Fashionably Early
Strawberries have been arriving early this year and I’m not mad about it at all. In addition to being one of my favorite warm-weather snacks, I’ve been using strawberries as a featured ingredient in this savory + sweet Strawberry Poppy Seed Chicken Salad. In addition to the sweet red berry, this chicken salad comes packed with poppy seeds, mint, and a delicious dressing enhanced with my favorite French Dijon. It’s the perfect hello to spring weather dish.
How to serve this Strawberry Poppyseed Chicken Salad
I love serving this Strawberry Poppy Seed Chicken Salad on salad greens or lettuce cups. Butter lettuce is my favorite option because it’s sweet leaves are a fantastic compliment to the sweet strawberries in this chicken salad and it’s leaves are sturdy enough to hold plenty of filling.
Easy meal prep
Whether you plan on using your pressure-cooker to prepare the chicken yourself or pick up a rotisserie chicken from the store, this Strawberry Poppy Seed Chicken Salad makes for super easy meal prep that stays delicious for several days. If you choose to prepare this recipe for packable weekday lunches, I suggest packing any lettuce greens separately so they stay as fresh as possible.
These glass storage containers are my favorite meal prep tool for secure transporting and easy stacking. Looking for an upgrade to your kitchen tools? Check out my shop page here for my must have kitchen tools and other Whip & Wander favorites.
Looking for more ways to use strawberries this season?
I love layering strawberries in a parfait with my Grain-Free Granola and a little Paleo Lemon Curd. If you’re looking for additional savory dishes, strawberries make a fun swap for the raspberries in this Kale-Hater’s Creamy Raspberry Kale Salad or the grapes in this French Chicken Salad.
A note for special diets
This Strawberry Poppy Seed Chicken Salad is grain-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, nightshade-free, dairy-free, and low-carb. If made as directed, this recipe is friendly for Keto, Whole30, Paleo, SIBO, and Low-FODMAP diets. It’s net carb count per serving (~2/3 cup) is only 3 carbs.
Looking for a way to lighten this recipe up? If your diet allows for dairy, I’ve had good success swapping half of the mayo in this recipe for Greek yogurt.
Strawberry Poppy Seed Chicken Salad
Prep
Total
Yield 8 portions
Ingredients
- 1 cup mayo
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp poppy seeds
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 1/2 lbs chicken, cooked and shredded (a rotisserie chicken works too!)
- 1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped
- 1 cup green onions, chopped
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- In a large bowl mix together mayo, Dijon mustard, mint, poppy seeds, lemon zest and juice, salt, and pepper.
- Add the shredded chicken, strawberries, green onions, and almonds. Mix together until well combined.
- I like to serve this on top of traditional salad greens or as salad cups using larger lettuce leaves. If you aren't afraid of a few carbs, this is delicious as a sandwich filling too.
Notes
Looking for a way to lighten this recipe up? If your diet allows dairy, I've had good success swapping half of the mayo for Greek yogurt.
Nutritional information on Whip & Wander is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.
Courses Salads & Dressings, Mains
Cuisine American
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1/8 recipes (about 2/3 cup)
Amount Per Serving | ||
|---|---|---|
Calories 376 | ||
% Daily Value | ||
Total Fat 28 g | 43% | |
Saturated Fat 2 g | 10% | |
Cholesterol 129 mg | 43% | |
Sodium 220 mg | 9% | |
Total Carbohydrates 5 g | 2% | |
Dietary Fiber 2 g | 8% | |
Sugars 2 g | ||
Protein 29 g | 58% | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
This looks like a great salad for lunch, brunch or dinner. Healthy and delicious at the same time. The combination of strawberries, poppy seeds and chicken are great!!
The strawberries in our backyard are flowering and look like they’re close to popping, so this will be the perfect salad to use with them! I just love fruit in salads, and that poppy seed dressing sounds like the perfect complement. Thanks for sharing!
My strawberries are just getting their baby berries…I can’t wait to try this healthy salad!
now this is a chicken salad i can get behind. my boyfriend loves chicken salad but i don’t ever make it. I definitely want to try this recipe – it sounds delicious!
I love that you served this salad in lettuce cups. This looks like a perfect lunch or brunch salad.
This salad sounds so fresh and delicious!
Okay, this recipe looked totally up my alley. I love fruit and berries with savoury foods and the combination of strawberries and poppyseeds is awesome. Worked magically with chicken, I have to say. Will be making again!!!
I love using strawberries in savory dishes, this chicken salad looks so delicious and Summery! I’m looking forward to strawberry season here, but that’s still many weeks!
Loving all these flavors together, especially the mint and dijon in the dressing. This is like the perfect spring salad!
With the weather starting to warm up, this looks like a good option for parties too!
This looks super delicious and perfect for the warmer weather that we’re having lately!
That looks like a fantastic light summer meal! I love it. I also love that strawberries are already here. They’re my fav 🙂
With it being so hot already, I’m so craving light and fresh salads like this recipe! I love putting strawberries in salad, so I’ll definitely be trying this out!
This looks perfect for strawberry season! Love the little lettuce cups.
Wow, this looks amazing in the lettuce cups! I love the idea of serving this this summer! Thank you!
