a pinch of curry powder stirred in!
- Swap the apples for diced pears or halved grapes (similar to our favorite pumpernickel chicken salad sandwiches!)
Step by Step Instructions
Start by whisking all the dressing ingredients together in a large bowl until you have a smooth mixture.
Pro Tip: Taste the dressing and adjust it as needed to suit your palate! Add extra mayonnaise, honey, or salt if needed, or stir in a spoonful of dijon mustard if you'd like a bit more depth.
Once the dressing is ready, add the cooked chicken and your diced apples, and stir everything together! Give the chicken salad a taste, and add salt (or more of any other ingredient!) as needed.
Storage
This chicken salad will keep on its own in an airtight container in the fridge for a day or two before the apples start to brown and the dressing begins to break down and get watery. We recommend eating this chicken salad within a day of mixing it for the best flavor!
Once assembled, we recommend eating these lettuce wraps right away: If you keep assembled wraps in the fridge for more than a few hours, the lettuce will start to wilt and will lose its crisp texture.
A Few FAQs
We used butter lettuce in these chicken salad wrap photos, but you can use any large lettuce leaves you like! Large romaine leaves or Boston bib/butter lettuce lettuce work well here; you can also use large leaves of cabbage, kale, or any large green-leaf lettuce you see at the store!
Absolutely! Skip the lettuce wraps and serve this classic chicken salad on its own (pair it with a side dish like our lemon arugula salad for a full meal!), layer it on a chicken salad sandwich (we love using our small batch crusty bread, a toasted croissant, or a loaf of pumpernickel), or wrap the chicken mixture up in a large flour tortilla. If you like the idea of lettuce but don't have any large leaves handy, you can also serve this chicken salad on top of a pile of smaller greens (like chopped lettuce, spinach, kale, or arugula).
These easy lettuce wraps work well with all kinds of side dishes! Pair these wraps with an easy Greek yogurt potato salad or an orzo pasta salad for a hearty, summery meal, or serve them with extra veggies (like our favorite lemon parmesan roasted broccoli, some maple brussels sprouts, or this bacon blue cheese asparagus!)
We recommend eating this chicken salad within a day of mixing it for the best flavor! Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a day or two before the apples start to brown and the dressing begins to break down and turn watery. We recommend spooning this easy chicken salad recipe into your lettuce cups just before serving; storing already-filled lettuce cups in the fridge will cause the lettuce to wilt.
Yes! We recommend meal prepping chicken ahead of time (or breaking down a rotisserie chicken from the store) and storing the cooked chicken in the fridge until you're ready to mix your chicken salad. When you're ready to eat, toss the cold chicken in with the dressing and diced apples!
More Easy Chicken Recipes
A rotisserie chicken is one of our favorite shortcuts on busy weeknights. Check out a few of our other favorite ways to use this versatile ingredient:
Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment and star rating below to let us know how it turned out!
Print📖 Recipe
Chicken Apple Salad Lettuce Wraps
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 minutes
- Total Time: 11 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4-6 1x
- Category: Chicken
- Cuisine: American
Description
These easy chicken apple salad wraps are perfect for a quick lunch!
Ingredients
For the dressing:Â
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon honey
- kosher salt to taste
To assemble:Â
- 3 cups cooked chicken, diced or shredded (we love using a rotisserie chicken or our meal prep shredded chicken here)
- 2 medium apples, cored and diced (about 1 cup) Note: we recommend a variety on the sweeter side, like Gala, Fuji, or Honeycrisp
- 10-14 large leafy green lettuce leaves, for wrapping (we used butter lettuce)
Instructions
- Whisk all dressing ingredients together in a large mixing bowl until smooth.
- Add chicken and apples to dressing and stir to combine. Taste and add salt, honey, or mayonnaise as necessary to find a flavor balance you like.
- Place a scoop of chicken salad into each lettuce leaf. Serve immediately.
Notes
Additions and Substitutions. For more depth of flavor, add a spoonful of dijon mustard to the dressing. Use pears or grapes instead of apples if you prefer. Add diced bell peppers, celery, avocado, shredded cabbage, crispy bacon, or toasted nuts (walnuts, pecans) to the chicken salad if you like. Use any large, leafy green lettuce you like (or serve the chicken salad on a sandwich or in a tortilla wrap instead!)
If you don't like the sourness of Greek yogurt, use additional mayonnaise in its place. (You'll definitely taste the Greek yogurt in this recipe!)
This is a very loose recipe - You can usually get away with eyeballing most of the ingredients. Just remember to taste as you go and adjust as needed!
Store leftover chicken salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 302
- Sugar: 7 g
- Sodium: 199.9 mg
- Fat: 11.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 9.3 g
- Protein: 39.5 g
- Cholesterol: 109.6 mg
Keywords: lettuce wraps, healthy, lunch, meal prep
Jessica
Very good! I like the apples in this recipe a lot more than I thought I would. Served it on homemade sourdough.
★★★★★
Team Life As A Strawberry
WAHOO! We're so happy to hear you enjoyed it!
Christina
How did you cook your chicken? Does it matter if you boil, steam, maybe bake it? This looks really really yummy and perfectly light for the summer.
Jessie
However you like to cook it is fine! I like to put a few chicken breasts and thigh cutlets in the crock pot for 6-8 hours on low with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, and pepper, then shred it all up and keep it in the fridge so it's on hand whenever I need it!
Nicole ~ Cooking for Keeps
I love a good chicken salad recipe! And most times I don't bother with bread or lettuce either!