Homemade Chicken Salad
Easy Roasted Chicken Salad is the best Chicken Salad recipe ever. Mayonnaise, celery, onions and special seasoning makes this a huge favorite!
A DELICIOUSLY FLAVORFUL CHICKEN SALAD RECIPE
I’m pretty picky when it comes to Chicken Salad. I like to roast my own chicken because I can flavor it how I like it. But some good ole store-bought rotisserie chicken will work just fine in this! For me, a good chicken salad has to have a nice balance of being able to taste the moist roasted chicken along with the creaminess and taste of mayonnaise. This recipe strikes a good balance of both and the other add-in ingredients, like the celery and onion are all optional to suite your tastes.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
If you want a faster option, try using your air fryer! My Air Fryer Chicken Breast recipe is a great substitute here.
I’ve made a Grape Chicken Salad that includes grapes. Other times people will put apple chunks or pineapple chunks. Some people like to swap the mayo out for Greek yogurt or flavored Greek yogurt and add other crunchy textures like poppy seeds, sesame seeds, or coconut flakes. Pecans and almonds are also nice to add to this salad.
If you can’t find the bone-in chicken breasts then just use boneless. Some people like to use grilled chicken breast as well.
Yes, you can make this entire thing ahead of time, store in a lidded container in the fridge and pull out to use when you’re ready.
Certainly. If you’re feeding Chicken Salad to a crowd, just scale the ingredients as necessary and make sure you use an appropriate sized mixing bowl.
Keep leftovers refrigerated. Will last 3-4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- whole chicken breasts (bone-in, with skin)– when chopping up the chicken, I left it chunky, but you can cut it up smaller if that’s what you prefer. Additionally, you can use rotisserie chicken if needed or you can use canned chicken if you’re really in a pinch.
- lemon pepper seasoning
- olive oil
- mayonnaise
- sour cream
- celery
- red onion
- salt and pepper
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE CHICKEN SALAD:
Preheat oven to 350f degrees. On a baking sheet, place chicken breasts skin side up. Drizzle them with a bit of olive oil and then sprinkle with lemon pepper seasoning.
Cook for about 35-45 minutes until the chicken is cooked thoroughly. Allow chicken to cool before continuing. Once chicken is cool, remove meat. You can save the bones and skin for chicken stock later, if you prefer. Cut the chicken up into bite size chunks. In a medium bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, celery, onion and salt & pepper.
I usually add about 2 teaspoons of salt and maybe a 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Add in diced chicken and stir.
Serve on your favorite bread or just a bed of lettuce or eat it all by itself!
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
- Best Ham Salad
- Grape Chicken Salad
- Egg Salad
- Tuna Salad
- Bologna Salad
- Tuna Macaroni Salad
- Southern Macaroni Salad
- Creamy Broccoli Salad
- Italian Lemon Orzo Salad
Originally published: August 2011
Updated and republished: June 2019
The Best Chicken Salad (+Video)
Ingredients
- 2 bone-in whole chicken breasts (with skin)
- 1 Tablespoons lemon pepper seasoning
- olive oil
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
- ½ cup small red onion, finely diced (about 1/4 cup )
- 2 teaspoons salt, (to taste)
- ½ teaspoon pepper, (to taste)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees. On a baking sheet, place chicken breasts skin side up.
- Drizzle them with a bit of olive oil and then sprinkle with lemon pepper seasoning.
- Cook for about 35-45 minutes until the chicken is cooked thoroughly. Allow chicken to cool before continuing.
- Once chicken is cool, remove meat. Discard skin and bones and cut the chicken up into bite size chunks.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, celery, onion and salt and pepper.
- Add in diced chicken and stir.
- Serve on your favorite bread or on a bed of lettuce or eat it all by itself!
Video
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Very easy! I’ve made it twice. First time followed the recipe as stated, a little too much salt. Second time I added 1/2 tsp of salt, 2 stalks of celery & cashews.
I like to cut up some apples in my chicken salad; apples and/or grapes. Or sometimes curry powder (maybe 1/2 tsp – depends on amount of chicken salad) and coriander, and then stir in or top with some chopped dry-roasted peanuts. Apples go well with curry. If I'm trying to battle my weight, I'll up the fiber and volume by mixing the chicken salad with a lot of shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix, maybe around an equal amount.
I just made this and it was so yummy. I love your site.
I like to use Pina Colada yogurt and then a bit of toasted coconut on top for a tropical flair.
I just discovered this site. I am a young mom and wife to be. My guy loves to eat but I can't cook!! I really want to learn (like desperately) my family is starving! From my lack of knowledge around the kitchen. So happy I found this site. You make is very easy to learn very detailed and specific with your recipes. I am going to try your recipes and hopefully they will become staples in my kitchen. Thank u!!!
I just made this with the Greek yogurt and nonfat sour cream and OMG! I can't wait for lunch! Can you eat chicken salad for breakfast?
Sounds wonderful! The best chicken salad I have ever eaten included pineapple–made my taste buds do a little happy dance.
Haha It's so nice to see that I'm not the only one who has such strong poetic love for food. Lovely recipe and great blog!
Looks great, such a summer classic. Some nice sweet tea to go with it, I know what I'm making for lunch this weekend.
I love grapes added if I'm eating it on lettuce leafs. I'm not a fan of grapes inside a sandwich. I am so hooked on rotisserie chicken. It's just so easy and versatile.
Your recipe looks yummy!
Oh, I love chicken salad! You have inspired me. This shall be lunch today. 🙂
I love this chicken salad..it is even way better with grapes in it.