Napa Valley Chicken Salad
This flavorful, easy-to-make chicken salad comes together with just a few ingredients, each of which play an integral role in the profile and body of the dish. The dressing is a combination of sharp Dijon mustard and zesty Ranch dressing and complements the sweetness of red grapes, the earthiness of toasted pecans and the crispness of celery. Enjoy this salad on its own or put it on a sandwich with fresh tomatoes and lettuce for a summertime classic youll want every day.
Get the Recipe: Napa Valley Chicken Salad
How To Make The Best Potato Salad Recipe
1) The key to making the best potato salad is to use starchy potatoes and let them get really soft, so they are partially mashed once mixed. This gives the recipe a rustic, yet thick and luxurious quality. I like to use Yukon Gold or Klondike Goldust potatoes. You can also use Russet potatoes if you like. Do not use new potatoes, because they hold their shape too well and will leave the dressing soupy.
Start the potatoes in cold water and bring them to a boil to ensure even cooking. Make sure to salt the boiling water so the salty flavor gets deep down in the potatoes.
Once the potatoes are soft, drain off the water and peel off the skins. You can leave some of the skins on if you like the added texture.
Chop the potatoes when they are soft this saves time on the peeling and chopping.
2) Next, mix all the dressing ingredients together. Use your favorite mayonnaise as the base.
I know better than to tell you what brand to useMayonnaise is an intensely personal condiment!
Here in the Carolinas, we use Dukes Mayonnaise, but mom usually uses Hellmanns. You can even go with Miracle Whip if that is your favorite.
Mix a large amount of sweet pickle relish into the dressing.
Use the good quality refrigerated relish that tastes fresh, has large chunks, and stays firm. Otherwise, the dense ultra-sweet shelved variety might overwhelm the flavor of the dressing.
If you cant find good relish, finely dice firm refrigerated sweet pickles instead.
How To Use Poached Chicken
Now that you have a perfectly poached chicken, what possibilities are there? Any place you’d use rotisserie chicken, you can swap in your poached chicken for an instant upgrade Here are just a few ideas:
- Chicken Salad. Never again will you need tons of extra mayo, because this chicken isn’t even remotely dry.
- Chicken tacos. Shred the meat, add beans and anything else you love.
- Chicken Tonnato. The perfect cold summer dish, thinly sliced chicken topped with a savory tuna and caper sauce.
- Pasta. Add this perfect chicken to virtually any pasta sauce: tomato, pesto, cream, or whatever appeals to you.
- A frittata or Spanish tortilla. Your poached chicken will be the star.
- Soup. It’s the perfect last-second addition to any soup: vegetable, bean, cream, chowder, and beyond.
- A simple green salad. A simple salad becomes a whole meal with the addition of sliced, beautifully poached chicken…warm or cold.
- Chicken Hash. It’s one of my favorite foods. And, you can even top the hash with mashed potatoes for a wonderful chicken “shepherd’s pie.”
- Chicken Pot Pie. Can’t forget this classic! The real thing will make you forget the frozen ones ever existed.
- The Chicken Club. Ah yes, and then, there’s always one of America’s greatest contributions to sandwich culture…
Bonus: After being strained, you’ll also have some absolutely delicious chicken broth to use in myriad ways.
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Why We Love This Recipe
This salad is fresh and loaded with flavor. It is quick and simple to prepare, and is so versatile!
Asian chicken salad is a great way to use up leftover chicken! The chicken in this dish can be served cold as a chilled salad for warm summer months or add chicken hot off the grill!
Using cabbage instead of lettuce in this salad means it keeps well, so go ahead and make it ahead of time. Keep the dressing separate and keep it in the fridge until ready to serve.
Chicken Salad With Walnuts And Grapes
Grapes, walnuts, and chicken come together in a creamy mayo-sour cream dressing. Toss this tasty salad in 20 minutes and serve it on bread, lettuce leaves, or with mixed greens with slices of avocado. It makes a great last-minute lunch if you have leftover chicken or turkey. Add radicchio for a pungent crunch, or use crushed roasted seaweed for a salty and crunchy texture.
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What Goes Into Chicken Salad
The great thing about chicken salad is that it can be changed up based on whats in your fridge! Keep the ratios the same as the recipe below but swap out the add ins and seasonings
Make Chicken Salad Again And Again With These Kitchenware Essentials
Stir together gently
Until everything is thoroughly coated.
Now, if youre feeling particularly naughty and saucy and feisty, please sprinkle in some homemade OR, in my case, STOREBOUGHT bacon bits. Again, dont overdo itjust a little bacon flavor will do.
Now, I have fried up thick, peppered bacon, chopped it fine, and sprinkled it in the chicken salad before, and it was almost too delicious for me to bear. So try that sometimebut enter at your own risk.
Now, taste it, salt it, pepper it, add more dillwhatever you need to do to make it perfect. Just remember to fold/stir gently throughout this process.
And when youre finished, do this! Because Martha might be watching.
