This classic, easy chicken salad recipe is delicious as a stand-alone dish or on sandwiches, wraps, or lettuce. It's a quick, 10 minute recipe that's done in only 2 steps.
About This Recipe
This recipe is for traditional chicken salad, made with tender chicken, almonds, grapes and celery. It's tossed in mayonnaise with a hint of dijon mustard.
This easy chicken salad is flavorful and full of tasty textures: creamy mayonnaise, crunchy celery & almonds, and sweet grapes. It's the ultimate combination of classic ingredients.
Ways to Serve Chicken Salad
This recipe is ideal as a stand-alone meal or you can use it to make sandwiches, wraps, and more. It's a versatile recipe that can be a main dish or a side dish.
Chicken salad is also popular for potlucks, picnics, and BBQs because you can make it ahead of time and it transports easily (plus it's always a crowd favorite)!
Chicken Salad Ingredients
The full recipe is at the bottom of this page, but here's a quick look at what you'll need:
- 2 pounds chicken breasts (about 3 breasts) cooked, shredded & chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 1 ½ cups chopped celery (about 3 stalks)
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup halved red grapes
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Fresh dill, optional for garnish
How to Make Chicken Salad
This recipe is super easy to make! Simply prepare your ingredients, add them to a large bowl and stir.
Tips & Tricks for the Recipe:
How to cook the chicken:
This recipe calls for 2 pounds (about 3 breasts) of cooked chicken. You'll want to cook your chicken (25 minutes at 425°F), shred it using two forks and then chop it into bite-sized pieces.
Refrigerate before serving:
Especially on hot summer days, this recipe is extra-satisfying after it's been in the fridge for at least an hour. You can absolutely eat it at room temperature, but it's even better cold.
How to serve chicken salad:
You can serve this recipe as a stand-alone dish, or in a sandwich, or in a wrap or on a bed of lettuce. It's especially popular as a side dish at BBQs, picnics and potlucks.
Recipe Substitutions & Variations:
One of the best parts of this recipe is that you can customize it to your own preferences. Feel free to add more of the ingredients that you love, and leave out the ones you don't care for.
- Lemon: add a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice to your salad for some added citrus freshness
- Rotisserie chicken: to save time, buy pre-cooked chicken for this recipe
- To make it keto: leave out the grapes
- To keep it dairy-free: be sure to choose a mayonnaise that is dairy-free (most are)
How to Store Chicken Salad
- In the fridge: store in an airtight container for up to 3 - 5 days.
- In the freezer: it's not recommended to freeze chicken salad as the mayonnaise doesn't keep its texture well.
Easy Chicken Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breasts about 3 breasts cooked, shredded & chopped into bite-sized pieces*
- 1 ½ cups chopped celery about 3 stalks
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup halved red grapes
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Fresh dill optional for garnish
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl and stir to combine.
- Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 - 5 days. Optionally, sprinkle with freshly chopped dill before serving.
Notes
- *How to cook the chicken: this recipe calls for 2 pounds (about 3 breasts) of cooked chicken. You'll want to bake your chicken in the oven (25 minutes at 425°F) until cooked through, shred it using two forks (or your hands) and then chop it into bite-sized pieces.
Joan Breckwoldt
Oh my gosh! I could eat this every single day, it is SO good!!!