If you’re looking to change up your chicken salad game, my Creamy Chicken Cucumber Salad is the way to go! It’s tangy, creamy, and with just the right amount of dill. Whether you wrap it in a pita or scoop on a salad, it’s sure to be one you’ll make again and again!
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Tzatziki with a twist
I have been on a chicken salad kick lately! As much as I love my classic deli-style chicken salad, I felt like jazzing it up and have been cranking out new versions, like my honey mustard chicken salad and now this creamy cucumber and dill chicken salad.
Since this one uses Greek yogurt (in place of mayo), cucumber, and dill, it’s reminiscent of a tzatziki sauce. In fact, it’s similar in flavor to my creamy cucumber salad, so you could say that was an inspiration as well!
I love to serve this one scooped on lettuce for a lighter meal, but it’s also excellent in a warm pita. My son thinks it makes a great dip!
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Chicken. I’m using whole chicken breasts that I poach. You can also take a shortcut and use chicken pulled from a rotisserie chicken.
- Greek yogurt. This is a “lighter” version of chicken salad since I’m using 5% fat Greek Yogurt in place of the mayo I use in my other deli salad recipes.
- Cucumber and dill. I’m using an English cucumber, but use any cucumber you’d like, and fresh dill. If you don’t have fresh dill, you can use dried, however, you’d use 1/3 less since dried herbs are stronger than fresh.
- Sugar. Feel free to adjust up, down, or omit entirely. I find that the sugar adds a nice balance to the overall flavor of the creamy cucumber chicken salad.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to poach the chicken
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
Note: For an even quicker meal, skip this process and use meat from a broken down rotisserie or roasted chicken.
- Heat a large saucepan or pot with enough water to submerge the chicken breasts with 3 inches of water and chicken base. Once the water is boiling, add the chicken breasts, cover, and bring back to a boil. Once boiling again, remove the pot from the heat and set aside, covered, for at least 20 minutes to allow the chicken to poach.
- After the chicken is poached, remove from the pot and place on a cutting board. Chop the chicken breasts into chunks and spread out on the board to cool.
- Sprinkle the chopped chicken with the pepper, salt, granulated garlic, and sugar on top of the warm chicken pieces so it absorbs the flavor.
- Once the chicken is cool, add it to a large bowl. If desired, you can use your hands to break up the chicken for a smoother, less chunky consistency. Add the cucumber, onions, Greek yogurt, vinegar, and dill and mix well. Taste test and season with more salt and pepper if needed. Place in the fridge to chill and before serving, drain any excess liquid. You can add more Greek yogurt prior to serving if needed.
Recipe tip
For maximum flavor, chill the creamy chicken cucumber salad in the refrigerator overnight. I recommend doing this with all my deli salad recipes as it allows the flavor to intensify and will taste even better the next day!
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Creamy Chicken Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 3 large chicken breasts about 1 1/2 pounds (680g)
- 2 tablespoons (30g) Better than Bouillon chicken base
- 1/2 cup diced red onion
- 1 large English cucumber seeds removed and cut into 1/4-inch thick half moons
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar plus more to taste
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) white vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups (360g) Greek yogurt plus more as needed
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh dill
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Instructions
- Heat a large saucepan or pot of water with the chicken base so that the chicken breasts will be submerged by at least 3 inches of water.
- Once boiling, add the chicken breasts and cover. Bring back to a boil and once boiling, remove the pot from the heat and set aside for at least 20 minutes.
- Chop the chicken breasts into chunks and spread out on a cutting board to cool. Sprinkle the pepper, salt, granulated garlic, and sugar on top of the chicken pieces so that it absorbs all of the flavor.
- Once the chicken is cool, add it to a large bowl along with the cucumber, onions, Greek yogurt, vinegar, and dill and mix well. Taste test and season with more salt and pepper if required.
- It is highly recommended to cover and refrigerate the salad overnight. The next day, any excess liquid should be drained, and a bit more Greek yogurt can be mixed in before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- Make it faster. Leftover rotisserie chicken or roasted chicken meat can be used in place of the poached chicken.
- Improved flavor. It is highly recommended to refrigerate overnight. The flavor will be far better and the chicken salad can be thoroughly drained to remove excess water. If needed, mix in a touch more Greek yogurt after draining.
- Sweetness. This salad is all about the balance between the acid and sweetness. Increase the sugar if needed or omit completely if you like.
- Leftovers. Creamy chicken cucumber salad can be saved in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Going to give your sauce a try. I haven’t een happy with mine never used a onion,I added a coup.e of fresh basil leaves to mine other wise we pretty much use the same ingredients
Hope you enjoy, Shirl!
Just for clarification – is it white vinegar, not white wine vinegar??
Hi Mary Anne, it’s distilled white vinegar, though you could also use white wine vinegar.
Absolutely loved your recipe for shrimp cocktail and sauce which I prepared for Easter Sunday. The shrimps were succulent while tender. Sauce was spicy and so delicious and almost 3 lbs of shrimps disappeared very quickly. I followed your instructions to the letter and the only change was adding a bit more horseradish and Tabasco sauce. Thank you so much.
Hi Barbara, we’re happy you enjoyed – it would be great if you could leave this comment on the shrimp cocktail recipe (this is the recipe for creamy chicken cucumber salad). Thanks!
Looks delicious, we’re going to try this one soon. One note – it looks like you’ve missed the onions out of the instructions. I assume they go in on step 4?
THank you for catching that, Charles! Yes, it’s step 4 and we’ve updated the recipe to reflect that.
Freshly made it’s very tasty. Looking forward to trying it after the overnight wait. Thank you for posting this one!
So happy to hear that, Charles!
All your recipes that I’ve tried are delicious..keep up the good work and keep em comin✨✨
We’re so happy you enjoyed!
Can you use sour cream instead of Greek yogurt?
Hi Kathy, you can though it has a different taste than Greek yogurt so that can throw it off a little.
I enjoy looking at the recipes. Hopefully I’ll be making some soon.
Plain Greek Yogurt?
Yes, it’s plain Greek yogurt (not flavored).
This sounds delicious! Assume I can sub chicken thighs for breasts?
Yes, you can.
I’ve made this twice-one with dill and Greek yogurt and one with mayo (mixed with 1-2tsp of lemon juice) and tarragon and added shallots and quartered green grapes. Love them both.
So happy you enjoyed!