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Copycat Trader Joe’s Curried Chicken Salad

Copycat Trader Joe’s White Chicken Deli Salad – an easy lunch recipe that’s healthier than traditional chicken salad.

Curried Chicken Salad - a healthier version of classic chicken salad - perfect for lunches!

Wow, wow, WOW!

Holy Stromboli, this stuff is good!

Do you ever wish you could just eat other people’s food? I mean…I do. Can we talk about it?

Periodically, I go through spurts of time that I get a little womp womp over my cooking steez, and need to take breaks to replenish the ol’ creativity tank.

Recipe Development Burnout doesn’t happen to me frequently, but I when it does, I look to other bloggers, cookbooks, and/or restaurants to fuel my inspiration. Enter: copycat recipes. Enter: Trader Joe’s. Enter: the best chicken salad you will ever eat.

Curried Chicken Salad - a healthier version of classic chicken salad - perfect for lunches!

Whenever I go to Trader Joe’s, I make a beeline for their Curried White Chicken Deli Salad. I’d be lying if I said I don’t scarf the whole container in one sitting each and every time.

It just goes down that easy.

The last time I mowed through my coveted salad, I inspected the carton for ingredients and it dawned on me that I should 200% make that stuff at home. And so I did. And so I have a new obsession.

Curried Chicken Salad - a healthier version of classic chicken salad - perfect for lunches!

Chicken, raisins, carrots, green onion, and cashews make up this salad. I used a combo of yogurt and mayo for the dressing to lighten it up a bit and keep things real fresco.

If you want to be a genius, you’ll quadruple the recipe because there’s just no way it will last the night. The next time I make this, I’m going to shred the chicken so that the salad is easier to stick on bread for a chicken salad sandwich. If you’re looking for a quick and easy lunch recipe that you can prepare ahead of time and take to work, you just found it!

If you love protein salads like this, check out my Cucumber Dill Avocado Tuna Salad and my Mayo-Free Egg Salad

This times infinity.

Curried Chicken Salad - a healthier version of classic chicken salad - perfect for lunches!

Copycat Trader Joe’s Curried Chicken Salad

If you've tried Trader Joe's curried chicken salad, you can attest to its deliciousness! This copy cat recipe will get you there!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Total Time: 23 minutes
4 Servings

Ingredients

  • 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, poached for 3 to 8 minutes
  • ¼ cup whole milk Greek yogurt
  • ¼ cup mayonnaise
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon yellow curry powder
  • 3 green onions, sliced
  • ½ cup raw cashews
  • ½ cup raisins
  • 1 cup grated carrot

Instructions

  • Heat a large pot of water and bring it to a full boil. Add the raw chicken breasts and reduce heat slightly. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes (depending on thickness of chicken), or until chicken is cooked through. Place chicken on a cutting board, chop into cubes, and allow it to cool.
  • Whisk together the yogurt, mayo, lemon juice, mustard, maple syrup, and curry powder until well-combined.
  • Add the green onion, cashews, raisins, and grated carrot to a large mixing bowl, along with the cooled chopped chicken. Pour the curry dressing over everything and mix well until everything is coated.
  • Eat in abundance!

Nutrition

Serving: 1of 4 - Calories: 380kcal - Carbohydrates: 24g - Protein: 31g - Fat: 18g - Fiber: 2g - Sugar: 17g
Course: Main Dishes
Cuisine: American
Keyword: copycat recipe, curried chicken salad, healthy chicken salad recipe, paleo, Trader Joe's, Trader Joe’s White Chicken Deli Salad, whole30
Servings: 4 Servings
Calories: 380kcal
Author: Julia

 

Recipe Rating




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Shannon

Saturday 29th of July 2023

Hi I have loved this and been making it for a while now. I would like to know if it can be frozen and will still be fine when thawed out. I was going to leave the cashews out until thawed. Thanks!

Julia

Tuesday 1st of August 2023

I haven't tried freezing this recipe myself so I'm truthfully not sure how it would turn out when thawed. I just googled whether or not chicken salad can be frozen successfully and it looks like the answer is yes. Because there's a decent amount of fat content from the mayo, it should help protect the chicken and thaw nicely. I hope this helps! I'm happy to hear you've made the recipe multiple times, Shannon! That's a win for me!

Laurie

Friday 18th of November 2022

I planned a luncheon around using Trader Joe’s curried chicken salad, but, disappointingly, they had none on the shelf☹️ I came across your recipe and made my own instead. Such a delicious dish!!! No more needing to head to TJ for this….

Julia

Monday 21st of November 2022

Yaaaaay! What a success story! I'm so thrilled to hear it, Laurie! Also psyched to hear there are other people out there who love that TJ's salad as much as I do, lol! xoxo

Bill Sellers

Sunday 9th of October 2022

You can get away with this for Keto if you ditch the cashews for almonds, go real easy on the carrots and make the raisins a rare find in the salad.

Julia

Monday 10th of October 2022

Ah yes, smart thinking! I love the idea of making it low-carb! :)

DMF

Wednesday 26th of May 2021

Has anyone tried freezing this? I am eating mine from TJs right now and thought, hey, I bet someone has figured out this recipe! So thanks for that! If I do quadruple it, tho, I would like to freeze some.

Julia

Wednesday 26th of May 2021

Hi there! I haven't tried freezing the chicken salad yet, but I imagine it would be okay. I would test it with a small amount and see how it thaws...my only concern is that the chicken may be a bit dry after freezing/thawing. It's worth trying a little of it to test it out! Let me know how it goes! xoxo

Rob Wright

Wednesday 24th of March 2021

They take it on and off the shelves and it drives me crazy! I tried this recipe today and it was killer. Swapped in golden raisins and doubled all the ingredients because I really love the stuff. I also opted to season my chicken with SPG and roast in the oven instead of poach. Will be popping a pic for Insta today. @tabletalkagency

Rob at www.tabletalkagency.com

Julia

Saturday 27th of March 2021

Yaaaaas! I'm so thrilled to hear it, Rob! I absolutely love the TJ's curry chicken too. Thrilled you like the recipe as well! xoxo

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