Homemade Copycat Arby’s Chicken & Pecan Salad Recipe tastes just like my favorite menu item at the popular fast food chain. The best part is that it has less sodium because you can control the salt!
For this recipe I actually didn’t grill the chicken breast. I baked it in the oven. It was four boneless, skinless chicken breasts that were slathered with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and baked for about 40 minutes in a 350° oven.
I had taken the chicken out for dinner, ended up eating something else that night, and needed to cook the chicken so it wouldn’t go to waste. So I decided to make my own version of Arby’s Chicken Salad.
I did, however, come up with the idea for this after I ate an Arby’s Pecan Chicken Salad Sandwich. To me it tastes just like the stuff I get at the fast food place. When I eat their version I can’t taste that the chicken was grilled.
In an effort to make this as healthy as possible I also used half light mayonnaise and half plain yogurt, low fat of course. I try to do that whenever possible and a lot of times I find the tanginess of the yogurt to be a nice addition.
This easy chicken salad has all sorts of tasty ingredients. The crunch of the celery and apple chunks, the sweetness of the red grapes, the tender and tasty chicken, and the tangy sauce make this delicious and refreshing.
Ingredient Notes
See recipe card for exact amounts.
Diced Chicken – grilled, baked in the oven, store-bought rotisserie chicken, leftover chicken, or even canned chicken can be used.
Red Grapes – cut them in half or quarters, depending on the size of the grapes.
Pecans – cut into small pieces. You can substitute chopped walnuts if you want.
Creamy Mayonnaise – your favorite brand or Miracle Whip. I am team mayo and Lee is team Miracle Whip so we take turns using both! Fun fact – we use low fat mayo or mayo made with olive oil, but we use regular Miracle Whip. You can use regular mayonnaise if you want. Or, if you aren’t a fan of mayonnaise you can use all yogurt, although I haven’t tried this.
Low-fat Yogurt – we do not use Greek yogurt in this because we want a thinner consistency.
How to Make my version of Arby’s Chicken Salad
- Mix the mayonnaise and yogurt in a small bowl.
- Chop the chicken, grapes, celery, pecans and apples.
- Add chicken, grapes, apples, celery pecans, and mayonnaise mixture to a large bowl tossing to combine.
That’s it!
How to serve this creamy chicken salad
Make a sandwich. Serve on thick sliced honey wheat bread, submarine bun, or sourdough bread with a couple of pieces of fresh lettuce. While Arby’s doesn’t add them, you could add red onion or avocado slices if you want to.
Put a big cup of chicken salad on a bed of lettuce.
Make lettuce wraps using Romaine lettuce.
Fill a large tortilla to make wrap.
Tips & Tricks
Make sure you let the grapes dry after washing them. You don’t want your chicken salad to be runny.
Clean the stalks of celery by wiping them with a wet paper towel. This will get any dirt off without making it too wet.
Chop the apples last then quickly toss everything together. Apples brown pretty easy and you don’t want that!
Store in an air-tight container for about 3-4 days, five tops.
More copycat recipes
Olive Garden Creamy Italian Dressing
More sandwiches recipes
Grilled Turkey Avocado Ranch Cream Cheese
We hope you like this chicken salad recipe as much we do. The best part is that you can make it at home because it is a seasonal item only available at Arby’s for a limited time.
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Copycat Arby’s Chicken & Pecan Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups chicken breast cooked and cut into chunks
- 1 cup red grapes halved or quartered, depending on size
- 1 cup red apple chopped
- 1 cup celery chopped
- ½ cup pecans chopped
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup plain lowfat yogurt
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Mix the mayonnaise and yogurt in a small bowl.½ cup mayonnaise, ½ cup plain lowfat yogurt
- Put the first five ingredients into a large bowl, add mayonnaise mixture, dash of salt and pepper, toss to coat. Add more salt and pepper if necessary.4 cups chicken breast, 1 cup red grapes, 1 cup red apple, 1 cup celery, ½ cup pecans, salt, pepper
- Serve on a bed of lettuce or bread with lettuce, if desired.
Notes
Bookmark this page to find it quickly when you are ready to make this recipe!
Nutrition
Can you use Greek yogurt?
Absolutely, it might come out a little thicker but that would be okay.
Thanks for the yummy recipe and suggestion for the yogurt. I had to change it up a little because we live in Alaska and was making this spur of the moment, so I had peach yogurt that turned out to be a yummy substitute and I didnt have apples but I did have strawberries so I substituted. It was really light and refreshing on this hot Alaska day… 68 degrees. LOL. Thanks, Mindy!
Great job improvising, sounds very refreshing!
I was trying to duplicate this Arby sandwich from memory, having not eaten it for a while. I dislike celery so I substituted water chestnuts. Nice and crunchy. But I forgot about the pecans. I will definitely add them to what I have left. I’ve had it both on bread in a foldover sandwich and in an iceberg lettuce wrap. Both were delicious, and filling. Thanks.
Water chestnuts are a great idea as a sub for the celery. The pecans are also a great addition. We like them on bread and lettuce too, thanks for commenting!
Mindy, thanks so much for sharing this wonderful chicken salad recipe with me.
You are very welcome, enjoy!
I am going to have to make this. I love Arby’s chicken salad. They brought it back this summer but just discontinued it last week. (That was a sad day) I always got mine made as a wrap. So delicious!!
I love making it but I also like getting it out when I’m on the go, so that’s a bummer. Thanks for stopping by!
