Ultimate Chicken Salad

Chicken salad is a classic recipe, but my version has a little something extra to make it the ultimate chicken salad recipe – keep reading below! Diced chicken is tossed with a creamy dressing and dotted with crisp celery, green onion, and fresh grapes. It’s easy, healthy, bright, flavorful, and will make any summer meal a breeze.

NWMH staff, please modify the recipe to fit individual food textures or dietary orders. Chicken Salad Ingredients

While the ingredients are simple, it’s how their unique flavors meld together that’s key. Here’s what I use:

• Chicken Breasts – I use poached chicken in this recipe, but you could also use leftover rotisserie chicken, or shredded chicken from boneless skinless chicken breasts.

• Mayonnaise – You can’t beat this creamy binder to mix all the ingredients together. And while you can use a store-bought version, it’s easy to make mayonnaise at home!

• Dijon Mustard – Just a little Dijon mustard adds great depth of flavor and a little spice.

• Red Grapes – You could use red or green seedless grapes, I just love the contrasting color of red grapes.

• Celery – I love my chicken salads to have that crisp celery crunch.

• Green Onion – Green onions add that savory flavor without being too pungent, which is perfect.

• Toasted Almonds – Toast your sliced almonds to bring out more of the nutty flavor.

• Parsley – One of the best herbs for adding to salads, just finely chop up a few tablespoons.

• Tarragon – The best secret ingredient! You’ll be amazed at how much flavor just a little bit of tarragon adds to the salad.

  
  

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• Measured Ingredients 

  • ▢ 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts

  • ▢ ½ cup sliced raw almonds

  • ▢ 1 cup mayonnaise

  • ▢ 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

  • ▢ 1 cup red grapes, quartered

  • ▢ 2 celery ribs, diced

  • ▢ 3 green onions (green and white parts), sliced

  • ▢ 2 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

  • ▢ 1 tablespoon finely chopped tarragon

  • ▢ 1 lemon , juiced (about 3 tablespoons)

  • ▢ kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

  How To Make Chicken Salad

Now that you have beautifully tender chicken, it’s time to assemble the salad. And there’s really only three steps:

• Toast: Lightly toast the almonds in a pan on the stove. Let them cool completely to room temperature.

• Slice and Dice: Dice up your chicken breasts into small pieces. Then, quarter the grapes, dice the celery, parsley and tarragon, and slice the green onion.

• Mix: Add all the ingredients to a large bowl and mix everything together until it’s well combined. Season with a bit of salt and pepper – and you’re done!

1. Transfer the cooled chicken to a cutting board and dice it into ½-inch pieces. Add it to a large mixing bowl.
   

2. Slice and dice the celery, green onion, grapes, parsley and tarragon. Add those ingredients to the mixing bowl along with the almonds, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
   

3. Mix everything together until it's well combined. Let it chill in the fridge until you're ready to serve. Chicken salad is best served when it’s cold. So let the mixture chill in the fridge before serving. This also helps all the flavors meld together for the tastiest salad.

Chicken Salad Variations

Aside from the ingredients listed below, you have a few options to play with when it comes to texture and flavor.

• Vary the nuts. Swap the almonds for pecans or walnuts.

• Mix up the fruit. You can omit the grapes and add diced apples, dried cranberries or dried cherries.

• Change the onions. If green onions aren’t your thing, you can swap them for finely diced red onions.

• Make it creamier. Swap the mayonnaise for greek yogurt or do half and half. How to Serve It

  Most often, I eat this chicken salad by the spoonful straight out of the bowl – because it’s that good! But to turn it into a meal, here’s a few ideas.

  • Sandwich: Stuff it between sandwich bread with layers of lettuce, spinach, or tomato slices.

  • Lettuce Wrap: For a lighter, low-carb option, use large romaine or butter leaf lettuce leaves to wrap it.

  • Extra Green Salad: Dollop a few spoonful on top of a bed of greens such as baby spinach or a spring mix.

    
    

    

    Nutrition

    Calories: 524kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 112mg | Sodium: 454mg | Potassium: 782mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 318IU | Vitamin C: 15mg | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 1mg Recipe from:

    DOWNSHIFTOLOGY with Lisa Bryan

    Lisa is a bestselling cookbook author, recipe developer, and YouTuber (with over 2.5 million subscribers) living in sunny Southern California. She started Downshiftology in 2014, and is passionate about making healthy food with fresh, simple and seasonal ingredients. https://downshiftology.com/recipes/chicken-salad/