These bacon ranch chicken salad cucumber boats are a quick lunch or snack I make with canned chicken, sour cream, sharp cheddar, and crumbled bacon. The ranch flavor comes from dried dill, parsley, garlic powder, and onion powder, which I warm in the pan with the chicken before mixing everything together. The salad chills for 15 minutes while I cut the cucumbers in half and remove the seeds, then it gets spooned into the halves with flaky salt and cracked pepper on top. The recipe makes 8 boats in about 30 minutes.
The chicken salad goes together in one pan and one bowl. The canned chicken gets about a minute in hot avocado oil, then the dried dill, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper go in and cook until fragrant, which is what gives it a ranch flavor without a packet. Off the heat, it is mixed with sour cream, sharp cheddar, crumbled bacon, and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, then chilled for 15 minutes so the salad is cold when it goes into the cucumbers.
Pre-cooked bacon keeps the hands-on time short, and the cucumbers get cut and seeded while the salad chills, so the two steps overlap. The boats hold their shape on a platter, which makes them an easy weekday lunch or a snack to set out for guests. Two more recipes to try are my Canned Chicken Patties, which use the same canned chicken, and Chicken Bacon Ranch Pinwheels, which use the same chicken, bacon, and ranch combination.
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Reader Love
We loved this cucumber boat. I skipped the bacon and also added some celery as you suggested. Turned out perfect. Loved the flavor and texture of the dish.
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💛 Why you’ll love this recipe
- The ranch flavor is homemade. Instead of bottled dressing or a seasoning packet, the ranch taste comes from dried dill, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. They are spices most people already have in the drawer.
- The steps overlap. While the chicken salad chills in the refrigerator for 15 minutes, you cut and seed the cucumbers, so there is no idle waiting. The whole recipe takes about 30 minutes.
- Pantry staples do most of the work. Canned chicken and pre-cooked bacon mean there is almost nothing to cook from raw. The active cooking is a few minutes on the stovetop, and the rest is assembly.
- The hollowed shape holds the filling. Removing the seeds leaves a firm channel that keeps the chicken salad in place from plate to hand, so the boats hold their shape through serving.
- The recipe adapts to what is in the fridge. Rotisserie chicken instead of canned, Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, lemon juice in place of apple cider vinegar. The swaps section below has the full list.
- One recipe, two occasions. Plate 2 boats per person for a weekday lunch, or arrange all 8 on a platter for a snack spread.
➡️ Ingredients
⏲ How to make this recipe
This is an overview of the recipe’s instructions. The full instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Prepare Chicken: Heat the avocado oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the canned chicken and cook for about 1 minute. Add the spices and cook until fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Prepare Chicken Salad: Transfer the warmed-up chicken to a large bowl, add sour cream, and mix until all of those ingredients are well combined. Add the shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled bacon, and apple cider vinegar, and then mix again.
- Chill Chicken Salad: Cover the bowl of chicken salad with a lid or some foil and transfer to the refrigerator to chill for 15 minutes.
- Prepare Cucumbers: While the chicken salad chills, prepare the cucumber boats by cutting the cucumbers in half lengthwise with a knife, removing the seeds with a spoon, and blotting them dry with a paper towel.
- Prepare Cucumber Boats And Serve: Remove the chilled chicken salad from the refrigerator and then spoon some into each of the cucumber boats. Sprinkle on flaky sea salt and crack pepper on top of the cucumber boats, then serve.
👉 Easy ingredient swaps
- Canned chicken: Rotisserie chicken makes a great stand-in. You can also cook chicken breast, thighs, or drumsticks at home. Once cooked, shred the meat and use it in place of the canned chicken. The amounts stay the same; you’ll need about 15 ounces of cooked, shredded chicken total.
- Dried dill: Swap in fresh dill, but the ratio changes. Use 1 tablespoon of fresh dill to replace the 1 teaspoon of dried. Fresh dill is less concentrated than dried, so more is needed to achieve the same flavor in the ranch seasoning.
- Sour cream: Mayonnaise or plain Greek yogurt both swap in without issue. Either one keeps the chicken salad creamy and maintains the same texture and richness as the original.
- Cooked bacon: Pre-cooked store-bought bacon is the quickest route. Crumble it straight into the mixing bowl with no additional cooking. If you only have raw bacon on hand, cook it first, but know that will add some time to the recipe. Either way, you’ll need about ¾ cup of crumbled cooked bacon, which is roughly 7–8 slices.
- Apple cider vinegar: White vinegar or fresh lemon juice are both good replacements and keep the balance of the chicken salad without altering the main flavor.