Mindy. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe and for coming up with a healthier version. We love this chicken pecan sandwich so much that we buy it at least 2-3 times a week. Now I can make my own instead of buying it all the time.
It is delicious, isn’t it? Thanks for stopping by!
Very good recipe. I used Hellman’s mayo. Pretty delicious. Close to the same thing.
I love Hellman’s mayo! Glad you liked it.
Thank you.
Always trying to do something defferent.
8bbBhi Mindy. My wife and I love this sandwich from Arbies. We had one yesterday. My wife was saying How much she likes it so I suggested she look it up. We found your rescipi and I am eager to try it. I do all the coking in our house so I really look forward to trying yours. Thank you.
Now you can enjoy it at times when it is out of season. Thanks!
They always have it it just gets promoted then. But that was when I was managing a store.
It is only available in my area seasonally.
Really like it in the wrap as well ! I made it to the recipe except I substituted rotisserie chicken from Sam’s Club and it turned out delicious
Great shortcut to use rotisserie chicken. I’m glad you like it!
Do you have any calorie information and if I use greek yogurt instead will it work?
I submit some of my recipes to this site https://www.myrecipemagic.com/arbys-grilled-chicken-pecan-salad-copycat-2502090275.html and they post the nutritional information for the whole recipe. I think it will work using all greek yogurt, but I’m not sure. If you make it with all yogurt let me know how it turns out.
Thanks, Mindy
Can i use walnuts instead of pecans
Yes, walnuts will be delicious in this chicken salad!
Loved the Chicken, Pecan sandwich couple of years ago. The past couple of years, I stopped ordering them because they cut the extras…apple, grapes, celery, pecan, whatever. All they are now is a chicken sandwich with one or two pieces of apple, grapes, celery, or pecans. Found this at two different Arby’s.
It seems like this happens a lot. You try something, like it, and before you know it they change it on you. I often wonder why they do this. To save money, maybe? Thanks for stopping by!
Reading post got agonizing…How many times do you have to tell people about mayo and yogurt and why you did it ☺
That’s okay, I don’t mind!
Had one of these at Arbys last week. I am making your recipe tonight. Thank you
Sooooi very much. It’s good. It’s healthy, and in this 90 deg +weather its so refreshing
❤
I had one last weekend at Arby’s too! Thanks for stopping by.
Former employee, they didn’t use yogurt. Just a lot of Kraft brand mayo
I explain in the post that my version is a little better for you than Arby’s version because I use less salt and replace part of the mayo with yogurt. I like making my own “copycat” versions of popular foods that I get out to make them better for me and more economical.
How many people would this recipe feed if sandwiches were made?
We usually get between 6 and 8. I like to put enough on so it is a good serving, but not so much that it falls off before I can eat it. I hope this helps.
Arby’s doesn’t salt the chicken salad
That’s the thing about copycat recipes, you do the best you can to come up with a recipe similar, it’s nearly impossible in most cases to come up with the exact recipe. I know I feel like I have eaten salt after I eat a sandwich from Arby’s.
Oops! I meant Arby’s – lol
I used a low (45) calorie wheat bread. I think Arby’s used a Honey Wheat bread for their Market Fresh sandwiches. I also swapped out half the mayo for plain lowfat yogurt in an effort to make this a bit healthier than Arby’s.
Hi Mindy! This looks delicious. 🙂 Yummy. I have a question, what is the bread? Is that sourdough? What did Arnie’s use? Thanking you in advance!
I like to put it on king hawiann rolls.
That sounds good, chicken salad sliders!
I used to work at Arby’s and this sounds just about right! They only do it in the summer since that’s when the ingredients are in season. I’m about to try to make it for my boyfriend, hope it turns out the same!
I did change it up a bit by swapping out half the mayo for plain yogurt in an effort to make it a bit healthier. But it is yummy, I hope you and your boyfriend like it as much as we do. Thanks!
This sounds legit! Grapes… Yum, we like to add a lil’ sweetness to chicken salad! If you ever want to make it less healthy, try subbing out the healthy yogurt for cream cheese… sooo creamy. Thanks for sharing!!!
Now that sounds good, I’ll have to try it sometime. Thanks!
I love arby cjicken pecon salad unfornatly our arbys stoped it on the menu….i would eat that all summer long daily ….im mad they took it off menu….glad i found this receipe to make at home ….thank u ……
I’m upset they took it off the menu, too! Although I make it at home, I still liked being able to get it out. Thanks!
Thanks for posting recipe. I was all set for Arby’s to bring back their chicken salad for summer and my Arby’s said they won’t have it anymore. Oh no! This will keep me from going into withdrawal…Haha!
That is a bummer! Although I like making it myself, I also like that it is (was) and option if I wanted to just pick something up. They have done away with the waffle fries as well-(makes sad face). At least we can make it ourselves. Also, I use half mayo and half plain yogurt to make it a little healthier, for a more authentic taste I just use all mayo sometimes. Thanks for stopping by!
Everything is correct except the yogurt. Arby’s never uses yorgurt!
This is my way of making this dish a little healthier (I explained that in the post). Thanks!
They look so inviting.Wish i could grab one from my screen right away..
I wish you could too! Thanks
I actually NEED to eat more salt because of VERY low blood pressure…but I keep forgetting to add salt in my food plus, I don’t like too salty food. So can’t wait to try this beauty!
I see why you don’t like foods too salty, I am the same way! Food has such good taste to begin with that is doesn’t need too much salt. Good luck with your blood pressure, hopefully it will get better soon.