My Bacon Ranch Chicken Salad is bursting with flavor. It is rich and creamy with cheddar, bacon, and dill. This is the BEST keto chicken salad you will ever eat. It comes together in minutes as a delicious lunch or summer dinner.
Over the last few years, the bacon ranch flavor combination has become a favorite of my entire family. They love any dish with those flavors. Throw in some cheddar too and you have a real winner.
We love my Bacon Ranch Chicken Casserole so much that I needed to come up with a version for the warmer weather in June, July, and August. This low carb chicken salad recipe does the trick.
For an easy summer main dish try this chicken bacon ranch salad recipe.
Homemade Ranch Seasoning
I get a lot of questions about my ranch recipes because I do not use bottled ranch dressing or ranch dressing packets. I use a specific blend of herbs and spices to create a ranch flavor from scratch!
You do not need the processed versions with all their additives to get a ranch flavor. Making your own keto friendly spice mixes and dressings for your keto diet is an easy way to ensure they are low carb and gluten free.
I tend to use dried herbs but fresh dill is great if you have it. With my ranch seasoning, this really is the best homemade keto chicken salad out there.
You can change up the seasoning in this and replace the ranch with my Keto Fajita Seasoning or Smoked Paprika Rub.
Other Ingredients
Besides the ingredients in the sauce you only need three ingredients.
Cubed Cooked Chicken - Any cooked chicken is fine. I normally use chopped chicken breast but shredded chicken works too.
Chopped Bacon - Fresh crisp chopped bacon is great but bacon crumbles that come in the pantry section work well.
Shredded Cheddar Cheese - If you don't have cheddar mozzarella cheese or Monterey jack are my next choices.
How to Make Bacon Ranch Chicken Salad
Step One: Mix together the sauce ingredients in a bowl.
Step Two: Chop the bacon and chicken.
Step Three: Mix those in along with the shredded cheese. That's it!
Variations
Yogurt - If you are looking for a lighter chicken salad use Greek yogurt in place of the mayonnaise or try this healthy chicken salad.
Crunch - Want to add in some crunch? Add chopped celery, green onions, bell pepper, or red onion.
Avocado - Love avocado? That is great in this too! Or you can even serve it on top of a halved avocado.
Lettuce Wrap - Serve inside a romaine lettuce wrap for a handheld lunch. Add in some slices of tomatoes or cucumbers to boost the veggies.
Vegetarian - Swap out the chicken for broccoli florets and leave out the bacon. I use this as the base for my broccoli salad! You can also use it as a base for pasta salad.
Common Questions
What type of chicken do I use for chicken salad?
I use grilled chicken marinated in my Ranch Yogurt Marinade for this recipe for double the ranch flavor. I love ranch. Whenever we grill chicken breasts I make enough to have leftovers for quick and easy lunches. Chicken salad is one of our default summer keto recipes.
Any type of leftover cooked chicken is fine as long as it doesn't have a contrasting flavor. This is a great way to use up leftover chicken from other low carb recipes, from meal prep, grilled, baked, or made in the instant pot. I wouldn't recommend using leftover chicken with an Asian marinade or spicy Mexican rub. You can make this keto chicken salad with leftover rotisserie chicken or even canned chicken breast. If you use canned chicken breast just make sure to cut back on the salt or it might be too salty.
How many servings does this make?
This makes 2 servings of keto chicken salad. Feel free to double or triple to serve your entire family. I normally just make this for myself for lunch for a couple of days. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
How many carbs in chicken salad?
This varies A LOT. Many store-bought chicken salads add sugar so if you are buying chicken salad instead of making it always read the label.
My keto chicken salad has 1 carb per serving so it is a great choice in place of higher carb chicken salad recipes and store bought salads!
What do I serve with chicken salad?
Bacon Cheddar Ranch Chicken Salad is great served with a fork. I tend to just eat it plain but other times I'll put it inside a low carb tortilla, lettuce leaves, or serve it on top of baby spinach. If you have a low carb bread you like chicken salad sandwiches are delicious too.
You can also serve it on these Cheddar Ranch Keto Biscuits for extra ranch flavor!
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Keto Bacon Ranch Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 10 oz cooked chicken cubed
- ¼ cup mayo
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ½ teaspoon dried dill
- ½ teaspoon parsley
- â…› teaspoon onion powder
- â…› teaspoon garlic powder
- pinch salt
- ¼ cup shredded cheddar
- ¼ cup crumbled cooked bacon
Instructions
- Combine mayo, sour cream, and spices and mix thoroughly.
- Fold in the chicken, bacon, and cheddar.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published May 20, 2016, Revised and republished April 8, 2020.
