My Favorite Chicken Salad
Easy, quick and delicious, this is my favorite chicken salad recipe! It takes just minutes to throw together, but is bursting with flavor!
A really good chicken salad recipe is one of those things everyone needs in their back pocket for just the right time.
It’s perfect to serve at parties or luncheons, but even better, it makes a fast weeknight meal, and is #1 on our list when it’s hot and no one feels like cooking (but everyone still feels like eating!).
Perfect Chicken Salad
For someone that is super picky about her chicken salad, it’s taken me a while to get my version of chicken salad just right.
At first glance, it doesn’t look all that different than the myriad of chicken salad recipes already residing on the internet. (The add-ins are adaptable; more details below.)
We’ve got:
- cooked, shredded chicken (rotisserie chicken for the win!)
- halved grapes
- diced celery
- chopped nuts (I prefer cashews or slivered almonds)
- chopped green onions or chives
- fresh parsley
But it’s the dressing that really shines and sets it apart.
While I’m not opposed to mayo in most real life circumstances, I’m not necessarily a fan of chicken salad recipes that use mayo for the dressing and not much else.
It only takes a few simple, extra ingredients to take the dressing next level.
Adding a bit of sour cream, fresh lemon juice (or red wine vinegar), Dijon mustard, and a couple pinches of pantry seasonings to the mayo, and you’ve got my favorite chicken salad in the history of ever.
How to Serve Chicken Salad
You can serve this amazing chicken salad a number of ways.
It’s delicious on top of lettuce leaves, like romaine, endive, butter, or bibb. And it’s fantastic on many different types of bread – with or without lettuce.
Hearty multigrain bread slices are perfect with chicken salad. So are decadent croissants. And it’s delicious rolled up in flatbread or tortillas!
And I wouldn’t be any kind of friend if I didn’t tell you this chicken salad is pretty fantastic when you forego lettuce OR bread and eat it straight out of the bowl.
My Favorite Chicken Salad for the Win
This chicken salad has become a go-to meal for us, especially in the hot summer months. It’s light and refreshing but still filling and satisfying.
I’m sure if you asked ten people to make chicken salad, you’d get ten strikingly different versions. This happens to be my favorite classic chicken salad, but the salad ingredients are wildly adaptable.
If you’re a crazy, live-on-the-edge soul who adds things like mandarin oranges or pineapple or dried fruit to your chicken salad, you can still find a happy place with this classic chicken salad recipe. The add-ins can be changed up an infinite number of ways; it’s the chicken and dressing that are the foundation (and that dressing is delicious!).
(Just maybe don’t tell me if you add raisins, I’m not sure my chicken salad tolerance extends that far. -signed, your resident raisin hater)
And stay tuned for another chicken salad recipe coming soon. I know! Who am I and how did I get here? It’s a delicious curried chicken salad that has a dressing like you’ve never seen before. YUM!
My Favorite Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Chicken Salad:
- 4 cups cooked, shredded (or small chopped) chicken (see note)
- 1 cup small diced celery
- 1 cup red grapes, halved or quartered
- ½ cup chopped slivered almonds or cashews
- 2-3 tablespoons finely diced green onions or chives
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Dressing:
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice or red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon coarse, kosher salt (use a bit less for table salt)
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper, I use coarsely ground
- ⅛ teaspoon dried dill
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon onion powder
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Combine all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl.
- Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients until smooth.
- Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients and mix until evenly combined. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper, if needed.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Serve on lettuce, bread, croissants, or rolled up in tortillas or flatbread.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
Love! Wasn’t sure how I’d feel about the grapes, but this exceeded my expectations for sure.
Pro tip- use celery salt instead of salt or add celery seed
10/10!! Was looking for a chicken salad to cure my pregnancy cravings and wow, I might be eating this every day now through October. Thank you Mel for another winner!!
Mel, did you ever post the curried chicken salad recipe you mentioned in this post? I got something similar in a deli once and it was delish.
sorry for the delay on that! I haven’t posted that recipe yet, but will try to soon!
Love this chicken salad. It’s become my go to because it’s flavorful, but has simple ingredients and steps. I like to make it ahead of time. I always add a little extra lemon juice and pepper because I’m weird, but this recipe is delicious as is! Easily adaptable to dairy free as well- much appreciated!
This is our favorite chicken salad! Sometimes I toast pecans and add them in instead of almonds. Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe that has become a staple in our home!
What’s a great salad. I added honey roasted cashews and it was 🔥🔥. Thanks for the recipe.
Yum, great addition, Andrew!
SO GOOD. I used half greek yogurt, half mayo and it turned out great. I also added a cup or two more of chicken as it was a little too goopy for me as-written. The flavor was awesome, I love this recipe!
How long can this sit after being made? I’m wanting to make it tomorrow, and serve it Monday for lunch at lake Powell. I’d add the cashews in right before serving. HELP!
Hey Bri, sorry for the delay – I’ve been out of town and away from emails. Did you end up making it in advance? It should be ok – although I’ve found it helps to drain off any watery liquid before serving if it’s been made in advance (and yes, add the cashews right before serving)
The recipe yields 8 servings. Do you know how much is in one serving? A cup? 3/4 cup? Just curious how much chicken salad to put on one Costco size croissant.
