Ultimate Chicken Salad
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!
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!
60 Comments on “Ultimate Chicken Salad”
That does look like the ultimate chicken salad! Hosting a brunch soon and will make this then!
Thank you! <3
This is SO pretty! Love your new colander! 🙂
Yes!!!! Thanks for noticing, Lindsey! <3
Looks so delicious, girl! I really like the chicken and grape combo, and you did it beautifully with this recipe.
Thanks so much, Jean!
Such a pretty salad! Pinned!
Thanks for pinning! <3
That is definitely looking like the ultimate chicken salad! I love all the fresh herbs – I used to go to this restaurant that had the best chicken salad and it had grapes in it like that – looks very similar and I love that I can control the ingredients!
Wow! That is one fully loaded chicken salad! Now I need a sandwich…
You totally captured the beauty of this salad in the photographs. It looks amazing!
Thank you so much!
I’m literally drooling right now, this salad is loaded with flavor! Can’t wait to make it!
Chicken salad is such a great way to utilize leftover chicken or turkey. Your recipe looks awesome!
Truly an ultimate chicken salad. Can’t wait to make this for my next potluck.
That is one mega chicken salad! Can’t go wrong with chicken and mayo… I would love this on a sandwich!
Oh yum this chicken salad looks so delicious! I am so excited to try it! I am on day 6 of my first Whole30, so I think I will enjoy it in a few lettuce leaves.
Congrats on your Whole30! I hope you love the chicken salad!
We went to Costco over the weekend and bought rotisserie chicken. Nobody likes plain chicken breast here I am excited I stumbled upon your recipe. It will be fantastic !
This was insanely good. I will make this again!
I love to hear that! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment to tell me! <3
I made this and served it with croissants and watermelon for my granddaughters birthday party. Everyone raved about the chicken salad! So delicious!
Made this tonight, though with cashew mayo instead of real mayo to cut down on Cholesterol. It was very tasty, thanks for the recipe!
Made this tonight and made cucumber sliders out of it in place of bread….very yummy!! Will definitely make again! Thank you for the recipe.
Made this from some extra chicken breast that would have gone bad, it was amazing!! Best chicken salad that I have had.
I made this bit left out the fruit because my hubby doesn’t like fruit in his chicken salad. I put the grapes in min and i didn’t use fresh herbs , but it was simply delicious. The flavors were excellent. This is going in my cooking file for future use
Absolutely delicious! My new go-to! The herbs and crunchy fruit combos make this! Thanks for a great recipe!
I made this today. I’m a vegetarian so I didn’t get to taste it but my spouse said it was delish. I dry rubbed the chicken and cooked sous vide and made the salad and served it on sour dough toast. It would also be great scooped on a green salad or in lettuce wraps. Ty for the recipe.
so happy i came across this recipe… its freaking delicious. i always love chicken salad with extra good stuff in it and this recipe literally has them all. its perfect. i will probably eat the entire bowl myself.
Can you make this with nonfat Greek yogurt instead of mayo?
I did and it’s delicious! I did only sub one cup of the 1 1/2 cups. I used Primal Kitchen mayo for the other half cup but if I had to bet, I would say subbing it all with NFGY would be fine.
This was an amazing chicken salad recipe!! I did make some substitutions such as no almonds, using lemon juice instead of lime, and I ran out of thyme so I probably only used half that the recipe calls for but it turned out amazing!! Everyone that tried it RAVED!
This will definitely be a keeper! Thank you!
This is the BEST chicken salad I have EVER eaten! Love all the incredible flavors and crunch…Thank-you!!! 🙂
Made double recipe on Friday, family devoured it!! Begging me to make it again today, Sunday! Off to the store to buy chicken! 😊
I always figured chicken salad didn’t need a recipe. I was wrong. This is The One.
That’s so good to hear!
This was the best chicken salad I ever had!! making it for the 2nd time !
This is the best chicken salad I have ever eaten! I made a double batch when my sister was in town with her family and they took it out in 2 days! I make it once a month and eat it daily. It is the perfect all in 1 meal for busy workdays!! Thank You!
What a nice comment! So happy to hear that!
I made this and it’s AMAZING! I’m not following any particular food plan, so I swapped 1 cup of the mayo with 1 cup plain, fat free Greek yogurt and the other 1/2 cup with Primal Kitchen mayo. This will be a staple in my house forever.
Love that!!
Amazing chicken salad.. Another winning recipe from the Whole Cook!
Love this recipe. It’s fail proof and gets better as the days go on.
The best chicken salad I’ve ever had! I left out the apples because I didn’t want it too sweet and it was absolutely delicious.
Great on a hot night. High temps today with higher humidity. This chicken salad always hits the spot.
YES YES YES this is my 3rd time finding this recipe to make it for my family and friends!! Hands down the BEST! Love it, thank you
I made this 2 weeks ago and meant to leave a review but forgot, came across another recipe of yours I am about to try today not knowing you were the same person and was just scrolling through your recipes and saw it again, anyway, this was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! I’m buying your books you deserve my money😁🤑.
If one in the family doesn’t like mayo, do you have an alternative suggestion?
Great combo of ingredients. My only slight critique is that mine was a little heavy on the mayo for this type of recipe. Definitely a save and repeat!
Absolutely delicious!
So good! The thyme is the key here! Love all the flavors. This will be my go-to chicken salad recipe.
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!