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Copycat Trader Joe’s Wine Country Chicken Salad

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This might just be the easiest lunch recipe I have up on the blog. And really, it’s just my interpretation of a recipe I have loved for years: Trader Joe’s Wine Country Chicken Salad. There is something about the sweet-and-tangy sauce, the crunchy pecans and sweet and sour cranberries that makes this chicken salad especially satisfying, and that is what I am ALL about when it comes to lunches! Easy? Check. Satisfying and energizing for my busy day? Check and check again. Did I mention the sauce only has 4 ingredients (not including salt, of course)? You NEED to make this one!

Do you have a favorite Trader Joe’s prepared item you’d like me to recreate?? Let me know over on Instagram! I love me some TJ’s.

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Copycat Trader Joe’s Wine Country Chicken Salad

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Kristin Dovbniak
  • Cook Time: 10
  • Total Time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 3-4 servings
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Ingredients

Sauce: 1/2 cup mayonnaise (I like homemade or avocado oil based) 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp poppyseeds 2 tbsp honey (more to desired sweetness) pinch sea salt

 

Salad:

~3 cups chopped or shredded cooked chicken (rotisserie is the easiest) 1/3 cup finely chopped celery 1/3 cup dried cranberries 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

  1. Whisk sauce ingredients together. Taste for sweetness and add more honey or salt to taste.
  2. Toss together chicken, celery, cranberries and pecans. Mix well with sauce. Taste again and season if necessary.
 

Serve over greens of choice, or as a sandwich or wrap.

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us @healthymamakris. We can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

  1. Raquel Herrera says:
    March 25, 2025 at 9:43 pm

    I I am so excited I can’t wait to make this recipe. I need to get the best rotisserie chicken I have everything but the chicken. Thank you so much!
    Raquel

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  2. Candy says:
    May 14, 2025 at 3:01 am

    I just finished the last of the actual Trader Joe’s salad but my son is sensitive to pecans so I made him this (sans pecans of course) and he loved it! It tasted exactly the same just not as sweet which is even better!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

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