Right around 3/4 cup, more or less.
Fabulous!!
We just had my mom’s 92nd birthday party for about 120 people and we used this chicken salad recipe with Rotisserie chicken. It was fabulous everyone raved and wanted the recipe . Great job Mel !!!! By the way the party was for your Great Aunt Lu Ella . Our whole family are big fans of yours and we have never even met you.
I just made this with some leftover roast chicken, and it was soo refreshing and tasty. I made it with some sliced almonds I had on hand, and everything else was by the recipe, loved it. I will definitely make again!
I made this for my first time and loved it! I wanted to share a slight change – I swapped the fresh parsley and used fresh dill instead. It was such a fun and summery addition! Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes.
Love this recipe. Made it recently for a baby shower and again for pepping some work lunches. Curious if you’ve ever made it for a large gathering? I feed about 75 people at our staff meetings this week and wonder the best way to go about scaling this for a larger crowd?
It should work great making a large batch, Candace!
The dressing sounds amazing, but my perfect chicken salad ALWAYS has diced Granny Smith apples and chopped pecans. I will definitely be trying the dressing though. Yum!
I love a good chicken salad, but especially so when it has grapes in it.
100% agree with Mel. This is the best chicken salad of all time! She’s converted me to adding the grapes even. Soooo good!
You know a recipe is good when your pickiest kid eats it! AND when you make substitutions and it’s still loved by everyone you know you have a keeper. I used canned chicken, green apple, pecans and what turned out to be honey mustard and it was all delicious. The dressing as written did make it a little ‘soupy’ but I like it that way so I didn’t mind. Thanks Mel!
I knocked a couple peoples socks off with this recipe!! Amazing!! I dice my celery VERY small, like kernel of corn size, and add extra cashews. I LOVE the grapes, but only added about 2/3 the amount of sauce (I guess I like it a tad drier). Served on Croissants, and then devoured the left overs with Ritz crackers. This is one for the books, Mel!!! LOVE IT!
This was delicious! Perfect blend of seasonings, and so yummy with cashews. I think it might have tasted even better on day two! I served it on croissants, then on wheat bread when we ran out of croissants, and it was great both ways. Thanks for a fresh summer meal idea, Mel!
So yummy!!
will this still be good if you make 2 days ahead?
It gets a bit more watery/liquidy after time in the fridge – I prefer it within about 12 hours of making it.
this is no classic. while some peoñle like,additions like grapes or nuts most forego these. classic recipes means time tested and favored. i do agree rhat any recipe is improved with the dressing. this one qas good but still bland. i have used a bit of hollendaise from the eggs benedict, which adds body and is lemony. thank you
Made it. Loved it. My oldest wanted all the leftovers saved for him to eat before football practice the next two days! Great recipe! Thanks for a great, and easy, chicken salad sandwich recipe. I made it once with canned chicken and once with fresh (cooked in the IP and then shredded), and it was great with both. And if you run out of croissants it was also great on a toasted bagel! 🙂
My husband and I are traveling in our travel trailer and I needed an easy meal. This chicken salad is awesome. He had 2 sandwiches and said, “you need to make this again”. I had to make a couple of adjustments based on what I had available – used walnuts, left out celery since I didnt have any and no dried dill, but it was still delicious. This is definitely a keeper. Thank you!!
The BEST chicken salad recipe, mother in law approved! I made it for Sunday dinner with my mother in law, who is quite particular about food and even she LOVED it. Thank you Mel for making me look so good!
I’ve been making chicken salad on croissants since childhood because my mom started it. Now it’s trip tradition to always take it along or for picnics. I do the same ingredients but without parsley. I’m excited to add parsley next time. And I’m totally a curry chicken salad girl so I’m looking forward to see how you do yours. I also go back and forth between red and green grapes but I taste the green ones especially to make sure they are sweet. No sour grapes for me please!! And my nut preference is cashew all the way! Have some fun chicken salad picnics this summer!!
You weren’t kidding when you said this is the best chicken salad!! My husband and I wolfed this down on flaky croissant rolls! So, so good! Thanks again for a great recipe!
So good! I didn’t have time to go to the store, so I didn’t add the sour cream or fresh herbs, BUT I loved it any how. I can only imagine how delicious it will be when I have all of the ingredients on hand.
We had leftover fast food chicken so I peeled off the crust and made half a recipe. Oh my goodness! I don’t like chicken salad but that dressing makes it over the top!
We like this with water chestnuts instead of celery, and cilantro instead of parsley. I like your dressing recipe and will try it soon. Hooray for the rotisserie chicken! Especially the huge one from Costco.
Do you make your own croissants? One day, I will try my hand at making a batch or two.
Just was passing along that the dressing recipe I use is equal parts mayo and greek yogurt and then I add in probably 1-2 TBS of dried dill. Dijon mustart(preferably with mustart seeds in it), salt and pepper to taste. I actually do not like greek yogurt but when I mix it with mayo, perfect! I make one of your potato salad recipes by subbing half the mayo for greek yogurt.
