This creamy chicken salad is fresh, easy, and loaded with texture in every bite. It starts with a classic chicken salad base of tender chicken, crisp celery, red onion, and a simple creamy dressing, then gets a little extra sweetness and crunch from juicy grapes and toasted pecans. Serve it in croissants, sandwiches, lettuce cups, over greens, or with crackers for a quick lunch, light dinner, or meal prep.
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Helpful Reader Review
“Another winner. I was looking for a summer dinner, this was perfect. I served it on a bed of spinach & lettuce. My husband had 2 servings. It was perfect the next day for lunch, we made into sandwiches. Thank you for sharing!!” – Cindy ★★★★★
Chicken Salad Video
This is my go-to creamy chicken salad recipe with a classic base of tender chicken, celery, onion, and a simple creamy dressing. Grapes and toasted pecans make it extra special, but they’re easy to leave out if you prefer a more traditional chicken salad. It’s perfect for sandwiches, croissants, lettuce cups, crackers, or meal prep.
Chicken Salad
I’ve tested so many chicken salads over the years, and this is the one my family always comes back to. We call it our “fancy” chicken salad because of the grapes and toasted pecans, but the base is simple, creamy, and classic. It’s easy to make ahead, pairs well with leftover Air Fryer Whole Chicken or rotisserie chicken, and always disappears fast.
If you love protein-packed salads, try my Chicken Avocado Salad, Autumn Chopped Chicken Salad, Cobb Salad, and Tuna Salad next.
Chicken Salad Ingredients
The main ingredients in this salad are simple, but each one adds flavor, texture, or freshness. There are plenty of easy swaps, so you can use what you have on hand.
- Chicken – Use 2 cooked and chilled chicken breasts, roast chicken, or rotisserie chicken. Dark or light meat chicken works. We prefer diced chicken for the best texture.
- Celery – Adds fresh crunch. If you don’t love celery, swap it with green apple, bell pepper, or seeded diced cucumber.
- Grapes – These add a sweet juiciness, making this feel like a classic chicken salad with grapes. Apples, pears, cranberries, or raisins also work.
- Pecans – Toast them for the best flavor. I love chicken salad with pecans, but walnuts, almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, or pepitas also work.
- Red onion – Finely chop it so it doesn’t overpower the salad. For a milder flavor, use sweet onion, green onion, or chives.
My Go-to Chicken Salad Dressing
This is similar to the dressing from my popular Broccoli Apple Salad. It’s creamy, tangy, and fresh with mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, and dill. Mayo gives it richness, sour cream keeps it from tasting heavy, and lemon brightens the whole salad. You can use plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream for a lighter option.
Tips for the Best Chicken Salad
- Start with chilled chicken – Cold chicken holds the creamy dressing better. If the chicken is still warm, the dressing can loosen and make the salad watery.
- Dice the chicken instead of shredding it – I prefer diced chicken for this recipe because it gives the salad the best texture and keeps every bite hearty and fresh.
- Add the dressing to taste – Start with most of the dressing, toss, then add more if needed. Rotisserie chicken can be softer and more moist, while chicken breast can be a little drier.
- Toast the pecans – It only takes a few minutes, but it makes them crunchier and brings out their nutty flavor.
How to Make Chicken Salad
This easy chicken salad comes together so fast in one bowl, which is why it’s the ideal lunch option.
- Toast pecans in a dry skillet until fragrant, then cool and chop.
- Dice chilled cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces. I prefer diced chicken over shredded chicken here because it gives the salad a better texture and keeps it from turning mushy. Halve the grapes, and chop the celery and onion.
- Make Dressing – Stir together the dressing ingredients and add it gradually to the salad, depending on how moist your chicken is. Gently stir to coat and serve right away or refrigerate until ready to serve.
To Serve
Just like with a classic Tuna Salad, this can be served as a side salad, as meal prep for lunchboxes or as a main course:
- Over Mixed Greens or in Lettuce Cups for a lighter, gluten-free option.
- Chicken Salad Sandwiches – Try on Croissants, Pita Bread, or Sourdough Bread.
- Crackers for a quick snack – Sourdough Crackers, Ritz or Wheat Thins.
This creamy Chicken Salad is one of those easy lunch recipes you’ll want to keep on repeat. If you try a fun add-in or serving idea, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Chicken Salad Ingredients:
- 1 lb cooked chicken breast meat, 4 cups diced*
- 2 cups seedless red grapes, halved
- 1 cup celery, (from 2–3 sticks celery), cut in half lengthwise then sliced
- 1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped (1/2 medium red onion)
- 1 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
Chicken Salad Dressing:
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup sour cream, or plain Greek yogurt
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp dill, chives, or parsley, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Toast pecans in a dry skillet over medium-low heat for 3–5 minutes, tossing frequently, until golden and fragrant. Transfer to a cutting board, cool, then coarsely chop.
- Combine Salad Ingredients – In a large mixing bowl, combine diced chicken, halved grapes, sliced celery, chopped onion, and cooled pecans.
