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Chicken Salad

Chicken Salad

My mother and father make the best chicken salad. It's a joint effort; dad assembles all of the ingredients, mom makes the dressing. There are a few things that distinguish this chicken salad recipe from a standard version. First, we use plum preserves in the dressing. You can use any berry preserve, but as we have gallons of homemade plum preserves in the freezer waiting to be used, we use the plum. Second, the recipe includes green olives. Like capers, chopped green olives give the salad an interesting bite. Finally, we use chicken that has been roasted or broiled with the skin on, and we use the skin. This makes a huge difference in flavor.

Do you have a favorite chicken salad recipe? Please let us know about it in the comments.

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Chicken Salad Recipe

Ingredients

3/4 lb (2-3 cups) of cooked chicken meat, skin on, coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
4-6 green olives, pitted and minced
1/4 cup of chopped red onion
1/2 to a whole apple, cored and chopped
1/3 head of iceberg head lettuce, sliced and chopped

5 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 Tbsp plum preserves, or any sweet berry preserve (or a lesser amount of honey)
2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1 Prepare all of the salad ingredients and combine them in a large bowl.

2 Prepare the dressing separately. Combine the mayonnaise, preserves, and lemon juice. Taste for proper balance. The dressing should not be too sweet nor too sour. Adjust the ingredients until you have achieved the balance you want. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3 Mix the dressing in with the salad ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serves four.

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38 Comments

Wow, this one is so very different to the one my mother made. I will definitely have to give it a try. You can check mine out for something different. Ruth's chicken salad


Posted by: Ruth on August 30, 2005 7:32 PM

This looks great -- I make a similar salad but I use plain greek yogurt in place of mayo -- it's very yummy.

Posted by: Mina Yaroslavsky on August 17, 2006 8:33 PM

I usually make the standard celery-mayo chicken salad, but once in a while I whip up one with diced cooked chicken, freshly shaved parmesan cheese, pomegranate seeds (or craisins) and pine nuts (or other nuts). Drizzle the whole thing with EVOO, sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. You can put grapes in it too, or raisins, if that's your thing. The unusual part of this one is the EVOO and parm, and they really make it delish. Enjoy!

Posted by: Nick on September 19, 2006 4:16 AM

Love the idea of the preserves, will try soon with peach preserves that turned out "too sweet" for using plain. I do a main dish, no mayo Asian chicken salad that's wonderful.

Posted by: Alanna on September 19, 2006 5:41 AM

My absolute favorite chicken salad has chopped smokehouse almonds in it...mmmm!

Posted by: Anita on September 19, 2006 6:38 AM

Elise,
This salad always gets raves (scroll down for the chicken salad): http://seriouslygood.kdweeks.com/2005/04/salad-sandwiches.html

Posted by: Kevin on September 19, 2006 6:49 AM

Ooh, I love the idea of adding berry preserves. Yum-o!

I've included a family recipe that is in The Stock Pot on my website. Our database is full of family recipes, and I have personally tested this recipe. It is very, very good.

Field's Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups chicken breast, cubed
1 cup celery, finely sliced
1 cup white grapes, sliced
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1 teaspoon salt
4-6 ounces mayonnaise
4 ounces heavy cream, whipped

Directions:
Combine all ingredients and toss gently. If you are entertaining buffet-style, garnish with bunches of grapes and toasted almonds for a divine dish.

Note: All of the mayonnaise and cream may not be necessary. Do not drown the salad!

Posted by: Kate on September 19, 2006 7:43 AM

Would never thought to put green olives in chicken salad! I always use grapes, celery, green onion, mayo, celery salt & Pepper. Sometimes I put in waterchestnuts for extra crunch.

Posted by: Kari on September 19, 2006 12:27 PM

My mom makes the best chicken salad - people offer to pay her $10 and $20 for a quart of it! It's very basic, but the secret is she makes it with pickles she makes herself - sweet ones, and she always adds some of the juice. Fantastic. Oh! She also makes it in a food processor - much better for sandwiches that way.

Posted by: Abby on September 19, 2006 2:04 PM

We make chicken salad pretty much the same way we make every salad--with Miracle Whip and sweet pickle relish. The only other ingredient is ground or shredded chicken. It's more like tuna salad, and not chunky at all. I do, however, also like the chunky chicken salads with fruit that I've encountered elsewhere.

Posted by: Harriet on September 19, 2006 2:16 PM

One of my favorite chicken salads is to take some cooked chicken and shred it. Add some lite mayo and lite sour cream, just enough to moisten it, then add some craisins, apples, celery, curry powder (just a little goes a long way), and some fresh pressed garlic. I enjoy mine wrapped up in lettuce cups. Who doesn't love chicken salad!!! :)

Posted by: Amy Kilpack on September 19, 2006 8:02 PM

Hi. Your salad sounds really good. Very crunchy. I love capers in tuna salad, and olives sound good in chicken salad, too.

