Chicken Salad is a quick and easy recipe that you can use to make chicken salad sandwiches, wraps, or serve it as a spread with crackers. It’s a great way to use up leftover chicken for a light and delicious lunch or dinner.
One of my favorite ways to use leftover chicken is this recipe. Especially during the summer when we grill chicken – I like to cook extra just to have chicken salad sandwiches the next day.
This is a cool and creamy salad made with cooked chicken, seasonings, cheese, and a creamy mayo-sour cream dressing. It’s great all year, but we really enjoy it when it is warm, and we don’t feel like cooking.
Even if you don’t have leftover chicken, you can still make it. Just pick up some canned chicken or a rotisserie chicken at the store. They both work great.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- Cooked shredded chicken – you can cook your own or use canned chicken or rotisserie chicken.
- Mayonnaise
- Sour cream
- Garlic powder
- Paprika
- Salt and black pepper
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Chopped red onion
- Diced green onion
- Diced celery
How to Make Chicken Salad
Place the shredded chicken in a large bowl. Add the mayo, sour cream, and all of the seasonings. Mix well to combine.
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir.
Different Ways to Serve Chicken Salad
- Sandwich Recipe: Use it as a sandwich filling and serve it on sliced bread, croissants, or bagels. Add lettuce and sliced tomatoes for a delicious cold sandwich.
- Wraps: It also makes excellent wraps! Roll it up in flour tortillas or use it to make lettuce wraps.
- Spread: Sometimes we like to have chicken salad with crackers. Spread it on Ritz, saltines, Wheat Thins, or other sturdy crackers that you like.
- Salad: Make a green salad and add a scoop of chicken salad on top.
Recipe Variations
Any cooked chicken will work for this recipe – I like chicken breasts or thighs. You can use leftover slow cooker shredded chicken, grilled chicken, or baked chicken. Another option is to use leftover roast turkey to make this salad.
Leave out the cheese or switch up the cheddar for your favorite. Monterey jack, pepper jack, Gruyere, or Provolone would all work well and blue cheese is also good if you like that flavor.
Sometimes I add cooked and crumbled bacon or bacon bits to this chicken salad recipe.
FAQ
It really depends on the recipe and how much mayonnaise is in it. Some chicken salads are really creamy with a rich dressing, which isn’t always healthy. You can always lighten it up with low-fat mayonnaise and use lean chicken breast meat.
If your chicken salad is made with mayonnaise, it won’t freeze well.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will keep for three to four days.
Because it’s made with mayo, chicken salad shouldn’t be kept at room temperature for more than two hours. If it’s hot, that time should be shortened.
This chicken salad recipe is so easy to make – it’s always a favorite at our house and I hope you give it a try soon!
Side Dishes to Serve
Chicken Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 C cooked shredded chicken canned or rotisserie work well too!
- ½ C mayo
- ½ C sour cream
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- Salt & pepper to taste
- ½ C. cheddar cheese
- ¼ grated parmesan cheese
- ¼ C red onion diced
- ¼ C green onion diced
- 1 rib of celery diced
Instructions
- Mix chicken with mayo, sour cream and seasonings.
- Add in remaining ingredients and mix until combined.
Recipe Notes
Recipe Nutrition
This is a quick and easy recipe that you can use to make sandwiches, wraps, or serve it as a spread with crackers.