Classic Chicken Salad is the PERFECT combo of seasoned chicken breast, creamy mayonnaise, lemon juice and crunchy celery, ready in just minutes!
We love great lunch and picnic options, and this recipe is perfect for a potluck or picnic along with other favorites like Macaroni Salad, Easy Cole Slaw (Coleslaw), and Best EVER Baked Beans!
CLASSIC CHICKEN SALAD
Classic Chicken Salad is the perfect thing to serve for lunch, as a salad or over a bed of lettuce. Made with lean chicken in mayo and lemon juice, with and celery (plus if you want you can add crunchy nutty almonds), it’s the PERFECT dish to bring to a picnic or get-together.
You can add other fresh ingredients to this recipe like green onion, red onion, fresh dill, or avocado. This is a great recipe to make-ahead at the beginning of the week for grab-and-go lunches, and my go-to when we have a busy schedule ahead. You’ll never want to go back to store-bought again!
WHAT ELSE CAN YOU ADD TO THIS CHICKEN SALAD RECIPE?
You can really add a lot of flavor to the dish depending on what you like. Here are a few suggestions that I’ve tried and liked.
- Eggs
- Olives
- Pickles
- Dried fruit
- Bell Peppers
HOW LONG DOES CHICKEN SALAD LAST?
Chicken salad will last refrigerated for 3-4 days, wrapped tightly with plastic wrap. Don’t leave it out at room temperature for more than two hours for food safety.
CAN CHICKEN SALAD WITH MAYO BE FROZEN?
I don’t recommend that you freeze chicken salad because the mayonnaise will separate when defrosting. You can freeze the cooked chicken, then just defrost it in the refrigerator the day before you want to make the salad, and add the other fresh ingredients the day of.
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HOW TO SERVE CHICKEN SALAD
Serve chicken salad as a sandwich, on top of tomato slices, or over greens. You can also have it as an afternoon snack with crackers, or serve with cut up celery and bell peppers, or on a lettuce wrap for a low carb option.
TIPS FOR MAKING CHICKEN SALAD
- Add grapes, raisins, apples, or craisins to add a sweet and savory flavor.
- This recipe calls for almonds but you can use other types of nuts like pecans, walnuts, or cashews.
- Replace the mayo with pureed avocado and sour cream for an avocado chicken salad.
- Cut the calories in this recipe by using Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise.
- This recipe takes a total time of 5 minutes to throw together, but I like to refrigerate it for at least an hour to give the flavors a chance to come together.
- If you don’t have time to cook the chicken yourself you can use a rotisserie chicken. Just remove the skin and chop into pieces.
- You can use fresh chicken or canned chicken for this recipe.
- Make BBQ chicken salad by adding 2-3 tablespoons of your favorite BBQ sauce in place of some of the mayonnaise.
- Add spices to this recipe to add different flavors like garlic, paprika, curry powder, or even mustard. Try chipotle seasoning and lime juice instead of lemon juice. Or a dash of cayenne pepper with pickled jalapenos for a spicy version.
- Cook the chicken breasts in the crockpot, then use an electric hand mixer to shred the chicken for a shredded chicken salad recipe!
Classic Chicken Salad
Classic Chicken Salad is the PERFECT combo of seasoned chicken breast, creamy mayonnaise, lemon juice, crunchy celery, and almonds, ready in just minutes!
Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked chicken breast chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 cup celery chopped finely
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds (optional)
Instructions
Mix all the ingredients together well in a bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Recipe Notes
Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.
My first attempt and even my picky 10 yr old loved it ? used walnuts and dried cranberries and apple SO good ? thanks!
Thanks for the 5 stars, Gina.
I added fresh parsley and basil. I also added celery seed. Delicious.
This was my first attempt at chicken salad. I used what was left of a “smokehouse” rotisserie chicken after a few meals (not really smokey tasting, just basic seasoning) so had only 2 1/2 cups of chicken. I stuck to the recipe but scaled it back and am glad I did. It made a lot for one person. It’s real delicious and I love it! It’s very easy to make so I’m sure to add this to my repertoire. I might experiment with a few additions.
Can I use can chicken?
Of course!
I’ve tried many chicken salad recipes but this one is the best and the only one I make now!! Easy and delicious.
Yay!! I’m glad you enjoyed it, Jill. Thanks for the 5 stars.
Try adding Dried Cranberries into the mix! 🙂
Yum!
Hello I want to make this but I was wondering if anyone made it without the celery, but with eggs and relish in it
I’ve made this for the last 3 weeks for my husband and I for different lunches for the week and it’s amazing and so easy! I bet it would be wonderful this way! Also I just put the chicken in the Crock-Pot
I added 1/2 of a fresh chopped jalapeño, 1 chopped green onion, 1/4 cups raisins, 1/2 cup chopped apple, and 1/4 chopped walnuts- yummy! Thanks! Also, I made my chicken in the Instapot so it was super tender.
Sounds perfect! Thanks for the 5 stars, Heather.
How many chicken breasts are in 4 cups?
It depends on how big each breast is but I would say about 1 1/2 pounds of chicken breast will give you 4 cups chopped.
Delicious!
Do you know how many servings this would yield if I was to make sandwiches with them? Would 1 serving equate to 1 sandwich?
No, I think you’d get a lot more servings when made into sandwiches, depending on how big they are. I would say probably between 8-10.
Great recipe. I made it for my wife before she got back from work and she really like it, thank you
This is so good! I add more celery and nuts because I love the crunch.
I love the crunch too! Glad you liked it!