Low Fat High Protein Chicken Salad Sourdough Sandwich with Cottage Cheese Dressing

After getting my hands on freshly baked wholewheat sourdough bread from a local bakery, I could not stop eating this high protein chicken salad sandwich on repeats! This is high protein not only because of chicken, but also because of the creamy dressing made with a secret ingredient!

I am sure these gorgeous pictures of my high protein chicken salad have attracted you immensely which is why I have got you here now! Thank you for coming!

I can guarantee that you won’t regret your time here as I have the most spectacular lunch recipe which not only looks stunning or tastes amazing, but is also a killer in terms of nutrition!

I have spoken about my high protein chicken salad at length below, so let’s first focus on the sourdough here!

If you love bread, but cannot consume regular white bread (or the misleading ‘brown’ bread!) as it doesn’t align with your nutritional goals, you should turn to wholewheat sourdough which will become your best friend in no time!

“According to some studies, sourdough bread acts as a prebiotic, which means that the fiber in the bread helps feed the “good” bacteria in your intestines.” [Source: WebMD]

Initially you may find wholewheat sourdough a little harder to chew as it does not contain refined flour (i.e. maida) that makes things soft.

Just give it some time & patience! Like a fine wine you will eventually acquire the taste and after a point get hooked to it!

With the high protein chicken filling in a creamy but no-mayo dressing inside the sourdough sandwich, you get a 10 on 10 lunch that will satiate your taste buds as well as give a health boost to your body!

What is High protein chicken salad sandwich?

Chicken sandwich has always been a favorite of mine, but I usually had it as a snack and not as one of the main meals during my younger days!

Things started changing when I started taking a more mindful approach towards my daily food and nutrition that would align with my fitness goals.

That is when I have developed many low fat high protein meals helping me stick to my goals by providing the right amount of macronutrients without sacrificing any taste whatsoever!

This high protein chicken salad sourdough sandwich fits that bill so perfectly that I started making it on repeats for our workday lunch!

When made right, chicken is an extremely good source of protein that we all know.

But when we add high-fat empty calories (read “mayonnaise”) to our chicken salad for the sake of taste, it just defeats all the purpose of eating healthy!

That’s where my high protein chicken salad shines high! The dressing of this chicken salad is based on homemade cottage cheese and that’s my secret ingredient!

Cottage cheese not only makes your salad creamy but also adds an additional boost of protein without increasing the fat content significantly!

I kept the rest of the ingredients pretty simple here as I wanted it to be a workday lunch with minimal chopping and cooking involved.

A couple handfuls of black or red grapes adds a subtle hint of sweetness to this otherwise savory salad complementing the overall flavors beautifully.

Finely chopped celery is a must in any chicken salad and I urge you to not skip it. Celery is a powerhouse of nutrition; plus it adds a soul-friendly crunch to the creamy salad that makes it even more soul-satisfying!

Ingredients for High protein chicken salad sandwich with cottage cheese dressing

Milk: Since I wanted to make my own cottage cheese at home to ensure I get the purest cheese possible for my salad, I used about 2 cups of organic milk but not the full-fat version.

You can use any milk of your choice. Full-fat milk will result in a creamier cottage cheese, but I wanted to keep my salad low-fat, hence low fat milk!

Vinegar: Couple tablespoons of distilled white vinegar will curdle your milk and separate the milk solids (which is nothing but your cottage cheese!) from whey. You can alternatively use lemon juice to curdle the milk.

Chicken: For a good chicken salad, you need fresh chicken. Boneless and skinless chicken cubes are what you need; it could be either chicken breasts or chicken thighs.

You can use chicken thighs without any worry (just like I did!) even though chicken breasts are known to be leaner in terms of fat; but chicken thighs retain their tenderness making the salad much tastier!

Celery: Celery is an integral component for chicken salad and you can’t skip it! Besides adding health benefits, it will also add freshness as well as the much desired crunch to the creamy salad!

Grapes: A subtle & beautiful way to add a hint of sweetness to your otherwise savory salad without overpowering its core taste is to add a mildly sweet fruit like grapes!

Ensure to use seedless grapes; otherwise it will defeat its entire purpose if you bite on to the bitter seeds of grapes while devouring your sandwich!

Extra virgin olive oil: Olive oil will add tons of flavors in this somewhat mild salad as I haven’t used a lot of seasoning here.

If you use a good quality olive oil like this one, your salad will never turn out flavorless!

Garlic powder: Since I love the flavor of garlic in any of my chicken dishes, I added a hint of garlic powder to jazz up my chicken thighs while sautéing. You can use any other seasoning of your choice too!

Seasoning: Season your salad with salt & pepper to taste while mixing all the ingredients at the final stage.

Pro tip: I didn’t season the cottage cheese while processing it as I didn’t want to over-season my salad.

Lettuce: Use a couple of fresh lettuce to give your sandwich an extra kick of freshness! But if you don’t have it handy, do not fret! You can skip it completely without compromising any taste whatsoever!

Sourdough bread: This is where the regular chicken salad turns into an extraordinary affair! Sourdough bread makes your chicken sandwich taste heavenly to say the least!

The crunchy & chewy texture of sourdough compliments the creamy chicken salad so magnificently that it can’t be described in words! You gotta try it to believe it!

Butter: Toast your sourdough slices in a tiny amount of butter to give them that golden brown exterior and crisp them up beautifully!

How to make a High protein chicken salad sourdough sandwich with cottage cheese dressing?

