Perfect For Leftover Chicken
Ok back to this Avocado Ranch Chicken Salad Wrap youll definitely want to add this to your menu. Its the perfect way to enjoy leftover chicken , quick and easy to make and can be prepared ahead of time. The filling will last about 3 days in the fridge.
We serve it with a fresh fruit salad for the perfect light dinner or lunch.
How To Make It
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Gently boil the chicken until cooked through. Let the chicken rest, then dice once cooled.
Combine the diced chicken, celery, mayo, lemon juice, Dijon, and seasonings. Chill until ready to serve.
Add the sliced grapes, green onions, almonds, and cranberries. Stir to combine, then transfer to a clean serving bowl prior to serving if desired.
Roast Chicken Salad Sandwiches
There are a variety of ways you can cook chicken to put in your chicken salad. You can poach, sear, bake, fry or roast it to create the best flavor profile for the type of chicken salad you are looking to make. For this recipe, roasting the chicken develops a beautiful brown, crispy skin and, with the addition of lemon and fresh herbs, creates a juicy, tender, bright meat to use as the base of the salad. To save prep and cook time, whip up some homemade mayonnaise and chop up lots of fresh herbs and celery while the chicken cooks.
Get the Recipe: Roast Chicken Salad Sandwiches
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How To Cook Chicken For Chicken Salad
If you are going to cook chicken specifically for chicken salad, the easiest thing to do is to poach it.
What I like to do is put a pot of 2 quarts of water and 1 tablespoon salt on to boil. As the water is heating, I cut skinless boneless chicken breasts into large chunks. When the water boils, I add the chicken, and return the pot to a simmer. Then I turn off the heat, and cover the pot and let the meat sit for 15 minutes in the hot water while I prepare everything else. Poaching chicken this way allows the chicken to cook gently, so the chicken retains more moisture.
After the chicken is finished cooking you can save the poaching liquid as light chicken broth.
Poaching aside, you can easily use any cooked chicken for this chicken saladrotisserie chicken, grilled chicken, or roasted chicken. My parents will often use leftovers from their favorite baked chicken, and even include some of the crispy skin in the salad.
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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What To Serve With Chicken Salad
What to serve with chicken salad depends on what youre doing with the final recipe. There are so many ways to serve it, the ideas are endless.
Whether you choose chicken salad sandwiches or topping a bed of lettuce with chicken salad, its a delicious dish to keep in the fridge.
You can use any type of chicken to make chicken salad. If you want to cook the chicken yourself, a great way to start is with boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs.
The key to making your chicken salad inviting is to serve it in an appealing and appetizing way.
A good chicken salad is one that offers a blend of flavors that complement each other.
How To Make The Best Chicken Salad
Ingredients youll need to make this delicious salad:
Chicken. Youll need four cups of cooked chicken that you shred or chop, depending on the texture that you prefer. You can easily shred the chicken in your stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer if you want. Shredding with two forks also works great.
For the chicken, you can use baked chicken that you cook ahead or make Instant Pot chicken. You can even use rotisserie chicken if you wish.
Celery. Chopped celery adds the perfect amount of crunch and freshness.
Grapes. Halved seedless grapes add a touch of sweetness. I love to use red seedless grapes as they add another bit of color to the salad.
Dried Cranberries. Sweet and yet a little tart, the dried cranberries are a delicious addition as well.
Roasted Pecans. Chopped roasted pecans are a great addition. Omit them if allergic to nuts or if you are serving at an event and do not know if there are nut allergies.
Mayonnaise or Greek Yogurt. You can use all mayo or all Greek Yogurt in your salad or even a little bit of each. Greek Yogurt will help to lighten up the recipe, but it is definitely a matter of preference.
Seasonings. Salt and pepper are the perfect seasonings for it.
Celery leaves. Chopped celery leaves add so much flavor, but if you dont have them just omit.
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The Best Chicken Salad
This Chicken Salad is truly divine. At first glance you might balk at the grapes, but trust me, they make the salad exquisite. The sweet crunch of the grapes combines beautifully with the chicken and richness of the mayo. The celery and pecans create nice crunch to the chicken salad that elevates it to the next level.