Now, just allow the chicken salad to chill several hours or even overnightlong enough for the flavors to really meld.
Then, when youre ready, just serve the chicken salad on a bed of lettuceor in hollowed-out heads of cabbage, or hollowed-out bell peppersor put it on English Muffins, top with cheese, and broilor stir in with shell pasta for chicken pasta salad. Yum.
Or! If youre me, you can do this:
Grainy wheat bread.
Toasted. And did you know Id been married nine years before I even owned a toaster? True story.
Honey mustard.
Baby Spinach. And plenty of it.
Chicken salad
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How Long Does Poaching Chicken Take
Last but certainly not least: Be patient. Bring the liquid/chicken up to a simmer, turn the heat to low, cover and simmer until the breast reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. The easiest and most precise way to judge doneness for poached chicken is using an instant read thermometer versus a timer. This should take about 20 minutes for a bone-in breast and though you’ll want to raise the heat and rush things…don’t. Low and slow are the bywords! Remove your pan from the heat and let the chicken cool in the liquid.
How To Make No Mayo Potato Salad Dressing
Using a vinaigrette instead of mayonnaise in potato salad results in a healthier, lighter salad where the individual ingredients really shine!
To make no mayo potato salad dressing
Vinaigrette based dressing for potato salad is incredibly easy to make! Simply whisk together extra virgin olive oil, vinegar and seasonings together in a small bowl until fully combined. Whisk in fresh herbs and season to taste with salt and pepper.
When to add vinaigrette dressing to potato salad?
When to add dressing to potato salad depends entirely on the type of dressing you plan to use.
If you are using a vinaigrette, you need to dress the potatoes right away, while they are still warm! Warm potatoes will absorb the vinaigrette and become more flavorful.
When using a mayonnaise-based potato salad, you need to let the potatoes cool completely before tossing them with a dressing. Warm potatoes will cause the mayonnaise to break and your salad will become very oily.
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Crunchy Pistachio Chicken Salad
Crunchy, fun, and easy to make, youll love this jazzed-up chicken salad recipe.
The pistachios bring beautiful pops of color and much-needed crunch, while the Greek yogurt adds a touch of sweetness.
To make it extra special, serve it on a bed of greens or with a crusty baguette.
Light, refreshing, and packed with flavor, this simple summer salad couldnt be easier to make.
Just throw some chicken, veggies, and Asian-inspired dressing into a bowl, and youre good to go.
More Easy Salad Recipes
- This Lemony Chicken Breast Recipe with Feta and Cucumber Salad it is quick to make and is perfect for weeknight meals.
- Easy Chickpea Salad with Lemon and Dill the salad comes together quickly and it made with fresh lemon, fresh dill, crisp cucumber and tomatoes.
- This delicious and Easy Potato Salad Recipe is mayonnaise free and has lots of fresh herbs.
- Creamy Cucumber Salad Recipe with a tzatziki-inspired dressing made with Greek yogurt, vinegar, fresh lemon, garlic, and dill. Its light, refreshing and less than 30 calories per serving!
Recipe updated, originally posted June 2013. Since posting this in 2013, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear. Adam and Joanne
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What Makes It So Delicious
So many folks have made this salad and asked us in complete sincerity: What makes this chicken salad recipe so darn delicious?
Well, there are several reasons, we believe: Here are some of the main ones:
- Roasting the chicken ensures flavorful, juicy chicken for the salad. In a pinch, you could certainly use a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket.
- The addition of seedless grapes, almonds, and fresh dill are part of what makes this dish so wonderful.
- A mix of mayonnaise, Dijon, and lemon juice adds a freshness that is just so very delicious. It all adds up to the best chicken salad sandwich you can imagine!
Homemade Mayonnaise Adds More Freshness
If you really are in the mood to make this truly the BEST-EVER chicken saladmake your mayonnaise from scratch.
Theres nothing better than homemade classic mayonnaise .
Of course, good-quality store-bought mayonnaise will work just fine, but we absolutely LOVE making it from scratch! One thing to keep in mind, though, homemade mayo has raw egg in it, which could be an issue with the very young, the elderly, or anyone with a compromised immune system.
Its all about using fresh ingredients.
Fresh dill and parsley add a layer of flavor that we think puts this salad over the top.
If you cant get fresh, dried will work, just use half the amount that you would be using if fresh.
And its even better after it sits in the fridge for a few hours, or overnight! This chicken salad sandwich recipe is really about as good as they come!
I mean, just look how delicious this looks!
Wait until you taste it!! You and those around you will love it!
If you are looking for an easy chicken salad recipe that tastes like something youd get at an amazing restaurant, you need to look no further!
You can almost taste how good this is just by looking at it.
There is a reason this is hands down the most popular recipe on How To Feed a Loon!