Mary Thomas says
Could you substitute turkey for the chicken? If so, use the same amount?
Taryn says
Yes and yes.
Enjoy!
Chelsea says
How big is one serving considered?
Taryn says
Half of the recipe.
Jenny Castro says
This chicken salad recipe is sooo delicious! Using 1/2 sour cream and 1/2 mayo adds some zing and lightens up the flavor. I left out the bacon, because I didn't think it actually needed it. Plus, this is a super keto friendly recipe, which I love! The dill really makes this recipe pop! I took a whole rotisserie chicken from the store and made this recipe...and family ate it up..only about 3/4 of cup left after dinner!
Sarah says
Absolutely Delicious 😋!! Best chicken salad I’ve ever had!
Erin says
This was very tasty! Will definitely make it again.
Leigh McMillan Newman says
Easy, delicious, remedy for dry chicken salad! I used rotisserie chicken, dukes mayo, sour cream, and seasonings. I added Chopped Vidalia onions and celery! My new favorite recipe!
Chris says
I made this tonight , made some changes to it and it was so fing gd lol. I added some eggs, onion, green pepper , and pickles plus more seasoning and deff will be making it again.
Candy says
Love Love this!! U killed it girl it's amazing!!
Abi says
Very nice recipe! I don't really like chicken salad but this is making me think again. I made a couple of small change, I used 1.5 ounce of softened cream cheese instead of mayo as I don't like mayo(makes everything too wet). Refrigerated overnight, this is the perfect texture I prefer and tastes delicious. I added way more fresh dill fronds as I love dill! Thanks for the recipe!
Jennifer says
Do you think it would be okay to do an 1/8c cream cheese and 1/8c sour cream? Not a huge fan of sour cream.
Taryn says
Yes
Tammy says
Taryn, what kind of mayo and sour cream do you use?
Taryn says
I like the Just Mayo brand of mayo and I just use the store brand of sour cream or whatever is on sale.
Margaret says
Hello Taryn, just came across your site and really like it. I was wondering if you could add measurements in grams/ml for us Europeans who don't do/understand cups and find measuring in grams/ml more accurate?
Thank you!
Taryn says
Hi Margaret, I've been meaning to look into adding that information. Thanks for the reminder!
Vicky R says
I'm fairly new to Keto but I was craving chicken salad. Boy am I glad I found your recipe!! I didn't have cheddar cheese so I had to use mozzarella and I'm not a fan of dill so I omitted it. This is the best chicken salad EVER!!! Thank you for sharing this 🙂
Ana Elisa says
This is amazing! And totally kept. Thank you for sharing! I put in a little more cheese and bacon and I also sautéed the chicken a little in the bacon grease for a little extra flavor.
lvila says
Delicious!Upped the chicken to 15 oz. I used 4 tbsp mayo, 3 tbsp home made ranch dressing and I did not have sour cream so I replaced it with 3 tbsp of sabra tzatziki dip and it tasted great!
Rachel Kirby says
Is the 552 calories for both servings or just one?
Taryn says
That is just for one serving. The bacon, cheese, and mayo pump up the calories a bit. If you want to reduce them you could cut back on the bacon & cheese and add a little plain yogurt in place of part of the mayo.
Kathryn says
Is it dill seed or dill weed?
Taryn says
Dill weed
ROBIN FIELDS says
This was absolutely the best chicken salad recipe on the face of the planet. Easy and delicious. I added abit of chopped celery for some crunch. While I had mine on a bed of spinach, my non-keto hubby had his rolled up on a flatbread. He gave it a big thumbs up as well
Taryn says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Cozy Cuisine says
Oh My Goodness, this was sooooo delish. I used three precooked grilled chicken breast from HEB. I also added some scallions/green onions. Adding this to my regular menu.
Erica says
How many servings is this? I was thinking four?
Taryn says
I have the nutrition facts calculated for 2 servings. If you put a scoop on top of a green salad it could stretch to 3 or 4 servings.
Susan says
Have you tried adding small cubes of Jicima. It would add a subtle sweetness and a crunch. Love Jicima. Low carb and crunchy.
Taryn says
No, I'm not a big jicama fan. It's too similar to water chestnuts which I always picked out of Chinese food as a child. Lol.
Tab says
Jicama is not actually low carb, just putting that out there
Taryn says
1 cup of jicama has 5 net carbs so it is fairly low carb. Adding a little for crunch isn't a bad idea, although celery may be a better option depending on your diet plan.
Marie Vernon says
Thanks so much for sharing your recipe - a delicious chicken salad! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes😊
april brumm says
so this is an S meal?
Taryn says
Yes