Chicken Salad with Green Olives
This Keto Chicken Salad with Green Olives will be a hit with green olive fans and olive brine added to the dressing makes it extra tasty! And everyone who’s a big green olive fan will love this salad.
PIN this tasty Chicken Salad with Green Olives so you can make it later!
I first made this colorful and tasty Chicken Salad with Green Olives years ago and it was an idea that just popped into my head when I had leftover rotisserie chicken and green olives in the fridge. But now that I’ve discovered the packages of rotisserie chicken breast at Costco I’ve been making it regularly because I LOVE green olives. But let me say right up front, people who don’t like green olives probably aren’t going to like this salad.
Of course people who are fellow green olive fans will love everything about this salad, including the trick of adding some green olive brine to the dressing that I think makes the salad really a wow. This is a perfect salad when you just don’t want to eat anything hot, but I’ve even made it during the holidays for a red-and-green salad. The salad has crunch from the celery, creaminess from the mayo, and amazing flavor from the green olives, chicken, and tangy dressing. Try this out on the green-olive fans in your life and I promise it’s going to be a hit!
What ingredients do you need?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- cooked chicken breast
- celery
- large green olives with pimento
- green onions
- mayo
- green olive brine (liquid from the jar)
- fresh squeezed lemon juice, I used my fresh-frozen lemon juice
- Dijon Mustard (affiliate link)
- Celery Seed (affiliate link), optional, but good
- salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste (see notes)
What kind of green olives did I use?
For this salad with green olives I used the large Spanish Queen Olives from Costco, but any green olives where you enjoy the flavor would be fine for this salad.
Want more ideas for salad with green olives?
If you’re a fellow green olive fan, check out Tuna Macaroni Salad with Green Olives (with low-carb pasta), Lentil Salad with Green Olives, or Egg Salad Pita with Green Olives.
More Recipe Ideas for Rotisserie Chicken:
If you’re buying that pre-cooked rotisserie chicken regularly, check out 20 Keto Chicken Salad Recipes for even more ways to use it in salads!
How to Make Chicken Salad with Green Olives:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Here’s that amazing rotisserie chicken breast from Costco (and my grocery store has a similar product) if you want to make the salad easier to make. (Check the actual recipe for instructions for cooking chicken if you’re making it that way.)
- Cut up 4 cups of diced chicken pieces.
- Slice the green olives; If you have large green olives, they’ll look prettier.
- Cut up one cup chopped celery.
- Slice green onions to make 1/2 cup.
- Whisk together mayo, green olive brine, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, celery seed, salt and pepper.
- Toss together the chicken, celery, and green onion and toss with the dressing.
- Then carefully stir in the sliced green olives and serve. (Season with a little salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste.)
- This will keep in the fridge for several days, but you may not have any leftovers!
More Low-Carb Salads with Chicken:
- Greek Chicken Salad with Peperoncini
- Holiday Chicken Salad (with red and green colors)
- Chicken and Avocado Salad with Lime and Cilantro
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Chicken Salad with Green Olives
Shredded Chicken Salad with Green Olives is a delicious low-carb salad and adding green olive brine to the dressing makes this extra flavorful!
Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded into bite-sized pieces (see notes)
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 cup large green olives with pimento, sliced into crosswise slices
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions (see notes)
- 2/3 cup mayo
- 1 T green olive brine (liquid from the jar)
- 1 T fresh squeezed lemon juice (see notes)
- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp. celery seed (optional, but good)
- salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste (see notes)
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. You'll need about 4 cups of diced chicken pieces.
- Drain green olives if needed and then slice the green olives; If you have large green olives, they'll look prettier in the salad.
- Cut up enough celery to make one cup chopped celery.
- Slice green onions to make 1/2 cup.
- Whisk together mayo, green olive brine, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, celery seed, salt and pepper to make the dressing.
- Toss together the chicken, celery, and green onion and toss with the dressing.
- Then carefully stir in the sliced green olives, season with salt and fresh-ground black pepper, and serve.
- This will keep in the fridge for several days, but you may not have any leftovers!
Notes
You can buy cooked rotisserie chicken for this salad or cook your own. If you’re cooking chicken breasts to make the salad, trim all fat and tendons from two very large chicken breasts. Put them in a small pan with enough water to cover, bring to a low simmer and cook about 15 minutes, or until chicken feels firm to the touch. Let chicken cool in the water, then drain.