First we will make the homemade cottage cheese spread for our chicken salad.

Step 1: In a saucepan boil 2 cups/half a liter of milk. When the milk comes to a slow boil, switch off the flame.

Step 2: Drizzle 2 tablespoons of distilled white vinegar over the milk and using a spoon, give a gentle stir.

Step 3: Milk will start to curdle almost immediately. Allow the milk 2 to 3 minutes to curdle completely so that whey is completely separated from milk solids.

Step 4: Line a colander (perforated bowl) with cheesecloth. Place the colander over another bowl so that whey is captured in it.

Step 5: Pour the curdled milk with whey over the lined colander so that whey is drained out and milk solids (which are nothing but your homemade cottage cheese) are trapped in the cheesecloth.

Pro tip: Use the whey in any of your soups or stews as it is full of health benefits!

Step 6: Wrap the cottage cheese in the cheesecloth and give a gentle press to squeeze out remaining water; but you don’t need to press too hard as it is okay to leave some amount of water in the cheese.

Step 7: Now transfer the cottage cheese to a food processor and process it until it transforms from a brittle texture to a smooth and creamy spread like consistency.

It may take anywhere between 5 to 8 minutes depending on your processor speed.

Pro tip: Be patient at this step. You may feel that something is wrong with your cottage cheese as it will take time to reach that smooth & creamy texture. Keep processing until you achieve that! It will resemble cream cheese once done.

Step 8: Your creamy cottage cheese is ready which will be used as the base of the high protein chicken salad dressing. Set it aside until needed!

Now we will come to prepare the chicken salad!

Step 1: Wash and pat dry the chicken thigh filets. Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet.

Step 2: Once the oil is warm, place the chicken thighs on the skillet in a single layer. Leave them undisturbed for 6 to 8 minutes keeping the flame on medium.

Step 3: Sprinkle half of the garlic powder and salt over the chicken thighs. After about 8 minutes, flip them over gently and allow the other side to cook as well. Season this side with salt & remaining garlic powder too.

Step 4: Let the chicken cook completely so that there are no traces of pink and it turns opaque. It would take another 6 to 8 minutes.

Pro tip: If you prefer using chicken breasts, please go ahead. Just adjust cooking time accordingly as chicken breasts cook much faster than chicken thighs!

Step 5: Check if the chicken thigh filets are completely cooked. If done, take them out on a plate and allow them to cool down.

Step 6: Once they are cool enough to handle, chop them up into small tiny pieces. Set it aside until needed.

Step 7: Chop the celery stalks into tiny pieces. Since I don’t like big chunks of celery stalk while biting on my high protein chicken salad sandwich, I prefer to chop them finely. Halve each of the grapes.

Step 8: Let’s make the no-mayo yet creamy salad dressing now! In a medium mixing bowl, take the prepared cottage cheese and add the extra-virgin olive oil to it.

Step 9: Season the salad dressing with salt and pepper to taste. Now give a good mix using a wire whisk so that oil and cottage cheese are mixed together and the seasoning is also distributed evenly.

Pro tip: Do not go overboard with the amount of oil; you will just need about 2 tablespoons of oil which should be enough to turn the cottage cheese into a dressing of spreadable consistency.

Step 10: To make the high protein chicken salad, take all the salad ingredients i.e. chopped chicken thighs, chopped celery and halved grapes in a large mixing bowl.

Step 11: Pour the prepared salad dressing over the salad ingredients. You can also add any seasoning of your choice at this step e.g. chilli flakes, chilli powder or Dijon mustard.

Step 12: Using a spatula start mixing all the ingredients together; the creamy cottage cheese dressing should coat each ingredient evenly & nicely and all the protein and fibers should be uniformly distributed.

Step 13: Once you are happy with your chicken salad with cottage cheese dressing, let it chill in the refrigerator while you prepare your sourdough breads!

Step 14: Take 4 sourdough bread slices. Heat a griddle or cast iron pan. Once hot, add half a teaspoon of butter into it.

Step 15: Let the butter melt, then place 2 sourdough slices side by side and toast them on low heat for 3 to 4 minutes.

Step 16: Flip them over after 3-4 minutes and allow the other side to toast with a little more butter for another couple of minutes.

Step 17: Take the sourdough slices out once they are nicely golden brown on both sides. Repeat the same to toast the remaining 2 sourdough slices.

Step 18: To finally assemble the high protein chicken salad sandwiches, take out the prepared chicken salad from the refrigerator.

Step 19: For each sandwich, first place 2 fresh lettuce leaves over one of the toasted bread slices.

Step 20: Then spread as much chicken salad as you wish on top of it. A ballpark amount would be about ½ a cup of filling per sandwich, but you can go wild here!

Step 21: Using a flat butter knife, spread out the chicken salad evenly over the bread slice. Then cover the sandwich with another toasted sourdough slice.

Step 22: Press the sandwich using your palm so that the bread slices stick to the chicken salad firmly. Repeat the same for remaining 2 toasted sourdough slices.

Pro tip: If you have a sandwich grill press, you can grill your sandwich using that as well; it will leave beautiful grill marks on your sandwich!

Step 23: Your low-fat high protein chicken salad sandwich with cottage cheese dressing is ready for a wholesome & fulfilling lunch! Enjoy!

More delicious high protein recipes from Flavor Quotient

• Avocado Chicken Salad with Roasted Bell Peppers
• High-Protein Chicken Quinoa Salad
• Weightloss Creamy No-Mayo Chicken Salad