That is our favourite recipe for hen salad. It combines completely tender hen, crunch from veggies and nuts, somewhat sweetness, and the simplest creamy dressing. This easy hen salad tastes terrific if you make it however will get even higher over time, making it excellent for meal-prepping! Jump to the Easy Chicken Salad Recipe
How one can Make the Greatest Rooster Salad
Our favourite hen salad has three vital parts: tender cooked hen, one thing crunchy, and one thing candy. Bonus if it’s straightforward to place collectively. This hen salad recipe has all of that, and it’s even straightforward to adapt to what you’re keen on.
Let’s undergo the substances you want for the hen salad. Then, proceed studying for a number of variations to make it much more particular.
Chopped or shredded hen — Use store-bought rotisserie hen, or use considered one of these straightforward strategies for cooking hen excellent for this hen salad: poached hen, shredded hen, simmered entire hen (additionally makes a implausible hen broth), or leftover entire roasted hen.
Veggies for crunch — Identical to once we make tuna salad or egg salad, we maintain the ingredient listing brief and solely name for celery. For extra greens, attempt carrot, fennel, bell pepper, shallot, or onion (though, watch out that your onions will not be too robust).
Nuts or seeds — Texture is a giant deal for hen salad; we add a lot of it with celery and nuts or seeds. We’ve added sliced almonds within the photographs, however most nuts and seeds will work. Think about using pistachios, walnuts, pine nuts, pecans, pepitas (pumpkin seeds), and sunflower seeds.

One thing candy — Right here’s the place you’ll be able to have a lot of enjoyable! We love dried fruit in our hen salad and particularly take pleasure in golden raisins. Dried cranberries, apricots, dates, or different dried fruits additionally work. You too can add recent fruit like halved grapes or chopped apples.
Our easy dressing — Our hen salad dressing is mayonnaise primarily based. All you have to do is stir a few tablespoons of recent lemon juice into the mayonnaise and season with salt, and you might be able to toss. Add a few small dashes of toasted sesame oil to make the dressing much more particular. Just a little goes a great distance nevertheless it provides a nice umami taste. Or, for one thing candy, you’ll be able to stir in a teaspoon or so of your favourite jam.
By the best way, for a more healthy hen salad, attempt swapping some or the entire mayonnaise known as for within the recipe with plain or Greek yogurt. The dressing shall be a bit tangy however will nonetheless style nice.

Extra: Strive our Smashed Chickpea Salad
How one can Retailer Rooster Salad
When saved correctly, hen salad stays within the fridge for 3 to 4 days, which is good news as a result of, as I discussed above, the salad tastes nice the second you make it, however give it a day within the fridge, and it tastes even higher. We maintain the salad tightly lined in a glass container.
Our Favourite Rooster Salad
The perfect hen salad has a number of vital parts: tender hen, crunch, and one thing candy. This straightforward recipe checks all of the packing containers. We now have shared our primary recipe for hen salad and some strategies for making it further particular. We extremely suggest the toasted sesame oil — it provides a beautiful umami taste to the dressing. Just a little goes a great distance, so solely add a number of dashes (no more than a 1/4 teaspoon).
When we’ve got the time, we poach hen breasts for this salad. Right here’s our detailed recipe for the way we poach hen.
Makes about 8 (1/2) cup servings
You Will Want
For the Salad
3 cups (480 grams) chopped or shredded cooked hen, see our recipe for excellent poached hen
1 cup (120 grams) chopped celery
4 tablespoons chopped recent herbs like chives, parsley, and basil
1/4 cup (40 grams) flippantly toasted nuts like sliced almonds, walnuts, pecans or pine nuts
1/4 cup (40 grams) dried fruit like golden raisins, cranberries, dates, or blueberries
For the Dressing
1/2 cup (110 grams) mayonnaise, see our do-it-yourself mayo recipe
2 tablespoons recent lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon tremendous sea salt, plus extra to style
1/4 teaspoon recent floor black pepper
2 to 4 small dashes toasted sesame oil (scant 1/4 teaspoon), elective
1 to 2 teaspoons jam, elective
Instructions
Mix the hen, celery, herbs, nuts, dried fruit, and recent fruit (if utilizing) in a medium mixing bowl.
In one other small bowl, stir the mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, salt, and black pepper collectively. Style, then add the elective substances. Toasted sesame oil provides umami (somewhat goes a great distance), and the jam sweetens the dressing.
Toss the dressing with the salad. Style, then alter with extra salt and pepper. Retailer, lined tightly, within the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
Adam and Joanne’s Suggestions
- Along with or as an alternative to the dried fruit, add a handful of recent fruit like halved grapes or chopped apples.
- For a lighter hen salad, swap the mayonnaise for gentle mayo or use plain or Greek yogurt.
- Vitamin details: The vitamin details supplied under are estimates. We now have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.
In case you make this recipe, snap a photograph and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We like to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Discover us: @inspiredtaste
Vitamin Per Serving: Serving Dimension 1/2 cup / Energy 197 / Whole Fats 13.4g / Saturated Fats 2.1g / Ldl cholesterol 47.1mg / Sodium 269.9mg / Whole Carbohydrate 5.2g / Dietary Fiber 0.9g / Whole Sugars 3.2g / Protein 13.9g
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