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Poached Chicken For Salads:
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Chicken And Rice Salad
This lovely chicken and rice salad is an excellent picnic dish because it’s a whole meal in itself. Cooked rice and chicken, mayo, veggies, and olives provide lots of flavors and a rich texture. Use the salad to fill heirloom tomatoes or whole peppers. Serve it on iceberg lettuce leaves, make rice paper roll wraps, cold flour tortilla sandwiches, or stuff some pitas.
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How Do I Season Poached Chicken
And, speaking of additions, #3 is: Flavor your poaching liquid. Salt and pepper are obvious musts, but any flavors you want to add can be introduced during poaching – herbs, spices, garlic, onions, hot peppers, carrots, celery, a splash of white wine etc. However, notice the absence of added fat, hence the reputation of poaching being associated with “diet food.” Poaching yields chicken with a clean, delicate flavor.
Can Salad Be Frozen
We dont recommend freezing the chicken salad. But what we do recommend is freezing the cooked chicken. If you have leftover cooked chicken, simply chop up the chicken and put in a freezer back.
Then it is easy to pull out the frozen chicken and let it thaw to follow the steps to make chicken salad. Learn more on our Can You Freeze Chicken Salad? post.
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More About This Recipe
- Perfect for picnics, ideal at celebrations and just-right for any quick-fix meal, this chicken salad sandwich recipe is a balanced combination of hearty meat, crunchy celery and onion and creamy mayonnaise. If you have leftover cooked chicken from another meal, turn it into easy chicken salad. And if Thanksgiving dinner has given you more turkey than you can handle, swap it in this recipe for chicken salad to make an easy day-after meal. One commenter remarked that she omits the celery and adds in chopped apple instead. Another swaps the celery out for a tablespoon minced jalapeño peppers to add a spicy twist. Avoiding bread? This would be just as tasty served in lettuce wraps instead. Easy chicken salad is just the beginning. Dont miss out on Betty Crocker’s best sandwich and wrap recipes for more ideas.
Is Chicken Salad Healthy
Depending on the ingredients , chicken salad can definitely be healthyand a great choice for lunch or dinner. The biggest culprit of making it unhealthy is the mayonnaise and how much you use, since it is high in fats and calories.
How many calories in chicken salad? This particular recipe uses a combination of mayo and plain Greek yogurt and is 411 calories per serving.How many carbs in chicken salad? This recipe weighs in at only 9 carbs per serving.
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Combine The Salad And Dressing
It’s time to assemble the salad. Just pour the mayonnaise mixture over the bowl the chicken and mix thoroughly so that everything is well combined. The chicken, veggies, and fruit pairing is a match made in heaven.
“The taste is light and refreshing, with the creaminess of the mayonnaise being complemented by the crispness of the celery and the sweet apple,” Bryant raves. “The lemon adds a lovely tang, and the dill provides herbal notes. For a dish with relatively few ingredients, it has a lot going on flavor-wise!”
Grilled Peach Chicken Salad
Between the skinless chicken breasts, peaches, and salad greens, this salad is overflowing with nutrients.
Youll start with perfectly grilled chicken and peaches. And if youve never grilled fruit before, youre in for a real treat.
The flavor is enhanced and deeply caramelized. Seriously, the peaches are probably the best part about this dish!
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How To Make Quick And Easy Chicken Salad
Letting this sit in the fridge for a bit, helps meld the flavors together. Shoot for at least an hour. In a medium sized bowl combine the chicken, grapes, pecans, green onions, celery, mayonnaise, lemon, and mustard. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with croissants, romaine, or with crackers. This chicken salad is always so fun for everyone to make their own sandwich or add it on top of green lettuce.
To Make Chicken Salad With Grapes
Not only is this simple and easy, but it is so impressive to serve for guests while sitting on the deck sipping on an ice-cold glass of NESTEA® slightly sweet black iced tea!
Serve with bread, croissants, or over a bed of lettuce.
Pro tip: Toast the pecans in a small pan and let them cool before adding to the salad. Toasting nuts retain their crunch and expand their flavor!
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Balsamic Chicken Avocado Caprese Salad
Made with chicken, avocado, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and a balsamic vinegar dressing, this salad is super zesty and filling.
The chicken is cooked in a balsamic vinegar and olive oil mixture, giving it a flavorful and tender taste.
The avocado provides a creamy texture to the salad, while the tomatoes and mozzarella add a fresh flavor.
Balsamic vinegar dressing ties all of the flavors together and gives the salad a slightly sweet taste.
How Long Does Chicken Salad Last
In the Refrigerator? This recipe keeps well in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Simply store in an airtight container. Refrigerate right after serving.
Left Out at Room Temperature? For food safety, I like to stick to what the FDA advisesthe two-hour rule.which applies since this recipe has chicken and mayonnaise, you should not leave this out at room temperature for any longer than two hours.
Left Out at Picnic or Potluck? If you are serving this at a summer event and the temperature is warmer, you should be extra careful to refrigerate as soon as possible. Again, I look to the FDA for their safety rule. If the outside temperature is above 90 degrees, the two-hour rule becomes ONE hour.
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