Want an amazing chicken salad recipe for easy meals and snacks? Try this Hawaiian Chicken Salad with pineapple and ham in a sandwich or in lettuce wraps!
This tasty chicken salad recipe is a must for busy school days when you need a quick lunch or snack for the kids.
One of my favorite super easy lunch ideas is making chicken salad with leftover chicken, rotisserie chicken, or canned chicken. Chicken salad takes about 5 minutes to prep and is great for sandwiches, wraps, lettuce wraps, and for dipping crackers.
It just doesn't get easier!
This Hawaiian chicken salad with pineapple is an even more delicious version of chicken salad and I hope you get to try it!
Hawaiian chicken salad ingredients
This chicken salad has just FIVE ingredients, so it almost doesn't get any easier. (Actually, it does, check out my 3-ingredient chicken salad recipe for something even easier and still super flavorful.)
Pineapple and ham
This version is a Hawaiian inspired chicken salad, made with diced ham and diced pineapple mixed in with the chicken salad. The diced ham adds a bit of savory flavor and saltiness to the salad, especially if you can find smoked ham.
The pineapple adds a nice sweetness to the chicken salad dressing and a lovely burst of juiciness in this salad. This is a similar idea to adding grapes to chicken salad, which is a common ingredient. So don't let the pineapple weird you out! Give it a try!
You can use fresh pineapple, but canned pineapple works fine too. If you're using canned pineapple, make sure it's the kind packed in water or 100% juice, you don't want the one packed in syrup. Make sure to get pineapple rings or pineapple chunks, not the crushed pineapple, if using canned pineapple.
Whatever kind of pineapple you use, make sure you dice it up small, about the size of your diced ham so you don't get huge chunks of pineapple in the salad.
What kind of chicken to use for chicken salad
The great thing about chicken salad is that you can use almost any kind of chicken you want:
- Rotisserie chicken - use the chicken breast and add a bit of dark meat and shred or chop it up
- Leftover cooked chicken - shred it with a fork or dice it into small cubes. I LOVE using a sous vide cooker to make shredded chicken for other recipes, it always comes out so juicy and tender!
- Canned chicken - drain it well, and use it for this salad
Other easy recipes using cooked chicken: Savory Chicken Crepes, Cheesy Chicken Stuffed Ciabatta
The other ingredients for this salad are simply diced scallions and mayo. You can add some salt and pepper, or lemon juice if you want, or you can swap half the mayo for plain Greek yogurt.
Other chicken salad add-ins
If you want to switch things up more, you can add any of the following to this salad:
- Finely diced celery
- Finely diced bell peppers, or jalapenos for some kick
- Fresh or dried herbs, such as parsley, oregano, or basil
- Freshly grated Parmesan
- Grated sharp cheddar or Gouda
- Splash of hot sauce (check out my crunchy spicy chicken salad!)
- Toasted slivered almonds
- Sliced grapes
- Dried cranberries
- Paprika or smoked paprika
How to serve this chicken salad
The reason I love an easy chicken salad as a meal is that it's super customizeable for everyone in the family.
My toddler son dips crackers into his chicken salad and has a side of pineapple for lunch.
My husband has his as a sandwich.
I put mine in lettuce wraps, or in a wrap. Or sometimes I convince my husband to go halfsies on the sandwich and lettuce wraps, so that we both get a nice balanced filling meal. 🙂
Either way, this chicken salad with pineapple makes for a super easy meal or snack that our whole family loves. It's also great packed for picnics with crackers, or as a packed lunch because it doesn't need to be reheated (just pack the chicken salad separate from the bread or wraps to keep the bread from getting soggy).
If you end up making this Hawaiian chicken salad with pineapple, please take a picture and tag me on Instagram or Facebook. You can find me at @babaganoshblog on both. I love seeing your creations!
Looking for other easy filling salad ideas and picnic salads?
- 3 Ingredient chicken salad
- Crunchy spicy chicken salad
- Chickpea and chicken salad - another great after school snack or lunch idea!
- Tuna pasta salad
- Shrimp and vegetable couscous salad
- Calamari salad with bell peppers
- Spanish style calamari salad with potatoes
- No mayo potato salad with feta
If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!
Hawaiian Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups cooked chicken - shredded or chopped (see notes)
- 1/2 cup diced or chopped ham - (smoked ham, if you can find it)
- 1/2 cup pineapple chunks - diced (see notes)
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise - or more to taste
- 1 scallion - diced
- Salt and pepper - to taste (start with up to 1/4 teaspoon each)
- Bread, wraps, crackers, or lettuce for serving, and see notes for other optional add-ins for the chicken salad
Instructions
- Combine the chicken, pineapple, ham, mayonnaise, and chopped scallion in a large bowl and mix well. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Serve in a sandwich, in lettuce wraps, in a wrap, or with crackers.
Notes
Ingredient notes:
- Chicken: you can use rotisserie chicken, leftover cooked chicken, or drained cooked chicken
- If you use canned pineapple, make sure it's packed in water or pineapple juice (not syrup), and that it's not crushed pineapple
Other add-ins:
- Finely diced celery
- Finely diced bell peppers, or jalapenos for some kick
- Fresh or dried herbs, such as parsley, oregano, or basil
- Freshly grated Parmesan
- Grated sharp cheddar or Gouda
- Splash of hot sauce (check out my crunchy spicy chicken salad!)
- Toasted slivered almonds
- Sliced grapes
- Dried cranberries
- Lemon juice or lime juice (a splash - up to a tablespoon)
- Paprika or smoked paprika
The nutrition facts estimated are for the chicken salad only, assuming this makes 2 large portions.
Nutrition
The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.
DeLois Haux
Sunday 5th of December 2021
Thank you for this delicious recipe. Chicken salads are one of my favorites. Will most likely add the dried cranberries and finely diced celery
Kate
Thursday 9th of December 2021
Ooh those sound like great additions!
Kells
Monday 5th of October 2020
This was so easy to make and double! I will definitely enjoy this for lunch this week. 😊
Kate
Monday 5th of October 2020
So glad to hear!! It's a go-to recipe around here when I don't feel like cooking.
Ricki McMillin
Wednesday 5th of August 2020
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe.
Kate
Thursday 6th of August 2020
So glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know :)
Ilikea Kaua Avilez
Friday 31st of July 2020
While I have no opposition to this recipe in principle, it's very sad to see people perpetuating this ridiculous stereotype that putting ham and pineapple to a recipe makes it Hawaiian. As a born and bred Hawaiian, if I saw someone back home serving this, my first thought would be a disparaging remark about haole cooking. I myself detest pineapple and while Hawaiians do eat pig, we certainly did not make ham.
Kate
Saturday 1st of August 2020
That's fair, thanks for letting me know. I thought about this before naming the recipe and decided to go with it because it was a quick way to let people know that it contains pineapple and ham... kind of like Hawaiian Pizza, which was actually named that "after the brand of canned pineapple they used" (source from Wikipedia: MAHITA GAJANAN (June 11, 2017). "The Man Who Invented Hawaiian Pizza Has Died". Time.)