I must admit that until I made this chicken salad, my homemade chicken salad was nothing to brag about.
My local grocer made much better chicken salad than me... UGH!
Oh, but how things have changed!!! I now join the ranks of culinary mavens who make good chicken salad!
Here's how I do it...
I called on my favorite cooking celebrities to see how they made such great chicken salad... Martha, Ina and Anne (as in Burrell).
I chose INA'S method for cooking chicken... some of MARTHA'S add ins ... and ANNE'S sassy love of cooking ("Look at you, beautiful chickens!")!
I am not a fan of all the fruit and nuts and whatnot in chicken salad. I am a classic kinda girl... but if you like those things I'm sure they could easily be added in!
I think this is a chicken salad you could love too!
STONEGABLE'S WITH-A-LITTLE-HELP-FROM-MY-COOKING-FRIENDS HERBED CHICKEN SALAD
4 split chicken breasts
good olive oil
salt and pepper
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
1/2 ~ 2/3 cup celery, finely diced
salt and pepper
2 TBS fresh parsley, chopped
1 TBS fresh dill, chopped
1/2 tsp thyme, leaves
1~ 1 1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 TBS lemon juice
a few dashes of hot sauce
*tarragon can be substituted in place of thyme... I find tarragon overpowering, so I don't use it.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place chicken skin side up on a rimmed baking sheet. Liberally rub with oil and salt and pepper.
Roast until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. I use an instant read thermometer instead of using cooking times. It makes a more perfectly cooked piece of chicken. No dry chicken here!
Remove the chicken from oven and let just cool until you can handle it.
When cool enough to handle remove the skin and bones and chop the meat to your preferred consistancy. I like mine a little more shredded than most. Save the skin and bones for soup stock.
Put the chicken in a mixing bowl along with the red onions, celery, a little salt and pepper, parsley, dill and thyme.
In a second small mixing bowl add mayonnaise, lemon juice and hot sauce. Stir well. Mix the mayonnaise into the chicken until incorporated. Adjust for salt and pepper.
I served this chicken salad in puff pastry cups for a recent bridal shower. They were such a hit!!!
To see the the puff pasty culinary tutorial, click HERE.
PRINTABLE RECIPE
Your chicken salad sounds delicious.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait until I can make this next week.
No meat today or I would go to the store right now
and mix some up.
Denise
I AM MAKING THIS!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I adore your blog :-))))
Linda at Beautiful Ideas
Sounds delicious!! Will have to try it... Thanks
ReplyDeleteBlessed&Happy Easter weekend
When I do my cooking with herbs classes, I often demonstrate with chicken salad and have three samples -- one plain (salt and pepper only) one with one kind of herb (usually dill) and one with another (often tarragon) -- it helps them understand using herbs! Sounds delicious with three kinds of herbs!
ReplyDeleteFantastic to get this recipe and the pastry cup recipe just before the holiday-I will love to bring these to the dinner-thank you.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful Easter.
I love mine with grapes, pineapple, apple and nuts, preferably walnuts. Love a good chicken salad! Beautiful presentation too Yvonne. Have a wonderful and Happy Easter.
ReplyDeleteYvonne, I have not had any success using your Pin It button the last few times. Is it just me or are others having problems. It says there is an error.
ReplyDeleteHi Karen, I just pinned my chicken salad onto pin it. I hope both yours and mine are both working!!!
Delete
DeleteNo, every time I hit the Pin It button below the blog I get a blank page and this message:
Sorry, couldn't find any pinnable images or video on this page.
And it wasn't just this time but also other times I have used your pin it button. Any idea what this is about??? If I click on the photo and then my Pin it button, I get the photo on a separate page, which I can pin, but there is no source sited once the pin is on Pinterest. In other words, if someone clicked on the photo of the chicken salad on my Recipe Board it would NOT take the to your blog page, just back to the photo. Maybe I need to add the Pin it button on my browser again and see if that is the problem.
My mouth is watering!
