Creamy Chicken Teriyaki Salad – a Healthier Twist on Chicken Salad

This Creamy Teriyaki Chicken Salad is a delicious, lightened-up twist on classic chicken salad. It’s a recipe I could eat every day and never get tired of it. 

I made this Creamy Chicken Teriyaki Salad 3 times in two weeks – and each time we had leftovers for the next day. That means, in 14 days, we had Creamy Teriyaki Chicken Salad for 6 dinners. It is that good. 

Plus, the amount of mayo is significantly reduced from classic chicken salad, so it’s much lower in fat. If you want to reduce the sugar, grab a low sugar/no sugar bottled teriyaki sauce, too.

If you want all the tips, tricks and special info on this recipe, keep reading. Otherwise you can Jump to Recipe.

Shredded Chicken – Prep Ahead

This Creamy Teriyaki Chicken Salad makes a fantastic lunch for work or for home. But if I’m making it for lunch, I want it to be quick. Minus the chicken, this recipe requires no chicken. So if the chicken is prepped ahead, then it’s easy to just throw this recipe together and eat (and there will be leftovers for other days, too!). Plus it makes great prep for other recipes too!

My favorite way to prep shredded chicken: I have my husband smoke 2 or 3 whole chickens in the smoker with applewood or mesquite wood chips. We shred the chicken and divide it into 2-cup bags. I usually get 5 or 6 bags from each chicken.

Simpler ways (and faster) to prep shredded chicken: Throw boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the slow cooker or air fryer or Instant Pot to cook. Season with salt and pepper. Shred and bag.

Ingredients for Creamy Teriyaki Chicken Salad

Obviously you’ll need that shredded chicken you worked so hard to make. You’ll also want to pick up fresh celery and a red or yellow bell pepper, a can of crushed pineapple, a bottle of teriyaki sauce (or you could make homemade sauce), some chopped pecans and mayonnaise.

You can use fat free mayo if you really want to cut the fat out, but I don’t like it because it has a lot of extra additives in it. 

Extra veggies can be added too: cucumber, shredded carrots, or soybeans would all be delicious in it!

There are lots of different options for ways to serve and eat this Creamy Teriyaki Chicken Salad, so make sure you grab something to serve it on or with. You can get lettuce wraps, sandwich thins, crackers, wraps, pita breads, avocados, or anything else you can dream up!

My husband’s favorite is toasted Hawaiian bread, and my favorite is an avocado half.

Making the Teriyaki Chicken Salad

Toss 2 cups of shredded chicken with 1/2 cup of teriyaki sauce. 

Dice 1 stalk of celery and the whole bell pepper. Drain the crushed pineapple ; press down on them with the back of a spoon to drain out extra moisture. 

In a large bowl, toss the chicken, celery, bell pepper, half of the pineapple and 1/4 cup of chopped pecans together. Add 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and 1/2 cup of teriyaki sauce and mix well. 

Next, taste and add more pineapple if desired. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Serve over your bread or vegetable of choice. 

Refrigerate the leftovers. They’ll stay good in the fridge for about 2 days; after that, the pineapple makes the salad pretty watery.