I got an interesting and delicious chicken salad recipe from my CSA newsletter last year. It has a peanut butter-based dressing that I thought was nice.

Here's the recipe from Terra Firma:

2 boneless chicken breasts
Soy sauce and pepper to marinate chicken
3 T peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)
2 T rice wine vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1 T fresh ginger, peeled
1 T veggie oil
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb green beans, trimmed to 1 inch lengths
2 c sliced sweet peppers
1/4 to 1/2 a sweet onion, chopped
Spinach, to serve

Marinate chicken with soy sauce and pepper for 1/2 hour. Grill or broil until cooked through.

Combine peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce, and ginger in a food processor. Puree. Thin with water or vinegar if necessary.

Heat oil in a pan and add garlic. Cook for 1 minute, then add the beans and cook for 3-5 minutes, until they are just barely cooked. Add a little water, cover, and turn off the heat. Uncover after 3 minutes.

To assemble, cut the chicken breasts into slices and combine with the veggies and the dressing. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve on a bed of spinach leaves.

Posted by: Libby on September 20, 2006 1:12 AM

An old recipe given to me by my college roommate, Chicken Pecan Salad in Cranberry Orange Ring makes a pretty presentation and a tasty combination while peaches are still available.

Cranberry Ring:
Ingredients:
• 2 pkg. (3 oz.) lemon Jello plus 1 pkg. unflavored gelatin
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup orange juice, plus 1 cup cold
• 1 cup water
• 1 can (16 oz.) whole berry cranberry sauce

Dissolve the jello and gelatin in 1 cup orange juice, 1 cup water and the salt. Heat to boiling.

Stir in 1 cup cold orange juice. Chill until partially set. Then stir in the cranberry sauce. Pour into a 6 1/2 cup ring mold. Chill until firm.

Chicken Pecan Salad
Combine:
• 3 medium peaches, peeled and sliced
• 3 cups cooked, cubed chicken
• 1 cup diced celery
Mix and Add:
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup honey mustard
• 1/ 3 tsp. salt

• 1/2 cup broken pecans
• peach slices for garnish

Just before serving, toss with the nuts. Serve in cranberry ring and garnish with additional peach slices.

Posted by: Lou on September 20, 2006 7:20 AM

Wow. There are some great chicken salad ideas posted here. Thank you everyone!

Posted by: Elise on September 20, 2006 11:32 AM

This is embarrassingly basic, but it's wonderful -- my step-father made some last time I was home to visit, and I got the procedure from him:

Cooked chicken
Dried cranberries
Mayonnaise

Combine to taste.

I add a little black pepper sometimes, but then, I grew up in the south.

Seriously, try it -- I never would have believed it was that simple.

Posted by: gramina on September 20, 2006 5:00 PM

My all time favorite chicken salad is Sonoma Chicken Salad made by Whole Foods. They sell it for an absolute fortune and would love to try and make it myself. Has anyone here had this great salad? If so, could you advise on how to make it?

I buy it in the summmer for a special treat and savor it.

Posted by: Mame on October 4, 2006 2:22 PM

I tried your recipe and we loved it! It's different than what I grew up with and our two favorite restaurant versions (Fairfield Grocery and Rollin' N the Dough.) We didn't use lettuce, just watched CSI: Miami and dipped it with crackers! My husband totally loved it! Thanks for sharing.

Posted by: Melissa S. on October 10, 2006 9:39 AM

As requested, the Sonoma Chicken Salad recipe from Whole Foods - you can register on their site for free, and get all sorts of recipes! This one is filed under salad, not chicken, so I originally thought it wasn't there. :)

1 cup mayonnaise
4 tsp apple cider vinegar
5 tsp honey
2 tsp poppy seeds
sea salt, to taste
ground pepper, to taste

Salad

2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup pecan pieces, toasted
2 cups red seedless grapes
3 stalks celery, thinly sliced
Prepare the dressing by thoroughly mixing together all dressing ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate until ready to dress the salad. (Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead.)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Place the chicken breasts in one layer in a baking dish with 1/2 cup water. Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes until completely cooked through. Remove cooked chicken breasts from baking pan, cool at room temperature for 10 minutes, then cover and refrigerate.

When the breasts are completely chilled (at least 2 hours refrigerated), dice into bite-sized pieces and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in pecans, grapes, celery and dressing.