I love using this for picnics and special lunches. It is so easy to make but it is so fancy at the same time. Chicken Salad comes together in a flash so you can have this on the table in no time. And you will love how it is so versatile as well, serve it as a wrap, on a croissant, on some rye bread, or in a lettuce bowl. However you serve it, just make it! You are going to love it, it is so divine!
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Please note that any nutrition info you find in the recipe is for it as written in the recipe card. If you make any changes to the recipe to suit your tastes, I recommend using My Fitness Pal or the Lose It app to calculate the nutrition info. I dont provide nutrition info to cover all scenarios.
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Also Check: What Do I Need To Make Chicken Salad
What Goes In Chicken Salad
Chicken salad is very versatile, a lot of times using what you have on hand. I always used to make mine with chicken, mayo, celery, and some seasonings. But I realized I had been missing out. Try it with the following ingredients, youll be glad you did!
- Chicken: Seasoned baked chicken breast or rotisserie chicken thats completely cooled and chopped.
- Dressing: Mayonnaise, plain Greek yogurt, and mustard.
- Seasonings: Onion powder, kosher salt, and pepper.
- Mix-ins: Dried cranberries, chopped pecans, and diced apple.
- Chicken Salad Sandwich: Simply put the mixture on a croissant or soft dinner rolls with some fresh baby spinach or lettuce, if serving as a sandwich.
How To Poach Chicken Tenders
The recipe below is to poach boneless skinless chicken breasts. Chicken tenders are much smaller so if youd like to poach them youll use the same method but youll need to adjust the cook time so they dont dry out.
Follow the recipe below but leave the covered resting time to about 8-10 minutes depending on the thickness of your chicken tenders. Youll want to ensure they just reach 165°F.
If you know happen to know what recipe youre going to use this chicken for you can change up the herbs added in to complement the recipe. If youre not sure, you can poach the chicken breasts with basic flavors to use in any recipe!
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How To Create A Healthy Chicken Salad
Cook chicken, then chop it. Make sure to use a nice, sharp knife. If you like, slice it in half and then remove the bones. Remove the skin and the fat from the chicken. Chop the chicken into small cubes. Mix together the chicken, celery, green onions, raisins, peanut butter, and mayonnaise. You can add some lemon juice to the mixture, or honey to taste. Serve cold or serve hot.
Grandmas Easy Chicken Salad
This chicken salad recipe is nostalgic for me! It came from my sweet Grandma.
She always used to make a big batch of Chicken Salad for us when we came to her house. Wed eat it for lunches with fresh fruit and salad. It was also common for families parties and showers.
Every ingredient compliments each other and the mayo dressing has lots of flavor. The chicken is tender and well seasoned, and the celery and sliced almonds give it the BEST crunch.
This recipe is really easy to whip up. Just like Grandma, I love mixing up a big batch and eating it on croissants for weekday lunches or serving at get togethers.
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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!
Tips For This Recipe:
- Either chill the chicken before you make the salad or chill the chicken salad mixture before serving.
- Try adding different mix-ins to your chicken salad: different kinds of nuts, grapes, apples, dried cranberries, dried cherries, avocado, chopped green onion or red onion.
- Cook your chicken ahead of time so that you can make this recipe quickly. Try my Instant Pot Shredded Chicken or Crockpot Shredded Chicken. Cooked chicken will stay fresh for up to 4 days in the refrigerator, so go by the date when your chicken was cooked to figure out how long you can store your chicken salad in the fridge.
- For a low carb lunch, serve chicken salad in lettuce wraps or on top of a spinach salad.
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Delicious Chicken Salad Recipe:
Chicken Salad is always a hit during the summertime BBQ, sitting by the pool or at a picnic. With very minimal ingredients you can transfer form cooked chicken in a filling salad.
Thankfully, we have done all the work for you and have the best chicken salad recipe. It has the perfect combinations of everything for an amazing chicken salad!
Our entire family loves this and it is so easy to make.
