Name: The Best Chicken Salad
Cook time: P0Y0M0DT0H30M0.000S
Total time: P0Y0M0DT0H30M0.000S
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 cup prepared or homemade mayonnaise; 2 teaspoons strained freshly squeezed lemon juice; 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard; Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper; 4 cups diced poached chicken, recipe follows; 1 stalk celery, cut into 1/4-inch dice; 2 tablespoons shallot, cut into 1/4-inch dice; 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill; 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley; Sliced chives, for garnish; 10 sprigs parsley; 2 sprigs thyme; 1 small onion, halved; 1 small carrot, halved; 1 stalk celery, halved; 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves, fat trimmed; 5 to 6 cups chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium store bought

Article by Emily Saladino

When Food Network's test kitchen set out to develop our best chicken salad recipe, we knew we needed to nail the classic flavors. While variations like curried chicken salad or chicken salad with grapes are perennially popular, this recipe gets its perfectly familiar flavor profile from fresh herbs, tangy mayonnaise and tender chicken.

What Makes This Recipe Our Best Chicken Salad?

Our recipe developers start with bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves, which are easy to handle and super flavorful. We found that poaching is the best way to cook chicken for chicken salad because the process locks in flavor and creates uniformly tender bites. Here’s how to do it:

Step one: Bring the ingredients to a boil. We start with broth for an instant flavor boost that gets reinforced with aromatic herbs, citrus rinds and peppercorns.

Step two: Cover and cook for 20 minutes. The fully cooked chicken will be firm and opaque.

Step three: Cool chicken in the liquid. Remove aromatics and save any extra liquid for your next soup or stew.

Chicken Salad Ingredients and Substitutions

We like the brightness of quality store-bought or homemade mayonnaise here, but you can make chicken salad without mayonnaise by substituting Greek yogurt or even mashed avocado.

While our recipe developers prefer the subtle bite of shallots, you can swap in thinly sliced scallions or red onions depending on what’s in your pantry. You can play with switching up the herbs, too: While dill and parsley are traditional, if you’re partial to chicken salad with tarragon, use that instead of the dill.

How to Make Chicken Salad into a Meal

Serve your homemade chicken salad atop lightly dressed greens or scoop it into lettuce cups or avocado halves. Dollop it onto store-bought or homemade crackers and pair with brothy vegetable soup. Make chicken salad sandwiches on rye bread or make a club with toasted white bread, lettuce and crispy bacon. Or pair with pickles, potato chips or pretzels and crudité.

How to Store Chicken Salad

Homemade chicken salad will keep for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Can you freeze chicken salad? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Due to the high water content of ingredients like raw celery and onions, freezing will degrade the texture and flavors of chicken salad.