Pumpkin feta chicken salad

We originally called this hpumpkin feta chicken salad recipe – “healthy fall chicken salad”, but it’s already February and we just made it with the last wrinkly retiring pumpkin we had. High-protein and high-fiber this pumpkin chicken salad is healthy, yet incredibly satisfying! Like super, GOOD!

So here’s what we wrote in Jan 2021 when we originally made this healthy, really, fall harvest chicken salad…

Simple Pumpkin Feta Chicken Salad

We know, we know it’s not fall anymore, don’t point and laugh pretentiously. Pretentiousness won’t get you anywhere. Sure, it’s hard to believe when you see our vitamin D blood results, but we don’t live in a basement with no access to sunlight or a calendar.

We're totally aware this is out of season and unacceptable. But it’s healthy and satisfying and can be made during any season of life or year! And let’s clarify: you’re not getting a salad that is 3-month old. We made it last week, specifically 3 times last week. Because pumpkin. One time we made it with sweet potato and we loved it a bit more.

We've been envisioning and dreaming about this since the day our dad brought the last pumpkin from his backyard in December. Wow, another pumpkin! Thanks, Dad. That’s exactly what we need. Another huge thing to sit on our counter for weeks until it gets moldy and starts carving itself.

Has never happened and our kitchen counters are always clean, beautiful and disinfected with chlorine.

Ingredients: Everything In Your Fridge

Now, look at the salad. What do you see? We see one olive, something orange, some chicken, some lettuce, some feta cheese, a pepper, some scallions…we couldn’t decide whether this looked appetizing or as if someone already ate it and left some for you.

You know how sometimes people offer you a bite of their food and you feel like life is punishing you for something. For example, at dinner with your family? No thanks, we don’t want to eat saliva. Instead, we will collect it and send it to a DNA testing lab, so that they can tell you where your genes come from and steal your genome to make superhumanoids. It’s called karma for offering us half-eaten food.

(Update 2026: we guess we were wiser than we thought. Also, this time, we had planned to shoot the recipe, so we feel like we took better photos.)

So, what we had in our fridge for this salad was:

• rotisserie chicken (when updated – used boiled)
• lettuce
• cabbage (red, green; we've used both – whatever you have is great)
• roasted pumpkin
• lemon juice of
• avocado
• olives
• feta cheese
• fresh green pepper (optional)
• roasted red peppers
• fresh dill
• green onions or 1/4 red onion

How it comes together

• Put all ingredients into a big bowl
• Mix
• Serve immediately

Maybe take a picture after you eat a little bit.

We just remembered, one time, many years ago, pre-hunchback and blog, when we were young and social, we had a girl’s night out and one of our friends got hungry. Then she got half a gyro for free. We're learning this is called manifesting, but we're not sure how it worked, because she hadn’t made a vision board or written it down in her pocket journal. We guess that’s why it’s called the secret.

What wouldn’t you give to have us tell that story again? Staying home for long periods of time has improved our storytelling skills.

Oh, there’s the salad again. Here, have our lunch leftovers. Does it look like that? To be fair, we hadn’t planned to make photos, so we probably had eaten some of it already. But what can you do? This was the third day in a row we were making it, so we decided it’s probably worth sharing.

Why we Love This Healthy Pumpkin Feta Chicken Salad

We’ve got the sweetness from the roasted pumpkin, the salty from the feta cheese, the crunch from the greens, the creamy from the avocado and the umami from the chicken. Did we miss a taste? IT is SO satisfying. We highly recommend making it whenever you have some cooked chicken and roasted pumpkin.

Plus it has all the health benefits you can imagine. It’s:

• high-protein and high-fiber
• great for your skin and eyes since it’s rich in beta carotene
• a great source of vitamin C which is essential for skin elasticity and fat oxidation
• the solid meal for more energy since it’s micronutrient dense – we’ve got zinc, potassium, iron, folate, vitamin C, pro-vitamin A, B3 and B12.

Plus it’s filling and satisfying! Only good stuff.

We hope you enjoy this salad, it’s currently one of our favorite ways to get some more fresh vegetables into our diet.

Also, to finish the story about our hungry friend on a drunken night out: We met a stranger on the street who was eating a gyro, he offered her a bite and she actually ate it. Thought it was gross. Improve storytelling skills – Check!

• Simple Cabbage and Chickpea Salad
• Avocado Chicken Lunch Bowls
• 15-Minute Garlicky Chicken with Green and Black Beans

Originally published in January 2021, last updated in October 2026.