Give This Easy Chicken Salad Sandwich Recipe A Try
You are going to love this recipe! It really is so simple. We have used leftover rotisserie chicken or roasted chicken to make this and it was wonderful
I love to top mine with sliced tomatoes and more red onion. I love eating mine ona bed of lettuce. We have added sliced almonds and boiled eggs.
You can substitute greek yogurt and sour cream for the mayo. These chicken salad sandwiches are amazing! We love to make these and go on a picnic. It really is the perfect picnic food and so easy to make.
These are also great for baby showers and you can use the mini croissants for something bite size. The options are endless with this delicious recipe.
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What Makes This Chicken Salad Special
The “secret sauce,” so to speak, of this chicken salad, is the tablespoon of plum preserves my mom adds to the mayo-based dressing. You could use any berry jelly or jam, but as we always have a lot of plum jam on hand , that’s what mom reaches for first.
Mom balances out the sweetness from the dab of jam with a bit of lemon juice.
The result? Wonderful!
Cajun Chicken Salad With Pecans
For a really flavorful hero sandwich, try this Cajun chicken salad with pecans. Celery, green onions, chopped pecans, fresh parsley, and some Cajun seasoning are mixed with a creamy and spicy mayo-Tabasco-cayenne dressing. For tree nut allergies, use pepitas or sunflower seeds instead. For extra flavor, add cooked crispy bacon or cubed cured ham.
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Crunchy Middle Eastern Chicken Salad
The Spruce Eats / Anita Schecter
Give your chicken salad a Middle Eastern spin with this impressive recipe. Greek yogurt tahini serves as the dressing, and it’s easy to make with just a few ingredients. That’s mixed with shredded chicken, carrots, almonds, cilantro, and za’atar seasoning, which you can whip up, too. Try this salad on naan bread with baby spinach.
Use A Cold Serving Tray
Plenty of serving trays can keep your chicken salad sandwiches chilled for the duration of the event. You no longer need to set the food on the table and hope for the best.
Here are just a few chilled serving tray options available.
- Deep chiller bowl. Fill the double-walled insulated bowl with water and then freeze it. Pour the chicken salad into the bowl and set it on the buffet table. The chicken salad will stay chilled for a couple of hours as the ice in the inner wall melts. Dont worry. The ice wont melt into the salad.
- A serving tray on ice. Pour ice cubes on the bottom plate. Then place the serving tray with the chicken salad sandwiches on top of the ice. It should fit securely. As a bonus, many of these trays come with a lid. Your food will stay cold, and you can keep the bread from drying out simultaneously.
- Flexifreeze party mat chiller. This comes with a freezable ice sheet that you insert into the mat. The water is contained when the ice sheet melts, so there is no soggy mess. You can swap the thawed ice sheet out for a frozen one if you need food chilled longer.
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How To Make Chicken Salad
Prepare a classic chicken salad in 15 minutes with only a few simple ingredients.
For this chicken salad sandwich recipe, any bread will do, thick slices of a baguette or buns/rolls hold up well. This is naturally low carb and its great over a tossed salad as well.
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
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How Long Does Canned Cat Food Last After Expiration Date
Its generally agreed that its okay to feed your pets opened dry food three months after its best by datebut you should keep in mind that they probably wont be getting all the nutrients the food would normally have. For opened canned food kept in the fridge, use it up within five to seven days of opening it.
What Makes It The Best
- The Chicken: The chicken is boiled gently in salted water . Cooking the chicken gently ensures that it doesnt become tough. Let it rest after being cooked to ensure the juices stay locked in, then dice it up.
- The Dressing: You can use all mayo in this, or a combination of mayo and plain Greek yogurt. Wait for the chicken to fully cool before combining it with mayo to ensure the oil doesnt separate. Also included in the mix is celery, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt/pepper, garlic salt, dried dill, and paprika.
- The Add-Ons: A hint of sweetness is obtained from grapes and dried cranberries, which also add a pop of color. Sliced toasted almonds add a nice crunch, and green onions add a great finish.
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