Creamy Chicken Salad Recipe

My creamy chicken salad recipe combines tender chicken, celery, nuts, dried fruit, and a simple creamy dressing. It’s perfect to enjoy now, but it improves over time, making it an excellent option for meal-prepping.

I love this creamy chicken salad, especially the crunchy nuts and dried fruit. They add so much texture! The secret to this chicken salad is its creamy dressing made with mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, and a tiny bit of sesame oil (trust me!). For more of a classic recipe, see our easy chicken salad with herbs.

This salad is perfect for using leftover chicken, or take our tips below for cooking chicken perfectly for chicken salad (I’ve shared 3 easy methods for you to choose from). For more salads like this, see our easy tuna salad, egg salad, and my favorite smashed chickpea salad.

Key Ingredients

Chicken: Use leftover chicken, rotisserie chicken, or one of our easy recipes for cooking chicken, like easy poached chicken (takes 25 minutes), simmered whole chicken (makes broth and super tender chicken in about 1 hour), and whole roasted chicken.
Celery and Herbs: These add crunch, color, and freshness. I chop my celery pretty small. For the herbs, use what you have. I love parsley, chives, dill, tarragon, and mint!
Nuts and Raisins: I love sliced almonds and golden raisins, but you can always substitute them with your favorite nuts and fruit. Walnuts are excellent, as are fresh fruits like diced apples or halved grapes.
Creamy Dressing: The dressing for this salad couldn’t get much easier. Combine mayonnaise with fresh lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper. Then, add a dash of toasted sesame oil for a bit more flavor (we also use sesame oil in our dressing for broccoli slaw). You can swap the mayonnaise for plain Greek yogurt for a mayo-free salad. It tastes a bit more tangy but will still taste great. We also have this vegan mayonnaise recipe if you are interested.

How to Make Creamy Chicken Salad: salad ingredients in a bowl

Creamy Chicken Salad

I love this creamy chicken salad, especially the crunchy nuts and dried fruit. It’s also quick to make and lasts a few days in the fridge. We highly recommend the toasted sesame oil — it adds a lovely umami flavor to the dressing. A little goes a long way, so only add a few dashes (not more than a 1/4 teaspoon). When we have the time, we poach chicken breasts for this salad. Here’s our detailed recipe for how to poach chicken. You might also like this chicken broth recipe, which calls for poaching a whole chicken (perfect for this salad), and of course, this classic roast chicken.

8 Servings

You Will Need

For the Salad

3 cups (480g) chopped or shredded cooked chicken

1 cup (120g) chopped celery

4 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs like chives, parsley, mint, or basil

1/4 cup (40g) lightly toasted nuts like sliced almonds, walnuts, pecans or pine nuts

1/4 cup (40g) dried fruit like golden raisins, cranberries, dates, or blueberries

For the Dressing

1/2 cup (110g) mayonnaise, see homemade mayo

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

2 to 4 small dashes toasted sesame oil (scant 1/4 teaspoon), optional

1 to 2 teaspoons jam, optional

Directions

1Combine the chicken, celery, herbs, nuts, and dried fruit in a medium mixing bowl.

2Mix the mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, salt, and black pepper in a small bowl. Taste, then add the optional ingredients. Toasted sesame oil adds umami (a little goes a long way), and the jam sweetens the dressing.

3Toss the dressing with the salad. Taste, then adjust with more salt and pepper.

Adam and Joanne’s Tips

Storing: When stored in an airtight container, chicken salad stays in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days, which is excellent news because, as I mentioned above, the salad tastes great the moment you make it, but give it a day in the fridge, and it tastes even better.
In addition to or as a substitute for the dried fruit, add a handful of fresh fruit like halved grapes or chopped apples.
For a lighter chicken salad, swap the mayonnaise for light mayo or use plain or Greek yogurt.
The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.

Nutrition Per Serving
Serving Size
1/2 cup
/
Calories
197
/
Total Fat
13.4g
/
Saturated Fat
2.1g
/
Cholesterol
47.1mg
/
Sodium
269.9mg
/
Total Carbohydrate
5.2g
/
Dietary Fiber
0.9g
/
Total Sugars
3.2g
/
Protein
13.9g