Crock-Pot Chicken Salad combines the ease of the slow cooker with the healthy benefits of tasty chicken salad. These wraps come together quickly. Serve hot or cold on lettuce wraps!
If you’ve been looking for a quick and easy healthy recipe with tons of flavor, you will love these Crock-Pot Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps!
David and I tend to overindulge during the weekend, so we always welcome light, healthy meals during the week. This recipe is a great option and checks all the boxes for healthy weekday living.
Life’s all about balance, right?
I love how easy the slow cooker makes this recipe, especially during the workweek. Most of the work is done before you get home and the house doesn’t have to get hot from roasting chicken in the oven.
Let’s make some Crock-Pot Chicken Salad!
Cook the Chicken in the Crock-Pot
Combine the ease of use of your slow cooker with the healthy low-carb benefits of eating chicken salad inside a lettuce wrap. Fill the crock-pot with a whole chicken, granny smith apples, onions, garlic, and bacon, slow cook for 5 to 6 hours, until the chicken is fall off the bone tender in a rich smoky broth.
After that, shred the chicken and top with the tangy sauce, green onions, sweet mini pepper slices, pickles. Add a dash of dried crushed red pepper flakes for a spicy kick.
A Healthy and Low Carb Way to Eat Chicken Salad
Lettuce wraps are light, lean, and a tasty way to spice up your next lunch or dinner. Lose the bread and the extra calories by substituting lettuce instead. These wraps are a great way to please anyone, whether they are on a low-carb diet or not. The lettuce allows the chicken salad to sing!
About the Sauce
Instead of combining traditional chicken salad dressing with the chicken, the sauce for this recipe is meant to be drizzled over the chicken. However, you can treat it like a chicken salad dressing and mix it with the chicken before adding the chicken to the lettuce wrap.
Ingredients Needed
- Vegetables: yellow onion and garlic
- Apple: Granny Smith apples are best for this chicken salad. They have a tartness that really sets of the chicken salad without too much sweetness.
- Meat: Bacon, Whole Chicken
- Seasonings: Apple cider vinegar, cayenne pepper, kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- For the Salad: Mayonnaise (Can use sour cream or plain Greek Yogurt instead)
- The Lettuce Wraps: Romaine, Butter Lettuce or Radicchio leaves
- Suggested Toppings:
- green onions sweet
- mini-pepper slices
- chopped pickles
- crushed red pepper flakes
How To Make Crock-Pot Chicken Salad
- Add The Ingredients: the whole chicken, vinegar, and water into the crock-pot. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Next, add the onion, apple, garlic and place the strips of bacon over the top.
- Slow Cook: Cover and cook on LOW 5 to 6 hours or until the chicken is tender, done, and pulls from the bone.
- Cool: Carefully remove the chicken from the crock-pot and allow it to cool. At this point the chicken may be so tender it falls apart as you take it out. Use caution and watch out for spattering juicy chicken!
- Remove the Bones and Shred: When the chicken is cool enough to touch, remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin and bones; shred the chicken.
- Strain: Using a fine wire sieve, carefully pour the cooking liquid into a large measuring cup; discard solids.
- Let the cooking liquid stand for about 10-minutes.
- You should see the fat separate into a glossy layer over the top of the cooking liquid. Skim the fat. Reserve about a ⅓ cup of the cooking liquid.
- Pour the remaining cooking liquid onto the shredded chicken and toss.
- Make the Sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, cayenne pepper, the reserved cup cooking liquid, and the remaining vinegar; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Assemble: Assemble the lettuce cups, by spooning some of the shredded chicken into lettuce leaves and drizzle with the sauce. Add toppings and enjoy!
How Long Does Chicken Salad Last?
You can safely store this chicken salad for 3-4 days, sealed tightly in the refrigerator. I do not recommend freezing chicken salad of any kind.
We both loved these chicken salad lettuce wraps. There were a lot of different pops of flavor. The chicken is slightly smoky from the bacon, the sauce is tangy, and you get hits of spice and sweetness from the pickles. The flavors are unique together!
I hope you will like this light and lean recipe as much as we did.
Other Salad Recipes You May Like
Crock-Pot Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion cut into wedges
- 1 Granny Smith apple cut into wedges
- 6 garlic cloves smashed
- 4 bacon slices uncooked thick, chopped
- 4 pounds whole chicken
- ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar + 1 ½ teaspoons divided
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- ⅔ cup mayonnaise
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 12 leaves romaine butter lettuce or radicchio leaves
Optional Toppings:
- green onions
- sweet mini-pepper slices
- chopped pickles
- red pepper flakes
Instructions
- First, add the whole chicken, ⅓ cup vinegar, and ½ cup water into the crock-pot. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Next, add the onion, apple, garlic and place the strips of bacon over the top.
- Cover and cook on LOW 5 to 6 hours or until the chicken is tender, done and pulls from the bone.
- Carefully remove the chicken from the crock-pot and allow it to cool. At this point the chicken may be so tender it falls apart as you take it out. Use caution and watch out for spattering juice!
- When the chicken is cool enough to touch, remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin and bones; shred the chicken.
- Using a fine wire sieve, carefully pour the cooking liquid through it into a large measuring cup; discard solids. Let the cooking liquid stand for about 10-minutes. You should see the fat separate into a glossy layer over the top of the cooking liquid. Skim the fat – Reserve about a ⅓ cup of the cooking liquid. Pour the remaining cooking liquid onto the shredded chicken and toss.
- In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, cayenne pepper, the reserved ⅓ cup cooking liquid, and the remaining 1 ½ teaspoons vinegar; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Assemble the lettuce cups, by spooning some of the shredded chicken into lettuce leaves and drizzle with the sauce. Add toppings and enjoy!
ohiocook says
That looks soooo good!
The Mountain Kitchen says
Thank you! These are a quick and easy way to cut carbs. Happy New Year!
Debbie - Mountain Mama says
I think this will fit in rather well with my weight watchers – sounds awesome, mountain sister!
The Mountain Kitchen says
Thanks Debbie. Good luck with your Weight Watchers. My BFF lost lots of weight on that program.
Rachel says
Hahaha I pretty much always overindulge too. These look like the perfect thing to balance it out!
The Mountain Kitchen says
Thanks Rachel! I hope your feeling better after getting your teeth pulled. Good way to not overindulge, eh?
Colleen says
So yummy sounding! I have yet to do a whole chicken…one day!!!
The Mountain Kitchen says
Thanks! It didn’t work out the last time I tried… The only thing I didn’t like was that it fell apart so much that it was hard to get all the small bones out. Mine sat on warm after cooking all that time until I could get home so that’s why. I will do this again next time i need shredded chicken. I just won’t cook or let it sit as long.
Kloe's Kitchen says
These look absolutely delicious!!!! It might be a recipe all 9 of my sibs and parents would like! 🙂 So I might have to save it and make it this week. Thanks for sharing! Also, what a lovely blog you have! I love the title. Where do you live? That mountains are such an amazing thing. We live in the Ozarks, but I have always wanted to go to the Rockies. 🙂
The Mountain Kitchen says
Thank you for the kind words, Kloe! I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Northern Virginia. We are about 15 minutes from the north entrance of Skyline Drive. My husband David and I want to go to the Rockies too! We’ve only seen them from the air.
Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy the recipe!
Debbie