- Individual spices: If you’d rather not measure each spice separately, skip the individual seasonings entirely and use store-bought ranch seasoning powder instead. Sprinkle it into the chicken salad to taste in place of the dill, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper listed in the recipe.
✨ Variations
- Stir in a handful of finely chopped celery to the chicken salad for extra crunch and texture. The recipe already has a crisp bite from the cucumber, and celery adds another layer of crunch directly into the filling itself.
- Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of finely chopped green onions or red onions. Fold them into the chicken salad mixture or scatter them over the finished boats as a garnish. Both bring a sharper edge that plays well against the creamy base.
- Drizzle olive oil over the filled boats just before serving for added richness.
- Peel the cucumbers fully, partially, or leave the skin on. All three work. Removing some or all of the skin gives the boats a cleaner look, but it’s entirely a matter of preference.
〰️ How to serve
- Serve 2 boats per person as a light weekday lunch. They pair well with a cool, creamy side like Creamy Dill Cucumber Onion Salad, which uses the same dill, cucumber, and sour cream.
- Arrange all 8 boats on a platter for a snack spread alongside other cucumber bites like Cucumber Tomato Bites.
- If making these ahead for a group, keep the chicken salad and the hollowed cucumber halves in separate containers in the refrigerator until a few minutes before serving to keep the cucumbers crisp and the filling cold.
💬 FAQs
How should I store these, and how long will they keep?
Assembled cucumber boats keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 day. The cucumbers release moisture once filled, so the sooner you eat them after assembling, the better the texture. For longer storage, keep the chicken salad and the hollowed cucumber halves in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator; stored that way, both will keep for up to 2–3 days. When you’re ready to serve, spoon the chicken salad into the cucumbers fresh.
What size cucumbers should I use?
Medium-sized American slicing cucumbers are the right pick for this recipe. They’re the standard full-sized slicing cucumber you’ll find at most grocery stores, with firm walls that hold the filling well once the seeds are removed. Each half creates a boat that’s easy to fill and handle without the chicken salad spilling out.
Why do I need to remove the cucumber seeds?
The seeds need to come out to create the hollow channel that holds the chicken salad. Without that step, there is no true boat shape and the filling will not stay in place. Use a spoon to run along the center of each cucumber half and remove the seeds cleanly, then blot the inside dry with a paper towel before filling. If you like cucumber seeds, save them for a smoothie or tzatziki rather than discarding them.
There is no ranch dressing in the ingredient list, so where does the ranch flavor come from?
The ranch flavor in this recipe is homemade, built from individual pantry spices rather than bottled dressing or a seasoning packet. Dried dill, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper combine during cooking and mixing to create the ranch profile. No bottle needed. If you’d rather shortcut this step, skip the individual spices and use store-bought ranch seasoning powder to taste in their place.
📚 More recipes to try
🍽 Recipe
🍴 Make This Next
- Chive And Onion Cream Cheese Cucumber Boats – A creamy, simple bite for the platter
- Mini Spicy Canned Salmon Patties – Little salmon bites alongside the boats
- Creamy Dill Cucumber Onion Salad (With Sour Cream And Mayo) – A cool cucumber salad on the side
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Bacon Ranch Chicken Salad Cucumber Boats
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons avocado oil
- 15 ounces (3 5-ounce cans) canned chicken, drained, patted dry
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- ¾ teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons sour cream
- ½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- ¾ cup (~7-8 slices) crumbled cooked bacon, (I use pre-cooked store-bought bacon here)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 4 cucumbers, peeled or unpeeled, based on your preferences (recommended that they be chilled in the refrigerator)
Garnishes:
- Flaky sea salt
- Freshly cracked pepper
Instructions
- Prepare Chicken: In a pan over medium heat, heat oil until glistening. Add canned chicken and cook for about 1 minute. Add spices and cook until spices are fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
- Prepare Chicken Salad: Transfer chicken to mixing bowl and add sour cream. Mix ingredients until well combined. Add shredded cheddar, crumbled bacon, and apple cider vinegar and mix again.
- Chill Chicken Salad: Cover bowl with lid or foil and transfer to refrigerator to chill for 15 minutes.
- Prepare Cucumbers: While chicken salad chills, prepare cucumber boats by cutting cucumbers in half lengthwise, removing seeds with a spoon, and blotting dry with a paper towel.
- Prepare Cucumber Boats And Serve: Remove chilled chicken salad from refrigerator and spoon into cucumber boats. Sprinkle on flaky sea salt and crack pepper atop cucumber boats, then serve.
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