Lemon Basil Chicken Salad (Easy Rotisserie Chicken Recipe)

If there’s a rotisserie chicken in your fridge, you’re about 10 minutes away from a really tasty and inexpensive meal.

This lemon basil chicken salad is one of those recipes I come back to again and again — it’s fast, fresh, and truly satisfying. It’s also one of those rare recipes that actually works for everyone in the house — even when we’re not all eating the same way.

I prefer to eat this chicken salad over arugula or in a keto friendly wrap to keep it low carb, my son (a lean, hungry teenager who is obsessed with protein) typically piles it onto a sandwich, and my husband just does his own thing, depending on how he’s eating at the moment.

Same base chicken salad recipe, different meals — and nobody’s complaining.

I love a recipe like this — just a handful of ingredients (chicken, mayo, lemon, basil, salt, and pepper), about $1.50 per serving, and ready in under 10 minutes. 🙌🏻

Why Use Rotisserie Chicken for this Chicken Salad

Rotisserie chicken is one of the easiest ways to get a high-protein meal on the table without much effort.

This was a Walmart rotisserie chicken that I picked up for $5.99 here in New York. According to the label, it weighed a little over 2 pounds cooked. After breaking it down, I ended up with about 1 pound 6 ounces of usable meat, which is pretty typical for a chicken this size.

(Note: this isn’t a plug or sponsored ad for Walmart, just letting you know where I bought this particular chicken.)

Most grocery store rotisserie chickens fall in that same range, but if you’re buying from Costco, their chickens are usually larger (closer to 3 pounds cooked), so you’ll get even more meat from one of those.

For this recipe, I used the breast meat, which yielded about 3 cups of shredded chicken — plenty for a generous batch of chicken salad.

The bones and other scraps get saved for broth, and the dark meat can be used in soups, casseroles, and pretty much any recipe calling for cooked chicken.

This rotisserie chicken salad recipe tastes luxurious, but is incredibly budget friendly. The full rotisserie chicken costs $5.99, but since this recipe only uses the breast meat, the portion used here comes out closer to about $3–$4.

With the other ingredients, this batch is roughly $5–$7 total — and you still have the rest of the chicken for another meal.

That’s about $1.50 per serving, with 23g of protein — for a low carb lunch recipe this easy, versatile, and delicious? I’ll take it.

Using Other Cooked Chicken

This chicken salad recipe works just as well with:

• leftover grilled or baked chicken
• poached chicken breast
• canned chicken (not my favorite texture-wise, but it works in a pinch)

How to Serve this Chicken Salad

This is one of those recipes that adapts to whatever you need that day.

• Over greens for a quick, low carb meal
• In a wrap for something more substantial
• On a sandwich when you want the classic version

Simple, flexible, and super satisfying no matter how you serve it.

How to Store Chicken Salad

Store this chicken salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, if using freshly cooked chicken.

If your rotisserie chicken has already been in the fridge for a couple of days, subtract that time from the total. In other words, making chicken salad doesn’t reset the clock.

As a general rule, cooked chicken should be eaten within about 5 days of cooking.

This chicken salad is not recommended for freezing, as the texture and flavor won’t hold up well.

Want More Texture?

I kept this version smooth and simple, but if you like a little texture in your chicken salad, there are plenty of ways to change it up.

Try adding:

• Chopped celery (adds crunch with almost no calories or carbs)
• Walnuts, pecans, or slivered almonds (adds richness with minimal carbs)
• Pumpkin seeds (great texture and nutrient boost)
• Diced apple (if carbs aren’t a concern)
• Dried cranberries (same idea — a little sweetness if you want it)

Totally optional — just a way to make it your own.

A Quick Note on Nutrition

I used meat from a rotisserie chicken for this recipe, which tends to be a little higher in fat (and calories) than plain cooked chicken breast.

If you’re using poached or baked skinless chicken breast instead, your numbers will be lower — but both options work great here. If you substitute boneless, skinless cooked chicken breast, you can shave about 40-50 calories off per serving.

This easy chicken salad recipe fits a wide variety of eating plans – it’s keto, low carb, high protein, gluten free, dairy free, nut free, Paleo, Whole30, and Squeaky Clean Keto compliant.