I love that you are showing this chicken salad served on lettuce cups. It sounds like a delicious recipe!
This is a great salad for spring! Will be perfect for our Mother’s Day picnic!
Wow love the sweet and savory flavors here!
This is a super delicious salad that screams “Summer” . It’s going to be my go-to all summer long.
I’m totally digging the strawberries right now. And I’m digging the yummy salad these go in. Love it!
The strawberries this year are even better than they have been the last few years too! At least in California! Love this salad setup and the idea of serving it in lettuce wraps! Such a yummy way to enjoy strawberries this summer!
And it’s time for refreshing summer salads again, yay! This one looks so fresh and appetizing with all the berries and greens, love it.
Love this dish so much. Full of flavor and healthy delicious!
This Strawberry Poppy Seed Chicken Salad looks so good. I swear now that I live in a country where strawberries aren’t readily available, I am seeing all these amazing recipes for strawberries.
Oh my! This salad not only looks pretty, but it sounds so yummy!
I’m totally in love with this salad. I have a ton of strawberries to use up as we were given a case by a farmer friend a couple of days ago, plus I have strawberries growing in the garden. Think I’m going to be making this a few times this summer!
Oh this strawberry salad looks so so good.
This looks delicious! Will definitely give this a try. Would be perfect for beach picnic 🧺
I love the add of poppy seeds to this chicken salad, that looks delicious.
This is great timing. We have strawberries in our store now and I am always on the lookout for chicken recipes. Saving this for soon. My husband will be pleased. Thanks for another great recipe!
Strawberries, strawberries – I never get tired of them! Such a wonderful ingredient to cook with – there are always so many delicious recipes you can make – like this delicious salad – yum!
I’ve started to experiment with strawberries in my salads just recently and have been always enjoying something new about my experiments. I can’t wait to try your recipe!
Strawberries and poppy seeds are the best summer flavor combo! I love this easy, tasty salad!
We just bought a house that comes with a HUGE strawberry patch, and we are impatiently waiting for the strawberries to appear. When they do, the first thing I’m making is this strawberry chicken salad! I’m always trying to cut down on carbs, so I love the idea of serving it in lettuce cups. Great recipe!
Yay I’m so happy that strawberry season has started and can’t wait to try this recipe. I love how you served the salad with the lettuce leaves. Thanks for the fabulous recipe!
What a delicious looking and colorful salad – perfect for the summer months! I love adding fruits to salad, look forward to trying this!
Butter lettuce – what a perfect choice for this incredible chicken salad. My family LOVED it. And those storage containers – THANK YOU, they are amazing!!
Strawberry Poppy Seed Chicken Salad is one of my favorites in the spring and summer! I’ve haven’t had it with French Dijon yet but that sounds AMAZING!
Reading this post when I’m hungry is either a terrible or brilliant idea, depending on your perspective. My stomach is literally growling. I think I have almost all the ingredients on hand to make this, including the first actually good strawberries I’ve purchased this year – hallelujah! – so, I have a strong feeling that this salad is going to show up in our kitchen this weekend. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
Strawberry season is here and what better way to have them than a salad that looks as appetising as this one? Your strawberry salad looks too good! It will make for a very refreshing change from the usual salad ideas.
Our family can’t get enough lettuce wraps. I’ve been making a variety of Asian inspired lettuce wraps and just yesterday I thought maybe I should do the same to chicken salad sandwiches. I love how light and refreshing chicken salad is during the hot heat of the summer and replacing the bread with lettuce seems like a winner.
What a perfect salad for the summer! I love using butter lettuce for lettuce cups as well. I’m defniitely adding this one to my summer list
This is my kind of chicken salad! I absolutely love everything about your recipe and I’m so excited to try it out. It just looks so so tasty!
Summer and salad go hand in hand, and strawberries in salad go so well. Perfect for a lunch or BBQ party.
Such a great way to add some springtime sweetness to a favorite savory dish. Super refreshing and a great twist on chicken salad.
This is certainly a super salad for any meal. I can see it at a brunch, lunch, or light dinner. The addition of strawberries and poppy seed really appeals to me and I know the family would love it. Now that it’s strawberry season I can see me making this salad once a week.
I love this so much! I’ve never had chicken salad with strawberries before. It’s always been grapes. Which is awesome and all, but stepping outside of that and dabbling with another fruit is exciting and refreshing. It gets so so hot here in the summertime—to the point where cooking and/or eating anything hot seems like the worst idea in the world. We turn to cold salads and lettuce cups often, so this will be a regular thing this summer!
Fantastic salad recipe! I love putting strawberries into a salad and you really partnered them with great flavours here. I like the idea of subbing in some yogurt for part of the mayo too, but I’m sure it’s delicious either way. And I have to say, as a poppy-seed-lover it’s wonderful to see them used in a savoury dish like this!
The strawberries are so good this year. I’m always looking for more recipes to include them and I love how creative this is. Serving this is lettuce cups is both beautiful and nutritious, great idea! I don’t do mayo, or dairy, but I think a mashed avocado would work well too.
Oh my goodness my toddler would gobble this up! I love the fresh strawberries in this chicken salad and using pre-cooked rotisserie chicken is genius. We are moving into a house this weekend so everything is packed up, but I think we could still make this! Doin it!