This chicken salad recipe is one of my favorites—it makes a delicious quick lunch or dinner.
Chicken, mayonnaise, a few add-ins and some seasonings come together to create a creamy salad or filling for a homemade chicken salad sandwich or wrap!
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Chicken Salad Ingredients
- Chicken: I most often use rotisserie chicken, but leftover chicken of almost any kind, including grilled chicken, can be used. If using canned chicken, mix all ingredients except the chicken in a bowl and then gently fold in the drained canned chicken.
- Add-ins: Since this is a classic chicken salad recipe, I add celery for crunch and green onion for flavor.
- Dressing: Mayonnaise adds a creamy texture, while simple seasonings add flavor.
Variations
- Add dill or other fresh herbs.
- Lighten it up a bit by replacing half of the mayo with Greek yogurt.
- Change the flavor by adding ranch dressing.
- Dress it up with add-ins like chopped apples, grapes, or chopped nuts such as almonds, walnuts, or pecans.
How to Make Chicken Salad
Prepare this classic chicken salad recipe in just 15 minutes with only a few simple ingredients.
- Chop cooked and cooled chicken and place into a large bowl with celery and onions.
- Mix dressing ingredients (recipe below) in a bowl. Toss with chicken.
- Serve on rolls, bread, or over a bed of lettuce.
Serving Suggestions
- This chicken salad sandwich recipe can be served on any type of bread, including a croissant. I love to lightly toast the bread.
- Serve it with crackers for snacking.
- Spoon it over greens or into lettuce leaves to make lettuce wraps.
Storing Leftovers
Refrigerator: Store chicken salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Stir before serving.
Freezer: Prepared chicken salad doesn’t freeze well however, to prep ahead, dice the chicken and freeze it it. When ready to make the salad, combine the thawed chicken with the remaining ingredients below for a quick lunch!
More Favorite Sandwiches
This chicken salad recipe is a favorite lunch or light dinner. Here are more easy sandwiches that top our list!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked chopped chicken or shredded chicken
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 rib celery diced
- 1 green onion thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon seasoned salt more to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper or to taste
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill or ¼ teaspoon dried dill, optional
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add chicken, mayonnaise, celery, green onion, mustard, salt, pepper, and dill if using. Mix well to combine.
- Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if desired.
- Serve as a sandwich or over salad.
Video
Notes
- 1 cup chopped red grapes or 1 cup chopped peeled apple
- 2 tablespoons chopped nuts (pecans or almonds)
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Salad
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great recipe! quick and easy to follow. I love to make this for me weekday snack.
thank you
Loved it. I did add a more celery. I did not have green onion so I used red onion.
I made this with cilantro instead of celery. loved it with the touch of Dijon mustard. will definitely be making this again!
thanks for the recipe! fantastic base. I added red chili flakes and a touch of adobo seasoning + finely diced red onion. awesome! also diced all the veggies super finely.
Nice recipe! Easy to follow and turn out so good. My sandwiches are so refreshing. This would be my staple recipe for spring and summer.
I like to add horseradish. Just a little. And sunflower kernels for the nuts.
Very nice simple recipe. Delish!!!
Not enough flavor for my liking. I ended up adding chili powder, paprika, a little more seasoned salt, double the celery amount, and black pepper to the mix.
Jackie, I think you should also throw a nice char-broiled steak in there as well to amp up the flavor!
And maybe some tequila as a spritz on top!
Easy to make. Really good flavor. Everything worked together, no ingredient overwhelmed the others. I was worried that the seasoned salt would be too much but it stayed in the background and complemented the creaminess of the mayonnaise.
Grilled buttered chicken salad sandwich filled with chicken salad, black olives, green olives, bell peppers of choice, Romaine lettuce, tomatoes optional.
Super easy to “veganize!”
(Daring Chicken Nuggets, and Veganaise.)
I added toasted chopped pecans.
Great sandwiches, tacos and salads!
this was delicious salad loved it
Thank you for this great recipe! So easy and perfect for a gluten free meal I was able to take on a camping trip (I ate it with Milton GF crackers from Costco). I made the recipe as is and added halved grapes—delicious!
this is my go to chicken salad recipe for years now. Can’t say I necessarily fallow the exact measurements of the ingredients, but this chicken salad is very good. It is at its best with fresh dill.
Try recipe, for egg and chicken salad recipes also a tuna fish salad recipe. Perfectly great for summer. I usually order mine from town here. at a little restaurant. they usually have it on a croissant so have that with the small bowl of soup and it’s the perfect meal summer or winter.
Finally! I found the perfect recipe for the canned chicken I always have in my pantry. I have been trying for years to make it taste good like this and this is it! thanks for sharing recipe!!
I was going to try the canned but chickened out! did you strain the juice?
This recipe is great with canned chicken! Yes, you’ll want to drain the chicken so the salad isn’t watery.