This Chicken Salad is an easy recipe that comes together to make an amazing chicken salad sandwich. Make it to bring to a picnic or just have it for an easy weeknight meal.
This Chicken Salad with grapes is great all year, but especially for summer picnics! This recipe has my heart. I love the sweetness the grapes bring to this savory recipe. Their crunch pairs perfectly with that of the celery.
Your family will love this recipe now for easy lunches and even more so come the fall when school picks back up again.
Loved your chicken salad….never used grapes before but it will be a must from now on! Thank you!
Chicken Salad Ingredients
The ingredients in this recipe are the perfect balance of flavors and texture. Scroll to the bottom of the post to get the full printable recipe with measurements and instructions.
- Cooked Shredded Chicken: Read below for my tips and tricks on shredding chicken. Another great idea is to keep frozen shredded chicken on hand.
- Grapes: This is the ingredient that usually throws people for a loop, but it adds such a perfect texture and sweetness to the recipe.
- Red Onion: I love red onions in salads because they bring a subtle sweetness with their onion taste.
- Celery: The celery in this recipe adds the perfect crunch.
- Mayonnaise: We are using mayo as the base of our chicken salad dressing. You should feel free to use light mayo. It cuts some calories without sacrificing taste or texture.
- Lemon Juice: A little lemon juice goes a long way in this recipe to add sense of freshness.
- Salt: As with all recipes, you may want to start with just a little salt and add more once you taste the dressing.
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Black Pepper
How to Make Chicken Salad
I like to make this recipe in three steps.
- Add the main ingredients (chicken, grapes, red onion, celery) to a large bowl.
- Whisk together the dressing in a small bowl. Try the dressing and add more salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the dressing into the main ingredients and mix to combine.
How to Make Shredded Chicken
Making shredded chicken for this or other recipes is very simple and takes less than 20 minutes.
- Place the chicken in a sauce pan with enough water to cover it.
- Bring the water to a boil and simmer over low heat for 4 to 10 minutes or until the chicken registers 165 degrees on an instant read thermometer.
A note on the thermometer: I love that one because it can be easily kept in while the chicken cooks. It has an alarm that lets me know exactly when it reaches 165 degrees.
You can also use your Instant Pot to make shredded chicken. Another great option is to use a rotisserie chicken. Sometimes I like to buy several, shred them, and freeze them.
Please note that you will need 1 pound of raw chicken to make 3 cups of shredded chicken.
Why No Nuts
You will notice that I didn’t use any nuts in this recipe, though many chicken salad recipes call for it. I really love the sweet crunch that grapes give this recipe and didn’t think the nuts were necessary.
If your family likes nuts in it, I would recommend toasting 1/4 cup of almond slices and adding those in.
What to Serve Chicken Salad On
My favorite way to eat this is on a nice soft buttery croissant. But it is delicious on any bread or bun for an amazing chicken salad sandwich. It would also be great in a wrap.
If you want to make this a lower carb recipe, you could eat this in endive or Bib Lettuce cups like in my Chicken Lettuce Wraps. This is also great just eaten with a fork or on a bed of salad greens.
Serving Size
This recipe makes 4 cups. What you see pictured is about 1/2 a cup of chicken salad to make a chicken salad sandwich. I would plan for about 8 sandwiches for this recipe.
FAQ
Chicken Salad can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days. That being said, if it was left outside more than 2 hours at a picnic, it should be tossed.
I would not recommend freezing this recipe. In general, I don’t like freezing mayonnaise based dishes.
Dried cranberries would be great to replace the grapes here.
Other Great Picnic Recipes
If you are looking for other great recipes to bring to a picnic, consider some of these options:
- My Corn Salad is always a hit!
- Everyone will love this Healthy Potato Salad. The dressing is amazing.
- My Strawberry Spinach Salad would go perfectly with this.
If you make this chicken salad recipe or any of my other recipes, leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked chicken chopped (see notes in the post for how to cook shredded chicken)
- 1 cup red grapes cut in half
- 1/2 small red onion diced small
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used light)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine the cooked chicken, red grapes, red onion, and celery.
- In a small bowl whisk togethr the mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper. Taste and add more salt and pepper to taste being careful to start out with just a little.
- Stir the dressing into the main ingredients.
- Serve right away or store in an airtight container for 3 to 5 days. Please note that if this salad sits out for more than 2 hours, the leftovers should be thrown away.
Hayley says
Would yogurt work in place of mayo for a healthier option?
I haven’t tried that. I’m sure it would work, but I’m not sure I would enjoy the taste as much.
Lyn says
Just a suggestion, whenever I make any type of salad that calls for mayo I always use miracle whip because I find the mayo overpowering and I can’t taste all the different flavors of the ingredients as well so I switched to the whip. I have had many comments about how tasty my salads are and one of my friends wanted to know if I was using a new brand of mayo and I told her I wasn’t using it but that I was using the whip. No one believed me but finally were convinced and I also used a sprinkle of dill spice. It sure gives salads a very good taste. I knew that they would like it because I have been using it for a while now, so wasn’t worried if they would like it.
Sharon Nation says
I made your Marsala Chicken it was very good except I used Marsala Cooking wine & seemed a little strong taste. The roux turned out perfect. I like your website
Happy Cooking
Sharon
I’m glad you liked it, Sharon! The Marsala is definitely a personal preference. Next time you could cut some of it and add more chicken stock.
Denny Muirhead says
Great idea with Red grapes. I also sometimes add some Curry powder for a nice flavor.
That’s a great suggestion!
Mildred Stephens says
Thank you for recipes without nuts, I am so allergic to all nuts and grapes sound like a good addition to the Chicken Salad.
I hope you enjoy it!
Rose says
Love the recipe. I usually add a half a cup of non-fat Greek yogurt to the recipe as well. I find it too dry with just the half cup of mayo. Easy, simple and delicious.
ADW says
How would you suggest freezing the remainder servings not used after 5 days? Thanks.
I wouldn’t recommend freezing this one. I think you would be really disappointed with it once thawed. Instead, I would suggest just making a half batch.
Janet says
Will make it today but I know it will be a five star rating. Love all the recipes of yours I have made. Thanks for sharing.
Pat says
I added tarragon to this an it was awesome!
I’m glad you liked it, Pat!