Classic Chicken Salad with tender bites of chicken in a creamy, well-seasoned dressing, mixed with crunchy bits of celery and onion. Perfect for sandwiches, wraps, or spooned over greens for an easy meal.
I crave Chicken Salad Sandwiches on a regular basis. It’s such a familiar, nostalgic flavor for me that it’s my go-to when I need a little soothing during a busy week. I’m talking old-school, Classic Chicken Salad with no fancy add-ins.
It’s a happy day when I have a batch of it in my fridge at lunch time and it’s spot-on perfect when I’ve got a ton going on and need a simple choice for dinner.
Last night after an extra long day of work, I mixed up a batch of this easy Chicken Salad for sandwiches and a pot of my Broccoli Cheese Soup and I had satisfying, delicious meal on the table in under 45 minutes. If you skip the soup you can whip this recipe up in a mere 10 minutes!
Table of contents
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken: I use the breast meat from a meaty rotisserie chicken, but instead of shredding it, I pull it off the bone in chunks and give it a rough chop. It adds more texture than shredded meat, which I love in chicken salad. It’s a small difference, but it makes all the difference!
- Produce: Diced celery and either thinly sliced green onion or diced red onion – whichever you prefer or happen to have on hand.
- For the dressing: In true classic form, the mayonnaise-based dressing gets a flavor boost from a little Dijon mustard, onion powder, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. A touch of sugar and a splash of fresh lemon juice help balance and brighten things up, while fresh parsley and dill bring the perfect herby kick.
How to Make Classic Chicken Salad
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the mayo, lemon juice, parsley, dill, Dijon, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
- Add the chicken, celery, and onions.
- Stir well to combine, then taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.
Serving Suggestions
Sandwiches – When making sandwiches I suggest choosing a sturdy sliced bread like sourdough or a whole grain sandwich bread. Toasting the bread will make it even sturdier. Load up your sandwiches with the toppings you love. For me it’s lettuce, tomatoes, and thinly sliced red onion—and my life would not be complete without a couple of pickles on the side.
Low-Carb Wraps – I almost always have a bag of low-carb wraps in my pantry and my current favorite is Olé Xtreme Wellness Tortilla Wraps (love the Spinach and Herb flavor). These things have made it possible to still enjoy all my favorite salad and burrito fillings while we’re watching our carb intake. Love!
Greens – Or skip the bread altogether and mound this Classic Chicken Salad on leafy greens with lots of fresh veggies for a wholesome meal. I love to scoop it into Belgium endive leaves for a healthy, easy lunch.
More Easy Sandwich Recipes You’ll Love
If you love chicken salad, you’ve got to try my Napa Almond Chicken Salad. Just check out the rave reviews of this Panera copycat recipe and you’ll see why!
My Classic Egg Salad is a forever favorite and Ham Salad is another one we love – especially when I happen to have leftover ham on hand.
Mini sandwiches like my BBQ Chicken Sliders or Ham and Cheese Sliders are always a fun choice and perfect for a soup and sandwich dinner.
Browse my entire collection of sandwich recipes for more easy meal inspiration!
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Classic Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- 1 to 2 tablespoons minced fresh Italian parsley leaves
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh dill, or ½ teaspoon dried dill
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon fine ground sea salt, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon granulated sugar
- 3 cups chopped rotisserie chicken breast, skin removed
- ⅓ cup diced celery
- 2 to 3 thinly sliced green onions, or ¼ cup diced red onion
Optional for Serving
- sturdy sliced bread, like sourdough or whole-grain bread
- low-carb wraps
- leafy greens
- sliced tomatoes
- thinly sliced red onion
- pickles
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, parsley, lemon juice, dill, Dijon, onion powder, sea salt, and pepper. Add the chicken, celery, and onions (green or red) and stir well to combine. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.
- Transfer the chicken salad to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 to 4 days.
- Use for sandwiches, wraps, or serve over a bed of greens.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
More Chicken Salad Recipes
I made this tonight and followed it to a T except omitting onion powder because it upsets my stomach. It was VERY good. I kept taking extra little bites when I was making it. Right now I am letting it “marinate” in the fridge while my crescent rolls heat up because I am eating it with the chicken salad.
I am 75, and this is so very close to what I grew up with, and made it for my family for years. Doesnt get any better than this. I cooked 3 large chicken breasts today, actually baking in chicken broth and butter for an hour at 350. I planned to use half for chicken salad, and half the chicken for another meal. I couldn’t help myself. used all 3 chicken breasts for a larger bowlful. Ive made this before. save it to your computer where its easy to find. Gotta go, it’s supper time. BTW, we always use lemon juice and dijon to mayo for potato salad as well. Always bring an empty bowl home.
Hi Carol! I’m happy to hear this recipe reminds you of the one you grew up with. It’s definitely a classic! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment and review – it’s much appreciated! 🙂
I love this simple yet oh so tasty. Made as exactly as written and even my picky partner loves it. Thank you for such an easy tasty sandwich and cracker topper!!! Will make again and again.
Will regular parsley work or is it better to leave it if if I don’t have Italian parsley?
Yes, you can substitute curly parsley. It’s not quite as flavorful but I would still use it instead of leaving it out altogether. Hope it turns out great for you!
I don’t have the parsley, ok to leave it out or do you recommend a substitute?
It’s fine to leave it out.
Wow this is so great Valerie! My husband absolutely loves it and regularly requests it. Thank you for such a simple classic recipe and you’re right the Costco chicken makes it extra delicious. It’s the perfect classic chicken salad.
This looks so yum! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
I made this today and omg It came out so good! So simple and delicious. I used canned chicken from Costco though because I didn’t have chicken. So yummy and I did put tomatoes and onions as the toppings and instead of pickles( mine froze in the fridge :/) I used a little bit of relish. Definitely making this again and with the cooked chicken from Costco this time !
Hi Leticia. Yes, it works great with canned chicken in a pinch. So glad it worked out well for you and thanks so much for your comment.:)