Chicken Salad
Poached or leftover chicken with grapes, celery and toasted pecans in a light mayonnaise dressing. Fifteen minutes if the chicken is already cooked.
Photograph credit: Chicken Salad Chick Classic Carol scoop, Jan 2020 by Thomson200 · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Where This Goes Wrong
Shred along the grain, do not dice.
Half yoghurt keeps it light enough to taste the chicken.
Pecans in last or they go soft.
Making Chicken Salad
Tap a step to highlight it, or turn on Cook Mode for large type and step-by-step focus.
-
Toast the pecans in a dry pan for 3 minutes, until they smell nutty. Cool and chop.
-
Shred the chicken along the grain with two forks or your fingers.
-
Whisk the mayonnaise, yoghurt, lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper.
-
Fold the dressing through the chicken.
-
Fold in the celery, grapes, spring onions and tarragon.
-
Add the pecans last and fold once, so they stay in pieces.
-
Taste and correct the lemon and salt.
-
Chill 20 minutes before serving.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
Something wrong or unclear in this recipe? Report a problem with this recipe.
What's Going On Here
Shred the chicken along the grain rather than dicing it. Shreds hold dressing in their fibres and read as chicken; neat cubes shed it and taste like something from a packet. Half yoghurt and half mayonnaise keeps the dressing light enough that you can still taste the meat, which a full-mayonnaise version buries.
Storage and Reheating
Keeps 2 days refrigerated. The pecans soften after a day.
Common Substitutions & Variations
- Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
Serving Chicken Salad
- Croissants
- Little gem lettuce cups
- Iced tea
Sides from the same cuisine on this site: New York Bagels, Skillet Cornbread, Creamy Coleslaw.
Questions and Answers
How long does Chicken Salad take to make?
15 minutes of preparation and 5 minutes of cooking, plus 20 minutes of chilling, so allow 40 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 4.
Chicken Salad Nutrition Facts
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
Cooked this? Keep a note for next time
Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
You Might Also Like
More American cooking and lunch ideas from Weekly Delight.
Apple Cranberry Chicken Salad
Shredded cooked chicken folded into a Greek yogurt dressing with crisp apple, celery, red onion and dried…
Salmon Salad with Dill and Cucumber
Flaked canned salmon folded into Greek yogurt with cucumber, red onion, radish and dill, served over salad leaves…
Chicken Bacon Avocado Salad
Grilled chicken, crisp bacon, avocado, tomato and egg on crisp lettuce with a creamy ranch-style dressing.
Salmon Salad
Pan-seared salmon fillets flaked over mixed leaves, cucumber, avocado and radishes with a lemon and dill dressing.
Tuna Pasta Salad
Rotini tossed with no-salt-added tuna, cucumber, celery, red pepper and red onion in a lemon, mustard and olive oil…
Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
Pasta, grilled chicken, cos lettuce, parmesan and croutons tossed in a creamy Caesar dressing.