Our favorite chicken salad sandwich features a light, tangy Greek yogurt dressing and a burst of sweetness from some fresh red grapes. A bit of diced cucumber adds crunch and texture, while hearty slices of pumpernickel bread give this sandwich a rich, cozy vibe.
This pumpernickel chicken sandwich recipe is a gamechanger, friends. It's ready in just a few minutes thanks to a rotisserie chicken (or a bit of meal prep shredded chicken!), and makes a perfect quick, light lunch.
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Ingredients
Scroll to the recipe card below for a full ingredients list with exact quantities.
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 store-bought rotisserie chicken, slow cooker meal prep chicken, or leftover grilled/roasted chicken from earlier in the week. (This recipe is also great with leftover Thanksgiving turkey breast!) Dice or shred your cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces for easy mixing.
- Grapes give this salad a punch of sweetness to balance out the tangy Greek yogurt dressing.
- Cucumbers add important texture. (PS - Not sure about the grape + cucumber combo in this recipe? Trust us: It totally works.)
- Pumpernickel bread is our favorite here, but you can use sourdough, crusty homemade bread, sliced baguettes, or a croissant instead!
- Greek yogurt and mayonnaise form the base of our dressing! This combo is light and fairly tart: You'll definitely taste the Greek yogurt. (If you're not a Greek yogurt fan, use plain yogurt or additional mayonnaise in its place!)
Variations and Substitutions
This recipe is very forgiving: It's easy to customize with whatever you have on hand! A few of our favorite riffs:
- Add extra veggies! For more texture (and a burst of color!) stir some chopped bell peppers, diced celery, red onion, avocado, or shredded cabbage (green, red, or napa cabbage) into this chicken salad.
- Optional add-ins: This chicken salad is also delicious with crispy bacon bits, dried cranberries, or toasted nuts (like walnuts, almonds, or pecans).
- Adjust the dressing. This is a very loose dressing recipe: Adjust the amount of each ingredient, add a bit of lemon juice for more brightness, add a spoonful of dijon mustard for more depth, or add a drizzle of honey for more sweetness.
- Add some crispy bacon and tomato slices to make this more of a club sandwich or BLT-style meal.
- Swap the grapes for diced apples (similar to our apple chicken salad lettuce wraps!)
Instructions
Start by stirring the mayonnaise and Greek yogurt together with a pinch of salt until you have a smooth mixture (Images 1 and 2, above).
Add the cooked chicken, grapes, and cucumbers (Image 3), then stir everything together to form your chicken salad (Image 4). That's it!
Give the salad a quick taste and add extra salt, mayonnaise, or Greek yogurt as needed. When you're ready to eat, layer the chicken salad onto some toasted pumpernickel bread with a few leaves of butter lettuce to make a quick sandwich!
Storage
We recommend eating this chicken salad within a day or two of mixing for the best flavor! Store leftover chicken salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days (past that, the dressing will start to get a bit watery and the grapes and cucumbers can start to get mushy!)
If you like, you can also assemble the sandwiches in the morning and store them in the fridge for a few hours until you're ready to eat. We don't recommend keeping assembled sandwiches in the fridge for more than a few hours, as the bread can get soggy.
A Few FAQs
We recommend eating this chicken salad fairly quickly for the best texture and flavor! Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a day or two before the grapes and cucumber start to lose their crunch and the dressing begins to turn watery. We recommend spooning this easy chicken salad recipe onto your sandwiches just before serving; storing an already-prepared rotisserie chicken salad sandwich in the fridge can cause the bread to become soggy.
Yes! We recommend meal prepping the chicken ahead of time, either by making some slow cooker shredded chicken or breaking down a rotisserie chicken from the store. Chop or shred your cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces, then store it 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, grapes, and cucumbers! Store any leftovers in the fridge.
Yes - in a pinch, we've made this chicken salad with store-bought caesar dressing, ranch dressing, buffalo chicken sauce, a curry yogurt dressing, and a sesame dressing. Note: Grapes don't always pair well with the strong flavors in other dressings; if you use an alternate dressing instead of the Greek yogurt/mayo mix we suggest here, we recommend leaving the grapes out.
If you'd like to add cheese, we recommend using a slice of provolone, swiss, or white cheddar!
Yes! Use additional Greek yogurt in place of the mayonnaise here if you like (we love the extra punch of protein you get from more Greek yogurt here!) If you don't love the taste of Greek yogurt, you can use a bit of olive oil in place of the mayonnaise (the dressing will be thinner, but you'll still get that rich balance to the tangy Greek yogurt flavor).
More Recipes That Use a Rotisserie Chicken
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
Pumpernickel Chicken Salad Sandwiches
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
- Category: Sandwich
- Cuisine: American
Description
These easy chicken salad sandwiches are a perfect quick lunch!
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
- kosher salt, to taste
- 2 ½ cups shredded chicken
- ½ cup seedless red grapes, quartered
- ½ cup cucumber, diced
- 8 slices pumpernickel bread
- 8 large pieces romaine or butter lettuce (optional)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix Greek yogurt and mayonnaise with a pinch of salt.
- Add chicken, grapes, and cucumber and stir to combine.
- Toast pumpernickel bread in a toaster, or spread the pieces out on a sheet pan and broil on high for 1-2 minutes.
- Spread a generous helping of chicken salad on a slice of toasted pumpernickel. Top with some fresh lettuce and another slice of toasted bread. Serve immediately.
Notes
Additions and Substitutions. For more depth of flavor, add a spoonful of dijon mustard to the dressing. Use pears or apples instead of grapes 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 sourdough, wheat bread, homemade artisan bread, or small batch crusty bread in place of the pumpernickel. Skip the bread and make a tortilla wrap or lettuce 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 sandwich
- Calories: 397
- Sugar: 6.3 g
- Sodium: 570.9 mg
- Fat: 14.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 34.9 g
- Protein: 24.3 g
- Cholesterol: 71.6 mg
Keywords: sandwich, meal prep, lunch
Jessica
Really good! I was surprised how much I liked the grapes here. Worked really well with some local pumpernickel bread.
★★★★★
Team Life As A Strawberry
We're so happy to hear you loved it! Great pumpernickel really takes the sandwich up a notch!
Gustavo Woltmann
I love your chicken salad sandwiches. Thank you for the recipe.
- Gustavo Woltmann
Jessie
Thanks, Gustavo! I'm so glad you liked the recipe!
Queenie
All my sandwhiches I add mayonnaise to it. I'll have to try it with greek yogurt.