Make this flavorful Chicken Salad Recipe for a side dish, light lunch, or chicken sandwich! It’s sweet and salty, creamy and crunchy.
Chicken salad has been a staple in our family my whole life, but especially during the summer! Sometimes we add pasta, and other times we use cashews instead of pecans. No matter what variety is made, it is always delicious.
Chicken Salad Recipe Ingredients
The main ingredients are chicken, grapes, pecans, and celery, plus the dressing. You can add more or less of any ingredient, depending on your preferences. Scroll down for the complete recipe with ingredient measurements.
- Chicken: For the chicken in this salad, we made a couple of air fryer chicken breasts (find my recipe here) while prepping up the other ingredients. You can also use rotisserie chicken or canned chicken, but you may need to cut back on the seasonings, especially the salt.
- Grapes: We used red seedless grapes and cut them into fourths because they were so big. You can also use green grapes in this recipe.
- Pecans: The toasted pecans add flavor and texture to the salad. Cashews are another popular choice.
- Celery: We used about one rib of celery to add a little crunch and some flavor.
- Mayonnaise: Mayonnaise is the main ingredient in the salad dressing. You can choose to use a light version, but it may alter your results.
- Heavy Cream: The heavy whipping cream helps thin the dressing and adds to the creaminess.
- Lemon Juice: A little lemon juice adds some tanginess and flavor to the dressing.
- Seasonings: We seasoned this chicken salad recipe with tarragon, onion powder, salt, and black pepper.
How To Make This Chicken Salad Recipe
Making this chicken salad recipe is very simple. Chop up the ingredients, make the dressing, and mix it all together. Scroll down for the printable recipe card and complete instructions.
- Prep: Chop the cooked chicken breasts, grapes, pecans, and celery. Place them all in a bowl.
- Dressing: In a separate bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients.
- Combine: Pour the dressing over the salad and stir to combine.
- Chill: Cover the salad and chill in the refrigerator.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, there are not eggs in chicken salad. It is made with chicken, grapes, pecans, celery, and dressing.
Chicken salad goes well with sandwiches, subs, and hamburgers. It can also be served as a chicken salad sandwich with chips, a veggie tray, pickles, and a green salad.
When stored properly, cooked chicken lasts 3-4 days in the refrigerator.
Want more salad recipes? Try these next:
Here’s a Potato Salad Recipe to make on repeat! It’s the classic summer salad that everyone loves and it goes well with almost anything.
This homemade Coleslaw recipe is better than store-bought! Prepare it ahead of time to serve with chicken, burgers, or pulled pork.
Our Chipotle Chicken Salad is bursting with flavor! It’s topped with chicken, veggies, beans, corn, hot honey, and chipotle ranch dressing.
Fresh Corn Salad only takes a few minutes to mix up and can also be served as a party appetizer as a dip with chips.
Chicken Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked chicken diced*
- 1 cup sliced grapes
- ½ cup toasted pecans chopped
- ½ cup chopped celery about 1 celery rib
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoon tarragon
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
Instructions
- Put the chicken, grapes, pecans, and celery in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine the mayonnaise, heavy whipping cream, lemon juice, tarragon, onion powder, sea salt, and black pepper.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and stir to combine.
- Chill in the refrigerator.
Rebecca says
Fantastic! I made this salad for a supper with friends. Everyone loved it.
Tonia Larson says
Thank you! It’s such a good summer meal!
Faith says
This is so good! I love it!