Sounds delicious!! Thanks for sharing. I have made croissants exactly twice in my life. They are a labor of love! But usually I pick them up from Costco for meals like this.
The ingredients are similar to what I have always used, except celery. I prefer toasted pecans. My grandmother had pecan trees, so it’s nostalgic when I taste them.
For good flavor, instead of rotisserie chicken I bake chicken breasts with a little olive oil, salt & pepper, and chopped rosemary. I use just Hellman’s. I will try your recipe the next time I make chicken salad.
I’m excited to see the curry version soon. My great aunt would add curry to her pimento cheese. I adapted it by using chopped green olives without the pimento as I have a lifelong aversion to the red pimentos! I also added toasted pecans to the cheese spread.
I’ve enjoyed your blog for years. Thank you for sharing your recipes and so much of yourself here. Bless you! ❤️
Made this for dinner tonight…thought it would be great for the savage heat wave we have in Utah. My husband’s actual words were “I’ve eaten a lot of chicken salads and this one tops them all!” That’s high praise coming from him! It is delicious and I predict we’ll be making this once or twice more this summer. Thanks for another amazing recipe, Mel!
This made me so happy to read, Stacey! Thanks for taking the time to comment and let me know. We are having a massive heat wave here in Idaho, too. We’re melting!
Pollocksville lady once again.
Made the dressing yesterday. Added Washington state cherries and green grapes. Also, subbed nuts suggested with sunflower seeds. Just finished putting this salad together. TASTY. DELICIOUS.
Am sharing this with the local young couple who farm and sell fresh veggies.
Sounds amazing – thanks for checking in, Linda!
I normally add relish to my recipe…I’m going to have to try yours though.
This looks yummy! Any idea how long it keeps in the fridge? I think it would make a great work/school lunch, but I am not organized enough (fine, not awake enough!) to make anything in the morning.
Hi Kristi – it keeps pretty well for a couple of days. If everything is mixed together, it might get a bit more liquidy after sitting in the fridge (from the fruit and the dressing); you can drain off the liquid, or keep the grapes and nuts bagged separately to add-in the day you want them (the nuts will get a bit soft if refrigerated mixed into the chicken salad).
I don’t like mustard so I don’t have dijon in my refrigerator (just regular yellow mustard). Is there a substitute I could use for the dijon mustard? This looks so good that I want to try it. Thanks.
Hi Heidi, you could try adding yellow mustard (I’d start with half the amount called for in the recipe). The mustard flavor isn’t overwhelming, but it adds a punch of tartness and helps balance the flavors of the dressing.
Eating it right now!!! YUM
Thanks Mel
Thanks, Barb!!
I just did my menu and grocery order this morning and chicken salad sandwiches were on the list! Luckily I already have the dressing ingredients so I can make this recipe this week. Love all of your recipes!!
I dislike raisins also, and your comment made me laugh!
can this be frozen and eaten later?
I haven’t tried freezing it, so I’m not sure, but my guess is that the texture might change after freezing and defrosting. I can see it being more watery and I’m not sure how the grapes and nuts would fare.
I love chicken salad! For a healthier option, I highly recommend subbing plain Greek yogurt for the Mayo.
Maybe it’s just a taste preference, but I tried subbing Greek yogurt (full fat) for a chicken salad recipe a coupl years ago and it wasn’t good. The yogurt isn’t as smooth as the mayo. Also, I think “healthy” is subjective. Greek yogurt might be lower calories, but “less calories” isn’t the same as “healthier” – I think we need to be careful how we throw “healthy eating” around. Just my two cents. I’ll make this with mayo. 🙂
Thanks Kimberly – I was wondering if that would work. I think we can safely say that Greek yogurt is healthier since it has less saturated fat (which bad for the heart) and more protein. Just my two cents . I am going to try it with Greek yogurt and cross my fingers. Worse case- I’ll do half mayo and half yogurt. If anyone else does it first- please report back.
Glad you posted this chicken salad recipe.. just know it will be tasty and perfect for these hot days of summer here in Pollocksville, NC.
THE MASTER’s BLESSINGS
Very similar to one I came up with years ago. Depending on my mood, I’ll swap in Craisins for the grapes.
A superb base recipe. Delicious no matter how you tweak it.
I am excited to try this recipe! Thank you for encouraging me to do something with the dressing besides use mayo….ha! I was hoping to save this right to my Prepear, I don’t see the link for that.
Hey Kim, the save to Prepear link is showing for me. Can you try refreshing your browser and see if it will work? If not, let me know and I’ll do some digging.
If you love chicken salad, you should come to Mobile or Sandestin and visit Chicken Salad Chick. They have about 15 different flavors of deliciousness. This reminds me of their Fancy Nancy recipe.
I am supposed to make chicken salad this week and think this time may be the best ever. Since I can’t eat nuts, I will adapt and use your dressing with celery and chicken (I am on the fence about the grapes.) I am excited because you always nail it.
I had tuna salad with grapes several years ago. A first for me, and I loved it. Try it! (You can always pick them out if you don’t like them.)
Sheila, I heard the story or Chicken Salad Chick’s founder on the podcast How I Built This. Incredible story!! Highly recommend.