Fancy Chicken Salad
This recipe comes from a friend, and it is absolutely delicious! I made this for my parents and they loved it. For the chicken, feel free to use roasted, rotisserie, canned, or cook your own. I used canned the first time I made this and I also plan on using my pressure cooker so I can make broth at the same time for use in another recipe. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, cooked, cubed, (1 kilo / 2 lb), Shortcut
- 3 cups seedless red grapes, halved
- 1 cup celery, diced
- ½ cup red onion, diced
- 1 cup pecan pieces
For the Dressing
- ½ cup mayo
- ½ cup sour cream, Shortcut
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1-2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded, optional
Instructions
- For the chicken, first time I made this I used four 10 oz / 283 g cans of chunk breast meat in water, drained. It was 4 cups and very convenient. I have also made this with 4 cooked chicken breasts, cubed, which was also 4 cups.
- Using a dry skillet on low heat, add the pecan pieces and toast for several minutes, stirring them and turning them with a spatula often until lightly golden and fragrant, remove from pan and set aside to cool. If you are using pecan halves, just coarsely chop after toasting them and let cool.
- To a large mixing bowl (I used a 4 quart bowl), add the prepared chicken, grapes, celery, onion, and the cooled pecans. Toss together.
- To prepare the dressing, add all the Dressing ingredients to a small bowl and mix together.
- Add the dressing to the salad, stir until well mixed. Cover and place in the fridge until serving.
- Just before serving, mix in the cheese if using that, serve as is as a main dish with light sides of your choice.
- Serve over lettuce or arugula. Recommended.
- Serve in a large croissant with arugula. Highly recommended.
Notes
Low cost per serving, use the shortcut for the sour cream for additional savings.
Shortcut: Chicken (Pressure Cooker), Sour Cream.
Variants: 1. Use 4 10 oz / 283 g cans, drained. 2. Use chicken thigh meat or a mix of thigh and breast meat in place of just breast meat. 3. Use unsalted cashews in place of the pecans. 4. Wrap in soft flour tortillas.
Updated on 17 December 2021.