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This Ultimate Chicken Salad is both creamy and crunchy! It’s packed with bright flavors like diced apples, grapes, almonds, and fresh herbs. It’s also completely good for you since it’s Whole30, dairy free, and gluten free! Enjoy it on lettuce wraps, in a salad, or on a sandwich for a tasty meal!
Today is a good day because we’re talking about my Ultimate Chicken Salad. I am crazy about this stuff.
This chicken salad is both creamy and crunchy. I hate when chicken salad is dry so you better believe that’s not happening on my watch, friend.
Celery and shaved or slivered almonds give it a crunch.
Grapes and apples give it sweetness.
The mayo, seasoning, and fresh dill gives it some tang.
It’s all so very very good together.
For this recipe you’ll need (full list of ingredients and instructions are in the recipe card below):
- Fully cooked chicken
- Apples
- Celery
- Grapes
- Green onion
- Sliced or slivered almonds
- Mayo
- Lime juice
- Fresh thyme
- Fresh dill
- Seasonings
What color grapes are best to use?
I typically use red grapes because I think they show up beautifully in the finished product but of course green works great too.
What mayo is best to use?
For this recipe you’re welcome to use whatever mayonnaise you prefer. Two popular brands that I’ve used are Hellman’s and Duke’s.
If you enjoy making your own mayo go for it. I’m a fan of this easy mayo recipe by Melissa Joulwan.
Want to go with a Whole30 compliant store-bought mayo? I recommend Primal Kitchen’s Avocado Oil Mayo.
Do you have to peel the apples?
It’s up to you. Feel free to leave them unpeeled if you like!
How to customize this chicken salad
While I think this chicken salad is perfect as is, you can play around with some of the ingredients based on what you have on hand. Here are a few ideas:
- Use fresh tarragon instead of dill.
- Incorporate dried cranberries.
- Lighten it up by using 1/2 mayo and 1/2 yogurt.
How to store leftovers
You can keep this chicken salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 to 5 days.
How to serve this
This Ultimate Chicken Salad is delicious in between two slices of toasted bread if you’re in a sandwich kind of mood. When serving this at a party I like to scoop it into croissants or in a wrap. Either way you do it bread + chicken salad always = yum. It’s math, y’all.
I personally love a big dollop of this chicken salad on romaine leaves or bibb lettuce. Pair it with fresh fruit for a perfectly light meal!
More recipes like this:
Ultimate Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 lbs cooked chicken breasts, 3 1/2 to 4 cups chopped or shredded chicken, can use chicken thighs or rotisserie chicken
- 1 small or medium apple, peeled, cored, and diced, makes 1 cup
- 3 celery ribs, chopped
- 1 cup red grapes, halved, if grapes are very large you may want to cut into thirds
- 1/2 cup green onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme
- 1 tbsp fresh dill
- 1 1/2 cup mayo
- 1 tsp ground mustard
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp lime juice
Instructions
- Shred or chop your chicken and set aside in a large bowl.
- Add diced apple, celery, grapes, and green onion to the bowl of chicken. Stir until combined.
- In a separate bowl add mayo, ground mustard, salt, pepper, and lime juice. Stir until combined.
- Pour mayo mixture into the larger bowl with chicken, etc. Stir together so everything is coated in the seasoned mayo.
- Add your sliced or slivered almonds, dill, and thyme. Gently stir. (Save these ingredients for the end so they don’t get lost in everything else.)
- Taste. Add up to an additional 1/4 tsp salt and pepper if you like. (Most often I do but it really depends on which mayo I use so give it a final taste before adding more.)
- You’re ready to serve! Enjoy in a sandwich, salad, or over greens for a satisfying and very tasty meal!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I was initially skeptical because fruit is not something I usually prefer mixed with my food… I’ve been missing out! This chicken salad is the best I’ve ever had, and I can make it! I love it! Thank you for sharing this recipe. I used avocado Mayo and green apples.
Yay! I love when a flavor combo surprises someone! So happy you enjoyed it!
THE BEST chicken salad! I’ve always loved fruit in my chicken salad, but have never found a recipe for one I like as much as restaurants … until this! Even
my hubs said, “you just need to keep making this chicken salad!” Thanks for another great recipe Christina!
Chicken Salad was great — even better after 24 hours. I served it for dinner one night and lunch the next 3 days. Thanks for amazing, easy, tasty, healthy recipes!
So happy you enjoyed it, Barbara!
Oh my goodness, so, so good. Never used thyme or dill in chicken salad before, but now it is a must. Love this! oh yes and don’t leave out the sliced almonds and never the grapes. I ate with naan bread. Will be making this on repeat forever!
Love this! This is definitely a fix again recipe! Great for summer.
This chicken salad recipe tastes as good as it looks. This is hands down the best chicken salad I have ever tasted. I didn’t have apples so I left those out. I also cut back the mayo a bit and added just a tad bit of sour cream to give the dressing that whipped texture. The fresh dill and lime juice add an incredible dimension of flavor. Thank you so much for sharing!
I’m so grateful for your recipe. I looked for one last week and couldn’t find anything that used plain almond yogurt. I did your half-and-half version. I love my recipe that includes dairy, which is my go to, but I think I like this one almost better! The fresh dill and thyme, make a massive difference. We are really going to enjoy eating this all weekend. Thank you so much!