This super simple chicken salad recipe is on repeat in my kitchen all summer! It's tossed with a light mayo dressing, grapes, and pecans and comes together in just 10 minutes. I make it with homemade poached chicken but it's also delicious with leftover rotisserie chicken! It's great on it's own but even better as a chicken salad sandwich.
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Why You'll Love This Chicken Salad!
This chicken salad is super versatile and can be easily adapted to suit your dietary and flavor preferences!
It's light, flavorful, and not drowning in too much mayo (that's the worst). And can be tossed together in a just a few minutes! You can keep this chicken salad in the fridge all week and just throw it on a toasted croissant for a super quick chicken salad sandwich for lunch!
Ingredient Notes
This chicken salad is made with super simple ingredients that you should be able to find at any grocery store!
Grapes - I love the flavor of grapes with chicken salad, but you can easily swap them out for diced apples or just leave them out entirely.
Pecans - The pecans add a nice crunch but you can also use walnuts or almonds!
Tarragon - Some people don't like the distinctly licorice like flavor of tarragon, so feel free to just leave it out!
Mayonnaise - I'm a bit of a mayo snob, so I only use Duke's Mayo (but you can use your favorite brand instead). For a lighter chicken salad, just swap out the mayo for Greek yogurt! You may want to reduce the amount of lemon juice since Greek yogurt can be tangy!
Poached Chicken - I love poaching chicken for chicken salad because it retains a lot of flavor and moisture! However, you can easily use any type of cooked chicken breasts! Shredded rotisserie chicken or grilled chicken work great too!
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
Quick and Easy Poached Chicken
This is my favorite way to make chicken for chicken salad! The best part? The broth that's leftover at the end is delicious and perfect for making soup with!
- 3 pounds chicken breasts
- 6 cups water
- 1 onion, quartered
- 3 cloves garlic, halved
- 2 stalks celery, halved
- ½ lemon
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 bay leaves
- small handful fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Combine all of the ingredients in a large pot and bring to a simmer.
- Reduce the temperature to low and poach the chicken for 10-15 minutes or until firm to the touch and an instant thermometer reads 165°F.
- Remove the pot from the heat and let the chicken cool in the pot for 10 minutes.
- Remove the breasts and dice into 1 inch pieces. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days before adding to the chicken salad.
- If desired, strain the broth and store in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Some soup recipes that the leftover chicken broth would be delicious in:
Assemble the Chicken Salad
- Toss together the chicken, grapes, pecans, celery, green onions, tarragon, and parsley in a large bowl.
- In a small bow, whisk together the mayonnaise, Dijon, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper until fully combined and smooth.
- Add the mayo mixture to the rest of the ingredients and gently mix until everything is evenly coated.
That's it! Quick, easy, and delicious! I love serving it on a fresh toasted croissant or sliced sourdough bread, but it's just as yummy by itself!
Recipe FAQ's
Of course not!! This recipe also works great with shredded rotisserie chicken or grilled chicken. Just use what you have!
You can store this chicken salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, but it's best eaten within 2-3 days.
Since this chicken salad contains mayonnaise, I don't recommend freezing it.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
More Chicken Recipes You Might Like
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Recipe Card
The Best Chicken Salad with Grapes and Pecans
Ingredients
- 3 large poached chicken breasts, cold
- 1 cup red grapes, halved
- ¾ cup pecans, roughly chopped
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 3 green onions, sliced
- 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, chopped (optional)
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Dice the chicken into 1 inch cubes.
- Toss together the chicken, grapes, pecans, celery, green onions, tarragon, and parsley in a large bowl.
- In a small bow, whisk together the mayonnaise, Dijon, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper until fully combined and smooth.
- Add the mayo mixture to the rest of the ingredients and gently mix until everything is evenly coated.
- The chicken salad can be served immediately but is best if it's left to sit in the fridge overnight so that the flavors have time to fully meld.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Julie says
I took half the mayo and replaced it with ranch. I also used black grapes instead