You can use less green onion if you prefer, but I love a lot of onion in this salad. I would use my fresh-frozen lemon juice for this recipe. I didn’t use much salt because the olives are salty.
Recipe created by Kalyn.
Nutrition Information
Yield
6Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 350Total Fat 27gSaturated Fat 4gUnsaturated Fat 22gCholesterol 70mgSodium 965mgCarbohydrates 4gFiber 2gSugar 1gProtein 23g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Everything in this tasty Chicken Salad with Green Olives is a low-carb ingredient, and this salad should be a healthy option for low-carb or Ket diet plans, or for all phases of the original South Beach Diet. Use mayo or light mayo, whichever fits your eating plan.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Salad Recipes to find more recipes like this one Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This salad with my favorite green olives was first posted in 2011! The recipe was last updated with more information in 2023.
56 Comments on “Chicken Salad with Green Olives”
Thank you. I”m going to try this one. Looks so good!
Glad you like it Dianne!
It’s quite a bit, I am guessing close to six cups
I’ve seen that bag of rotisserie chicken at Costco. How many cups would you say is in the bag?
So glad to hear you enjoyed it.
Made this as is last year after Thanksgiving. Love. It! …and I don’t like green olives…
Made it last week again, then, this week, I had leftover roast, and made it up like this. Since it was a precooked roast there was a tad of a vinegar flavor to it. For me????…., the taste was a little “off,” so I needed something to challenge the vinegar qualities in the roast.
This. Was. Spot. On!!!!
Well, I sub some Greek yogurt, but that’s not the magic here.
So good! Received well by all.
Should make this salad up with whatever meat is in the fridge that needs used up..
….and take it along for picnics the rest of the year.
Yum!
Thank you!!!!!!
This is delicious. I made it fast and easy though. Used cubes of roasted turkey from the deli, used jarred olive muffuletta salad, and celery salt and onion powder. I didn’t skimp on the Dijon mustard. Thank you for the recipe. I will make it the “real” way too.
I love the idea of using jarred olive salad; glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Great recipe. My hubby liked it too. Served over torn romaine lettuce. Sprinkled with paprika. Added to each serving bowl 3 cherry tomatoes, 5 unsalted cashew nuts and small pinch of shredded cheddar. Yum!!!
So glad you enjoyed!
Quick, easy and delicious!
Will definitely make again.
I’d make a meal out of this, but maybe that’s just me. If you’re talking about something to add to make it a main dish meal, I’m not sure about that. But you could eat it inside low-carb pita bread, or just serve another veggie salad on the side. I am a fan of arugula, so I would love this with My Favorite Baby Arugula Salad. Other than that I am not coming up with ideas to bulk up the salad.
Kalyn, I love your take on chicken salad!! Pinning now.
Thanks Melissa, so glad you like it!
Hi Kathleen,
When I started my blog I was faithfully following The South Beach Diet. My way of eating has evolved a little since then to simply more carb-conscious eating, but there is a page with South Beach and Low-Carb Diet Info on the blog where you can find a link to that book, plus more information that you might find helpful.
Wow, looking yummy, will surely try it,thanks for sharing 🙂 do visit my blog too for more yummy recipes
Thanks Vidya, glad you like it.
We love chicken salad, so this is a lovely 'side dish' which I'll definitely make sometime soon. I however, usually make chicken salad for sandwiches….which I serve on croissants – w/butter lettuce. Your recipe sounds scrumptious, so I'll definitely give it a try. I'll chop everything a bit finer (for the sandwich filling), and I'll also add in about 1 Tbsp. of finely sliced green onions (or very finely diced sweet onion) into it. Even 1 Tbsp. of finely chopped (fresh) Italian parsley wouldn't hurt this recipe a bit. I was happy to read that my family and I are not the only ones who love olives, since I use olives pretty liberally in many of my dishes.
I love olives in anything, so you're not alone! The recipe does have 1/2 cup of thinly sliced green onion, not sure if you noticed that. But there are endless ways to adapt this I'm sure.
This sounds awesome and will make it tomorrow and make every few days as we are doing the no carb/protein and this is great to have in the fridge and have a couple spoons every 2-3 hours or in a lettuce leaf.
