Bonus points if it includes red grapes. I just can't get the hang of adding anything but celery.

Add dill. I love dill. I adore dill. Except for the dill, my chicken salad recipe is pretty standard.

-Couple of roasted chicken breasts, usually marinated in Dale's marinade, and skinned, boned, and chunked after cooking.
-3 or 4 celery stalks, chopped finely
-small can of chopped black olives
-1/2 cup white mushrooms, chopped coarse
-1/2 cup Vidalia sweet onion, finely chopped
-1/2 apple, peeled & chopped coarse
-1 cup red seedless grapes, halved
-1/2 cup chopped pecans
-enough mayonaise for a stiff consistency 6 - 8 tbls
-1 tsp. lemon juice
-salt & pepper to taste
-dried basil, marjoram, and parsley flakes to taste (about 1 tsp. each), or fresh variants in season

chicken, mayo, mustard, salt, pepper. on toast. topped with melted pepperjack cheese.

*bookmarks thread*

I like all kinds of chicken salad, but I detest celery in it. I've never made it though. My favorite has tarragon mustard, sultanas and chopped almonds in it, which is probably blasphemy to most of you.

I had to look up sultanas, gaspode. I thought it might be some crazy NZ fruit or something.

The other great debate is to chunk or shred the meat. My grandmother, who made the best chicken salad ever, always shredded it. But I've never been able to replicate her recipe right (celery, paprika and mayo are all I can figure out), so I'm trying to go in an entirely different direction.

The paulsc variation is interesting, but I'd have to eliminate the mushrooms.

And amro, my kid really depleted our dill crop this year. She'd just grab a handful and walk around the yard munching on it.

She'd just grab a handful and walk around the yard munching on it.

Ah, a girl after my own heart.

Proper chicken salad should be curried. You can make a quick curry mayo by combining curry paste (to taste) with the mayo (requires less mayo). If all you have is curry seasonings, add the seasonings to the mayo, and mix in with a bit of vegetable or olive oil. Add chopped apple and onion bits, raisins, and pine nuts. Celery if you like.

If you're not into even light curry, use Beau Monde, paprika, garlic salt, salt and pepper. Maybe a few savory herbs for more of a "roasted" chicken effect, if that's to your liking (tarragon, sage, rosemary, thyme).

If you want to get really creative, you can go in a completely different direction, and add a bit of mustard and vinegar and/or relish. When I go the tart route, I also like to add a dash of Tabasco and go heavy with the paprika.

But leave out the grapes.

I clicked here thinking "You probably won't like it because it uses red grapes." But haha, now I'm thinking you probably won't like it because it uses wasabi mayo.

2 parts diced chicken
1 part whole red grapes (way lazy here)
.5 part chopped almonds
.5 part diced celery
wasabi mayo to taste (I use about 1-2 tbs per dish)

I hope that makes sense. Since I pretty much estimate for everything I cook, eh?

The best I've ever made used grilled chicken, so now whenever I grill chicken I save out a few breasts for chicken salad a couple days later. After that, hell, I don't know, it's never the same twice. Mayonnaise, grapes, celery, half a vidalia onion, some lemon juice, maybe tarragon?

Imagine a chicken eating salad. Go for a walk and watch the sunset. Feel strangely satisfied.

I'm glad you asked! I had the most delicious chicken salad ever today. I just kind of winged it.

Last night, I had some chicken breasts for dinner, so I made a couple extra pieces and just baked them plain.

Then, I broke the chicken into chunks, some chopped red onions, chopped and peeled macintosh apple, and a half handful of walnuts. I then mixed in a dressing comprised of mayo, a little dijon, some curry powder and a pinch each of garlic powder and black pepper.

It was amazing! I ate it on 12 grain bread and then put the leftover aside in a tupperware (which I then ate for dinner). I almost made a post about it, I was so impressed with myself.

I used to hate the whole apple/grapes in chicken salad thing, but this has changed everything!

I have a guitar pedal called chicken salad, and another called tuna melt, serious

I usually add mayo, black pepper, celery, sage, rosemary, pickle, pecans or walnuts, maybe some garlic salt. And I usually shred the chicken. Oh and sometimes I add some balsamic vinegar (just a tiny bit).

*sneaks into sasshat's kitchen, steals her chicken salad*

I never, ever make chicken salad. I do not know why. I once had this incredible chicken gyro that was sort of nouveau gyro with sprouts and stuff. It was so amazing, I kept saying I'd go back to that place, get another one and figure out how they made it - but by the time I got back there they had gone out of business. Alas, chicken gyro, I hardly knew ye.

What time is lunch, paulsc?