Posted by: beth on October 13, 2006 10:31 AM

My favorite Chicken Salad Recipe is the one from MyChickenRecipes.com. When I made it at my resent housewarming the guest gave me lots of positive comments. Here it is:

3 c Cooked rice; cooled
1 1/2 c Cooked chicken breast cubes (about 1 whole breast)
1 c Sliced celery
8 oz Sliced water chestnuts (drained)
1/2 c Sliced fresh mushrooms
1/4 c Sliced green onion
1/4 c Diced red bell pepper
1/4 c Sliced black olives
2 tb Vegetable oil
2 tb Lemon juice
1 tb Soy sauce
1/2 ts Ground ginger
1/2 ts Ground white pepper
Lettuce leaves

Posted by: Mikael on October 30, 2006 6:04 AM

I really enjoyed reading the many chicken salad recipes. In a nutshell, it's all in the taste - if you like it "sweet" or not. I don't. So, I always add the green olives, green and red AND yellow peppers, dried mustard, a touch of lemon pepper, and a teaspoon of capers and Kraft's Mayonnaise. Coupled with rice vinegar, red vinegar, a little olive oil and HUNGARIAN paprika plus some walnuts or pecans, mixing well - and served cold - you've got the best chicken salad this side of the Mississippi. I always surround mine with watermelon, cantelope, and other melons and fruit. On the side - cheeses and you MUST have some cheese/garlic/parmasean toast. Take slices of wheat or white bread, dip in melted butter, sprinkle with garlic powder and Monterey Jack or Colby cheese and place under the broiler of your stove. When the bread sides are brown, or the cheese completely melted, remove from oven and sprinkle parmasean cheese on top. What a luncb or dinner!

Posted by: Paula D. Ward on December 5, 2006 4:41 PM

I'll try chicken salad just about any way you can fix it. I love it with fruit too. A friend of mine made some a while back that was quite different. I don't have exact measurements of the ingredients, but you can basically 'guesstimate' according to how much you want to make. I always just throw mine together and taste as I go anyway. So here is something different:

INGREDIENTS:

*Chicken Breast (Cooked, cut up or shredded- however you like) Set broth aside to cool.

*MEXICAN sour cream (There is a difference between regular sour cream and the 'Mexican' sour cream-The mexican sour cream is more creamy and smoother in consistency-I've never substituted it for the regular kind, so I don't know how that would work)

*Mixed vegetables (potatoes, carrots, peas, etc.) You can go the easy route by using canned mixed veggies and of course, you can also cook your veggies fresh. I've always used fresh veggies because I think it always tastes a little better when you use fresh ingredients. I use baby carrots, potatoes, peas, onion, & garlic (to taste), all chopped or diced, however your pallete prefers. I also cook all of the vegetables separate, except for my onion and garlic and let them cool before mixing them in with the salad.

With your cooked chicken in a mixing bowl, add onion and garlic to taste. Add enough broth to saturate chicken to help make it easier to mix. Be careful not to add too much, you don't want it floating or you'll have soup. You can also add just a tiny bit at a time throughout preparation to make sure you don't add too much.

Mix in carrots, peas and potatoes. As you're adding your veggies, you can pour in small amounts of the sour cream before adding each one. I find this helps mixing it all together a little smoother and your veggies don't get all mooshy. You can add the sour cream to your desired consistency and as always, salt and pepper to taste.

You can eat this salad warm or cold. With crackers, by itself, or even on a sandwich is great. I hope someone can enjoy this recipe!

Posted by: Angelina on January 16, 2007 6:57 AM

Made this last night following recipe closely and used huckleberry syrup (bought from roadside stand one summer) in place of plum preserves. Tasty! This recipe is a keeper.

Thanks....Candy

Posted by: candy on March 19, 2007 3:53 PM

I enjoyed your recipe and look forward to making it sometime soon.
I use the boiled chicken breast that is created when I make my chicken stock, to make my chicken salad.
Yogurt-Oregano Chicken Salad
2 diced chicken breasts (they are big because they are from a whole chicken, I would use 3 frozen chicken breasts if I were to go that way)
1/2 cup fat free plain Yogurt
1 peeled cucumber diced
1 yellow onion diced
1/3 cup chopped garlic stuffed green olives
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp oregano dried
A pinch of dried mint
Salt and ground pepper to taste
Combine and enjoy in a pita or on a bed of lettuce. It's best served cold and better the 2nd day so the flavors can marry.

Posted by: Cin on March 30, 2007 9:35 AM

Oops...forgot the 1/2 cup of crumbled feta in my salad. It's a must.
Thanks!

Posted by: Cin on March 30, 2007 10:06 AM

A great recipe. I would suggest when making any kind of chicken salad you don't add all the dressing at once but a little at a time. I have made the mistake with other salad recipes of adding all the dressing only to find it was too much.

