Best Ever Chicken Salad

This really is the perfect go-to salad for sandwiches or on top of a green salad.

You could easily add crumbled bacon, or raisins, or cashews, or even mix in a little curry powder to the mayo. Of course, homemade mayo puts this salad over the top. But again, a good quality store-bought mayonnaise works perfectly well, too. After cooking the chicken, the salad comes together in only about 15 minutes!

EXPERT TIP: Cook the chicken up to 3 days before assembling and serving. You can also make the homemade mayonnaise several days in advance, too!

Although chilling the salad after it’s mixed is recommended, we think to let the salad return to room temperature is great for taste when serving.

Best-Ever Chicken Salad FAQs

How far advance can it be made? We recommend serving soon after the salad is assembled. However, you can prepare the chicken and the dressing up to several days in advance. We will say the salad is even tastier after it sits in the refrigerator for a few hours. We just suggest bringing the salad back to room temp before serving. But that’s just a suggestion!
Is a rotisserie chicken okay to use? Absolutely! We feel pretty strongly that the roasted chicken pieces yield an even tastier salad, but a good-quality rotisserie chicken will work, too. Just please don’t use canned chicken. Please.
What other ingredients could I include? The sky is practically the limit: We love dried cranberries, sliced apples, cashews or peanuts, even capers! Fresh oregano, rosemary and/or thyme is great, too!
Can the salad be frozen? Yes! Freeze for up to 1 month in an air-tight container. Let thaw completely and return to room temperature. You may need to make a small batch of the dressing just to stir in before serving after it’s been frozen, but that’s not 100% necessary.

Ingredients:

4 boneless chicken breast, cooked and chopped/shredded

1/2 C. onion, chopped

1/2 C. celery, chopped

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

1/2 C. to 1 C. dried cranberries

Dressing:

1 C. mayonnaise

1/2 C. sugar

1/4 C. vinegar

1 tsp. prepared mustard

1 tsp. salt to taste

1/4 tsp. pepper

Directions

Combine cooked chicken, onion and celery, salt, and pepper. Mix all dressing ingredients together and pour over chicken. Add the dried cranberries (add right before serving or the chicken salad will turn pink). Serve with crackers or on lettuce.

Note: Add more dressing if chicken salad is too dry. White meat tends to “soak” up the dressing.

Adapted from: howtofeedaloon.com/best-ever-chicken-salad