Our Best Chicken Salad Recipe
Our simple, traditional chicken salad recipe is here to rock your lunch time (and brunch time, and snack time) with its satisfying protein and classic flavor. It’s also almost impossible to mess up. Even if you’ve got slightly dry chicken, all the mayo, mustard and fresh lemon juice will ensure a moist, delicious chicken salad. We’ve included directions for making the best chicken salad sandwich ever, too. If you want to get wild with your chicken salad, try our Curried Chicken Salad Salad, our slightly fancy Chicken Waldorf Salad or Shredded Chicken.
Classic Chicken Salad Ingredients
Cooked chicken (store-bought rotisserie chickens work nicely here. Or you can quickly make Poached Chicken.)
Mayonnaise
Dijon mustard
Celery
Lemon, both the juice and the zest
Pecans, optional (but heartily recommended for additional crunch)
How To Make Chicken Salad
Cook the chicken. We like it Poached, or use a store-bought chicken. That’s ok, too!
Slice and dice the celery and parsley.
Mix up the mayonnaise, mustard, salt, pepper, celery, pecans, parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice and chicken in a big bowl. A silicone spatula is handy for this.
Dig in! Make a sandwich if you want, we’ve included our favorite way to serve it in the recipe below. Serve it with a nice Fruit Salad on the side.
How To Store Chicken Salad + Tips
What goes well with chicken salad? A lot of things! Though making a big chicken salad sandwich is classic, we’ve enjoyed it as a hearty, protein-packed snack with crackers, or on a bed of lettuce as a quick lunch.
Leftover chicken salad will keep for 3-5 days in the fridge.
Love classic chicken sandwiches? Try our Fried Chicken Sandwich or our Chicken Burgers, too!
More Chicken Salad Recipes To Try
Hey, Nice Chicken Salad! Now What?
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