Posted by: Gary on June 28, 2007 1:25 PM

Am thinking about chicken salad for an upcoming 50th birthday party and have enjoyed all the recipes and comments here. Can anyone tell me how to figure out how much salad I need? Do you figure on one-half breast for each serving or more or less? Also, I've been wanting to serve something in endive "boats" - would that work with the chicken/grape/nut type salad? I will probably have fresh fruits with it and liked the idea of some cheeses and toasted parmesan "points".

Posted by: mary lynne on July 17, 2007 5:02 PM

My Best Friend, Mayo-Mathers, chicken salad recipe. It's awesome
Pick a roasted chicken clean off the bone.
Cube the chicken.
In a mixing bowel mix 3/4 c mayo or (more to taste)
2 TBS dijon mustard
3 TBS sweet relish
1/2 C (your choice) drained mandrine oranges or pineapple or grape halves
toasted pine nuts
salt pepper to taste
diced green onions
diced celery

Mix wet ing. with chicken - enjoy

Posted by: MarCya Mooney on December 5, 2007 11:02 PM

Great chicken salad! I added pomegranate seeds, parsley and garlic to the mix.

Posted by: dana on January 3, 2008 4:16 PM

This was delicious! I used leftover seasoned baked breasts, celery, various colored bell peps, green onions, green and yellow zucchini, and strawberries. I would have used green olives, but the ones in my fridge were no good. Basically whatever I had in the fridge. For the dressing I used lime juice instead of lemon since thats what I had and I added some fresh parsley, mint, basil and lots of ground pepper. My Mom happens to make excellent plum jelly, so that was perfect. Excellent, crunchy and satisfying ! Regarding leftovers, it got a bit watery, so I just drained it. yum...

Posted by: Sharee on April 1, 2008 2:57 PM

All sounds good people.
I like to marinate chicken breasts in my best marinade. Grill them they next day. After cooling, they are diced up and mixed with the traditional type ingredients. It has never failed yet.

Posted by: Kyle on May 12, 2008 3:14 PM

I know I'm a little late on this discussion, but I just wanted to thank Angelina for her recipe for Mexican chicken salad. I remember eating this while in Mexico and I've been wanting to make it for a while, but I hadn't been able to remember the ingredients or find a recipe remotely like it. Thanks!

Oh yeah... we always ate ours on tostadas.

Posted by: Emily on May 28, 2008 9:38 AM

Great recipes but I just have to tell you about mine - chopped chicken breasts, finely chopped walnuts, chopped gala apples, finely chopped celery. My best ingredient - finely chopped mandarin oranges Half mayo and half miracle whip, blended together. I never cook by measurements, but I'm sure you can decipher how to make this fabulous chicken salad.

Posted by: Margie Lenoir on June 4, 2008 8:13 PM

I found this salad a bit too sweet. Fun to make though. Ended up adding way more olives to improve the flavor and I used homemade raspberry preserves.

Posted by: Bris on March 3, 2009 2:53 PM

I have to qualify my last comment to be fair: my sister came home and loved the salad so I guess it's just for some people and not for others :)

Posted by: Bris on March 3, 2009 4:25 PM

I thought perhaps you might enjoy one of my fave chick salad recipes- measurements are pretty much by preference

dressing:
equal parts mayonnaise (not salad dressing) and sour cream
tarragon
salt and pepper
lemon zest in the mood

cooked chicken
halved seedless grapes
cooked pasta of some sort

- toss all together.

sorry wasn't more specific in directions but my hands have nerve damage and typing has become more than a bit challenging

Sounds delicious Karena, thank you for sharing. ~Elise

Posted by: Karena on March 13, 2009 12:32 PM

I boil a fryer, for extra flavor I add garlic powder to taste,and 1/2 chopped onion to water when boiling chicken.

I don't add celery, or chopped boiled eggs. Boil chicken,cool chicken, debone chicken. Add a couple tablespoons of broth to chicken, add mayonnaise, a dot of yellow mustard, sweet relish, and about half as much dill relish. We do not like ours too sweet, this helps.

Mix well, seedless grapes, or mandarin oranges are very good also added. Served on lettuce leaves, with crackers, a fruit or veg.salad and you have a great meal.

I cater and everyone loves my chicken salad. They think it is very hard, so simple. But usually don't give recipe out, that would take away my business.

Thanks,

Clarice

Posted by: Clarice Lott on May 13, 2009 6:38 PM

I just made this. It was good!

Thanks,
Candy

Posted by: Candy on June 2, 2009 5:12 PM

This chicken salad was great! Family ate it up --- no left overs!

Thanks again, your recipes never fail me!

Posted by: Tomoko on February 23, 2010 6:45 PM

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