Chili Crunch Cottage Cheese Chicken Salad

With summer fast approaching, it’s time for no-cook recipes. And this cottage cheese chicken salad is exactly that. It combines your favorite cooked chicken or chopped rotisserie chicken with chili crunch cucumbers and blended cottage cheese to make a super refreshing meal or snack that’s loaded with protein. Every serving has 19 grams of protein with only 5 grams of fat and 160 calories!

Ingredients and Substitutes

In the photo below, you can see the specific ingredients I used to make this chicken salad. But don’t think you need an exact match. Everything can be customized without any real issues. Let’s run through a few ideas.

Cooked Chicken

Starting with the cooked chicken, I used Trader Joe’s hardwood smoked pulled chicken. The smoky flavor of this chicken works really well with the sweet and spicy flavors of the chili crunch and honey. But you can definitely use pulled rotisserie chicken or any cooked chicken. Just be sure to salt to taste if you’re using a bare bones chicken option.

If you own a pellet smoker or grill, you might consider making something like this chicken salad with a recipe like my Korean BBQ smoked pulled chicken or smoked chicken breast.

Low Fat Cottage Cheese

Cottage cheese is definitely having its moment in the spotlight with everyone looking to eat more protein. As a long time cottage cheese skeptic, blending it to get rid of the curds really changes the game.

I’ve used a combination of potential cottage cheese substitutes in nonfat Greek yogurt and light mayo to make rotisserie chicken salad in the past, but the nutrition profile of low fat cottage cheese is so much better. It’s basically pure protein!

If you’re in doubt, trust me on this one. This chicken salad with cottage cheese is just extra creamy with big flavors from the chili crunch, cucumbers, and other components. You’ll never know it’s there.

Side note: If you’re looking for more things to make with cottage cheese, check out my mac n cheese or protein queso recipes next.

Chili Crunch Cucumbers

Beyond the cottage cheese and cooked chicken, this is where things get fun. I’m a huge fan of cucumber crunch salad and make it every chance I get to serve with dishes like chicken bowls or gochujang beef bowls.

So, I thought it would pair nicely with the cheesy chopped chicken situation. After polling my Instagram followers about its level of weirdness, everyone seemed to be down to try it and here we are!

The recipe calls for seedless cucumbers, either sliced into half moons or diced smaller depending on your preference. I tested both and leaned toward the smaller diced cucumbers for an easier eating experience.

While I used Momofuku chili crunch, you could make this an all-Trader-Joe’s recipe with their chili onion crunch and other components. And the classic Lao Gan Ma chili crisp is always a great option.

I’m also brand agnostic about the trio of soy sauce, honey, and rice vinegar for the most part. Feel free to adjust the amounts used of this trio to fit your flavor preferences.

How to Serve Cottage Cheese Chicken Salad

Pictured here you will see lettuce for lettuce wraps, Trader Joe’s entertainer crackers, and toasted sourdough slices. You will also see everything garnished with extra chili crunch, sliced green onions or chives, and either toasted sesame seeds or sesame garlic crunch.

Additional serving ideas might include baked wonton chips or over a rice or salad bowl. I found everyone in my house worked our way through all the leftovers from testing by snacking with crackers. It’s a super filling snack with all the protein in the chicken and cottage cheese.

If you come up with a different way to serve this cottage cheese chicken salad, I would love to hear about it. Let me know in the comments at the bottom of this post. Don’t hesitate to leave any questions you have about the recipe, ingredients, or anything else there as well. I hope you enjoy this chicken salad!