- Make the Dressing – In a small bowl, add all of the dressing ingredients and stir to combine. Add the dressing to taste and stir until evenly coated. Serve right away or cover and refrigerate for 1–2 hours for the best flavor.
Notes
- Refrigerate in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days, depending on how fresh the cooked chicken was when you started. Keep chilled until serving and don’t leave it at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
- Freezing: Freezing is not recommended since the creamy dressing can separate and the crunchy ingredients soften.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
More Easy Lunch Ideas
- Taco Salad
- Egg Salad
- Cheeseburger Sliders
- Reuben Sandwich
- Philly Cheesesteak
- Chickpea Salad
- Avocado Chicken Salad
- Sloppy Joes
- Ground Beef Tacos
- Italian Sandwich Recipe
Try taking two Tupperware lids and putting as many grapes that will fit, in between them. Run your knife from one side to the other…viola! Cut in half. Hope that helps:)
Loved this Chicken Salad! Deleted my other recipes for chicken salad. Every recipe I have tried from you is always excellent!
Perfect recipe! I changed grape to apple and celery to fennel. It’s good anyway, thank You!
I made this today as I do not really do salad this is a great compromise and have to say instead of onion I used chives instead super lovely
I may just say this one of our appetizers using mini croissants and cut it in half. I thought it was a good recipe but I like chicken salad a bit sweeter and so I added cranberries as well as the grapes and a little bit of sugar. It was beautiful to look at and everybody enjoyed it.
Hi, Natasha Kitchen, I had chicken salad for dinner, I put croutons, grapes, and pickles on top, in the chicken salad, we put chicken breast, celery, salt, pepper, lemon juice, sour cream, mayo, salt, pepper, and dried dill.
Hi Ian! Thanks for sharing, it sounds very good!
Seriously good! As suggested, I sub the dill for my fresh-out-of-the-garden parsley. If sweltering summer heat is in the forecast, I cook up a couple of chicken breasts rubbed with olive oil and salt and pepper. I make the chicken salad a day ahead of time and when the temperature heats up we do not have to fire up the stove and we enjoy a nice cool and WONDERFULLY DELICIOUS summertime meal.
OMG, so delicious! I loved it and need to make more asap!
I made this today. I didn’t have grapes, so I used apples, as suggested. It was really good!
I only had two cups of chicken available so I made half the recipe and we inhaled it! Very good! I will definitely make sure I have more chicken next time! Thank you for this recipe!
So glad you loved the recipe, Chris! Thank you for sharing.
Quick question Natasha, I will be making this for a baby shower brunch and several can’t have the nuts or seeds. Do you think it would work without them? I know every recipe of yours I’ve made has always ROCKED, so I don’t want to do something to make it flop. 😁
Hi Jean, I have a few questions about this in the comments section, I recommend looking through them also, but you can omit if you would like or substitute. Or you can make half with them and half without.
This chicken salad was simply excellent. Instead of lemon juice and dill in dressing, I used pickle juice. Subtle, but tasty.
Great recipe! Will make for my girls luncheon this week. What do you suggest as a side to go with it?
Hi Anne, this salad goes wonderful on bread or croissants as a sandwich. It can be served as a side dish as well, it’s very versatile but when it’s the main dish, I like to serve it with another green salad, macaroni salad, soup, chips, veggie tray, etc.
My husband and I love this chicken salad on croissants on balmy summer evenings here in Northern Kentucky. It is a large recipe but keeps well in the refrigerator so we can enjoy stress free suppers for a few nights in a row. I get the large croissants and one stuffed with the chicken salad makes a meal for us 80+ year olds.
This is my favorite salad! I don’t know how many times I’ve made it!!! Very versatile too – I’ve substituted bell pepper for celery, sunflower seeds for pecans, and even apples for grapes depending on what I had in my fridge (1 substitute at a time, not all of them 😊). I don’t mess with a dressing because it’s absolutely delicious!
This salad tastes great with bread, on the bed of baby spinach, or – my favorite – just eating it with a spoon straight out of the mixing bowl 😁😁😁 Thank you, Natasha, for such an awesome recipe ❤️❤️❤️
Made the chicken salad and put it in a pita bread. Delicious!! I made it w/o the grapes. Thought I had some but they must have got ate up b/4 I got home. It was still good. Added red Chile power and parm cheese. Will be making this again. Love the texture the toasted pecans gave it.
My family loves your fancy chicken salad, we have it at least twice a month. Thank you!
That’s awesome, Tracy! Thank you for sharing.
Have you ever made this using crockpot chicken? If so, any suggestions on what to use in the crockpot? Thanks!
Hi there, yes you can use the crockpot. For great results, you can use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Add the chicken to the crockpot, pour in about ½ cup of low-sodium chicken broth to keep the chicken moist and add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook on low for 3–4 hours or until the chicken is fully cooked and easily shreds with a fork.
What a great salad and thanks for all the different combinations
Fantastic recipe! Love this chicken salad and will continue to make it for our family. Thank you for a great recipe.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Lisa!