Hard to find a good chicken salad recipe but this is a winner and similar to how I make tuna and salmon salad. Thanks so much!
Kathleen, so glad you like it!
We have a few in the family that need a special diet, this will be a hit with them.
Amy, so glad you like it!
I love this recipe! I tried it with 1/3 cup light mayo, and 1/3 cup Fat Free greek yogurt and it was just as delicious!
Cindy I haven't made it with yogurt, but I can't see why it wouldn't work.
Yum, I think I may try this tomorrow for lunch! Has anyone tried subbing Nonfat plain Greek yogurt for part of the mayo? (not all of it but maybe half?) I have some FAGE 0% in the fridge and some Kirkland Canned Chicken (the best!) but don't want to ruin my chicken if anyone has tried the yogurt and it hasn't worked out.
So glad you're enjoying it. It's definitely one of my favorites too.
I have been looking for a really good chicken salad that included green olives. This one is by far my favorite! My husband (a chicken salad junkie)and I make it all the time now. Thanks so much for sharing!
Ranee, so glad you enjoyed it!
We love this recipe. Easy to make quickly for lunch if you come home for lunch. I have made it twice and this time I added some extra protien to it with a rinsed can of chickpeas and then we ate it overtop some sliced tomato. Really Yummy!! My husband doesn't like things made with mayo really but he loved this!
Ranee
Dara, so glad you liked it! And yes, you could definitely leave out the onions or use less for more olive flavor!
Hi Kalyn, made this tonight and loved it. It was hard not eating it all at once (let alone not just eating all the olives before they made it into the dish). I'm going to leave out the onion next time so the olives really shine through the most. Thank you!
You are so welcome; and thanks for letting me know you enjoyed it so much!
One of the best chicken salads I've ever made! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe
Glad you liked it!
Just made it and love it, thanks.
I just know that I am going to love this. Merry Christmas!!
CJ, thanks so much. (And I agree, this would make a great potato salad. My mom always put celery seed in potato salad, which is where I learned to like it so much.)
I am a sucker for anything with olives. This salad recipe sounds delicious!
I use celery seed often in dressings too. With that hit of dijon and lemon and the briny tang of the juice. Oh yum!
I know it wouldn't be South Beach friendly, but I think this would make a gorgeous potato salad for a summer picnic too. Kalyn, I love writing and your recipes. And, as you can see, you also give me recipe inspiration.
So glad to hear you enjoyed it!
When I saw this yesterday, I knew I had all the ingredients and rushed home to make it for my mom and me. We loved it, just as a salad. But as a wrap (suggested by someone else) would be wonderful, too!
M- So glad you liked it. (And how I wish I had a fresh tomatoes here!)
I made this today. We are loving the taste. It was great with a fresh tomato.
Now my mouth is watering, nice one.
Anne
So glad people are liking this idea. And yes, I can imagine eating this in a tortilla or even as a lettuce wrap.
This is definitely my kind of recipe – especially since I always seem to have a forgotten half jar of green pimento olives in the fridge or a dusty jar languishing in the pantry. Thanks for the inspiration on what to do with green olives besides eat them straight out of the brine! (Great idea putting a little into the salad. I love to do that with kalamata olive juice.)
I am a HUGE fan of briny flavors and I would love to make a sandwich or wrap out of this!
Karina, we were typing comments at the same time. (How I wish I could reply directly in the comment.) Thanks for the nice thoughts about the new design. I am loving it!
Erika, isn't that a great new feature. So glad you're enjoying seeing the photos All credit goes to the team at Blogger. I did write to them about it, but they did all the work of making the change. I'm not sure how many people know about it yet, but I am loving it!
Just stopped by to tell you how much I love that the feed posts have an image in them now – thank you!
Looks so fresh and inviting. Delicious! And I love your new blog look- I know I've said that before, but- just wanted to give you props again on your re-design.
Wow, that was fast! So glad you enjoyed it.
I just made this for lunch, and it's absolutely delicious. Thank you for posting this recipe!
Yum! I have been wishing for a "not sweet" chicken salad lately. Can't wait to try this one!
What a festive green-red palette, perfect for the holidays!
Okay, Kalyn – you have hit the mark with this chicken salad. Chicken, mayo, green olives – absolutely perfect!