This family favorite recipe has one secret ingredient that takes it from good to great.
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Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.
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Updated April 03, 2024
37 Ratings
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My mother and father make the best chicken salad. It's a joint effort; my father assembles the ingredients, while my mom makes the dressing.
It's not exactly your standard chicken salad. They like to include chopped apple for a sweet note, and also chopped green olives for their tangy saltiness.
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What Makes This Chicken Salad Special
The "secret sauce," so to speak, of this chicken salad, is the tablespoon of plum preserves my mom adds to the mayo-based dressing. You could use any berry jelly or jam, but as we always have a lot of plum jam on hand (thanks to several plum trees), that's what mom reaches for first.
Mom balances out the sweetness from the dab of jam with a bit of lemon juice.
The result? Wonderful!
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How to Cook Chicken for Chicken Salad
If you are going to cook chicken specifically for chicken salad, the easiest thing to do is to poach it.
What I like to do is put a pot of 2 quarts of water and 1 tablespoon salt on to boil. As the water is heating, I cut skinless boneless chicken breasts into large (2 1/2-inch) chunks. When the water boils, I add the chicken, and return the pot to a simmer. Then I turn off the heat, and cover the pot and let the meat sit for 15 minutes in the hot water while I prepare everything else. Poaching chicken this way allows the chicken to cook gently, so the chicken retains more moisture.
After the chicken is finished cooking you can save the poaching liquid as light chicken broth.
Poaching aside, you can easily use any cooked chicken for this chicken salad—rotisserie chicken, grilled chicken, or roasted chicken. My parents will often use leftovers from their favorite baked chicken, and even include some of the crispy skin in the salad.
Make Ahead and Storage
You can make this salad a day or two ahead of time if you wait to add the lettuce until right before serving. The salad will keep for several days in the fridge, but the lettuce will lose its crunch and get all wilty, so you may want to leave the lettuce out if you expect to have leftovers.
Do you have a favorite chicken salad recipe? Please let us know about it in the comments.
More Chicken Salads to Try
Classic Chicken Salad
Prep Time10 mins
Poaching chicken20 mins
Total Time30 mins
Servings4 servings
We are poaching boneless skinless chicken breasts in salted water for this salad. You could also use any leftover cooked chicken meat, with or without the skin.
Ingredients
For the salad:
1 pound raw boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2 1/2-inch chunks (or 2 to 3 cups cooked chicken meat)
2 ribs celery, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
4 to 6 green olives, pitted and minced
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 to 1 apple, cored and chopped
1/3 head iceberg lettuce, sliced and chopped
For the dressing:
5 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon plum preserves, or any sweet berry preserve (or a lesser amount of honey)
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Poach the chicken (skip if using already cooked chicken):
Bring a pot with 2 quarts of well salted water (1 tablespoon salt) to a boil. Add the chicken breast (cut into large chunks) and return the water to a simmer. Then turn off the heat, and cover the pot. Let the chicken sit for 15 minutes (time it) or more while you prepare everything else.
Make the dressing:
Prepare the chicken salad dressing in a large bowl. Mix together the mayonnaise, preserves, and lemon juice. Taste for the proper balance of sweetness and acidity. The salad dressing should not be too sweet, nor too sour.
Add more preserves or lemon juice until you have reached the balance you want. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Mix in the chopped celery, bell pepper, olives, red onion, and apple
Dice the chicken, mix with dressing and vegetables:
Remove the chicken from the poaching water and dice it. (Or dice already cooked chicken if that is what you are using for this salad.) Mix it in with the dressing and vegetables.
When ready to serve, add the lettuce:
At this point you can make ahead. When ready to serve, fold in the sliced and chopped iceberg lettuce.
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| Nutrition Facts (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 388 | Calories |
| 18g | Fat |
| 19g | Carbs |
| 37g | Protein |
Show Full Nutrition Label
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| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 4 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 388 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 18g | 23% |
| Saturated Fat 3g | 17% |
| Cholesterol 104mg | 35% |
| Sodium 353mg | 15% |
| Total Carbohydrate 19g | 7% |
| Dietary Fiber 4g | 14% |
| Total Sugars 12g | |
| Protein 37g | |
| Vitamin C 58mg | 290% |
| Calcium 67mg | 5% |
| Iron 2mg | 13% |
| Potassium 670mg | 14% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. | |
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.