ReplyDeleteI love chicken salad and have been looking for a more tasty version. This sound delicious! Will let you know!Linda
ReplyDeletemysewwhatblog.blogspot.com
looks delicious! ...and very pretty arrangment too
ReplyDeleteSounds wonderful, sometimes I feel like fruit and nuts added in, sometimes I don't! Love the idea of the pastry cups. Happy and blessed Easter to you and your family, xo
ReplyDeleteAs much as I love dill, I've never added it to chicken salad-gonna try that! Your pics are beautiful Yvonne, wish I had a sandwich now:@) Happy Easter Weekend-enjoy:@)
ReplyDeleteDelicious!!!!! Will try these gorgeous pastry cups after Easter.
ReplyDeleteI, too, now roast my chicken breasts for almost everything instead of (ugh) boiling! Absorbs the flavors so much better!
Nancy
Hi Yvonne!
ReplyDeleteWe're planning another wedding! I love this idea and have pinned both the chicken salad recipe and the tutorial on the puff pastry cups on Pinterest. Thank you!
A joyful and blessed Easter to you and your family,
God bless you always,
Maria
I love chicken salad. This is definitely going on my list of recipes to try!! Thanks for posting!!
ReplyDeletegoodness, this sounds so good! I'm a chicken salad girl, but never tried making it myself. Those photos look just scrumptious!
ReplyDeleteAh what a sweet pic and awesome recipe on a meatless Friday......I make all sorts of chicken salad b/c I have been known to host a girlie tea or two.....though it seems like forever since I have done so!
ReplyDeleteThink I need to try your recipe - sure looks delish! Love the little pastry cups you have them in, looks so CUTE!!
Yvonne, you are such an inspiration- thanks so much and have a fabulous weekend!
♥
M.
I am a fruit(Grapes) and nuts gal with chicken salad but yours at the shower was DELISH!!! Thanks for the recipe, we all "tweak" when needed:):) XOXO, Pinky
ReplyDeleteI use a rotisserie chicken for my recipe. I love almonds and cranberries too! You are correct, tarragon can be overpowering if a lot is used. Happy Easter!
ReplyDeleteFirst, thanks so much for your research into the best of the best...love that! Second, I don't know if the grapes and walnuts are a regional or handed down recipe thing but we absolutely do not do that here! And finally, my hubby found a chicken salad at a small local grocery store and loved it. I studied the list of ingredients and the main difference was the addition of a bit of apple cider vinegar. How do you think that adds to the taste? So love the puff pastry shells for serving. Can't wait to try it. And, do you think using boneless chicken breasts make a difference?
ReplyDeleteThanks so much!
XO,
Jane
Hi Jane, I think using chicken on the bone give a much more flavorful end product. There is so much flavor in the bones.
DeleteApple cider, like lemon brightens up and gives a little tang to the chicken salad!
Let me know how you like the puffs!
Happy Easter!
Yvonne~ Your chicken salad looks delicious and of course the presentation with the golden puff pastry cups is flawless and beautiful! I have pinned so I can try your cups for a baby shower I need to host this fall! Thanks so much for the inspiration and mouth-watering recipe! Happy Easter to you & your family!
ReplyDeleteMmmmm this looks really good especially on those biscuits! Would you believe I have never made chicken salad ever in my life? I'm way overdo. Now I do make a mean tuna salad! I am going to try your recipe!
ReplyDeleteYvonne~~I am wondering about the puff pastry. I'd like to make these for a function but as I work, I need to have these made up ahead of time, baked and filled ready to serve for lunch. If I bake the pastry puffs the day before and fill them in with the chicken salad the next morning, refrigerate until lunch, will they be okay? Do you think the pastry would be tough?
ReplyDeleteCertainly a fantastic piece of work ... It has relevant information. Thanks for posting this. Your blog is so interesting and very informative.Thanks sharing. Definitely a great piece of work Thanks for your work.
DeleteHow many servings does this make? I am throwing a shower this weekend and want to make this.
ReplyDeleteSounds delicious....and I love how you listed "good olive oil" in the ingredients!! Ina would be proud of you! LOL
ReplyDeleteI am really excited to give this a try. I do love chicken and this recipe certainly sounds interesting. Some friends are also paying me a visit tomorrow, so I guess this will be a great snack. By the way, the ensemble on the last photo is awesome! Thank you for this post!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great recipe and thanks for the link back to the puff pastry tutorial. I am a new follower and had not seen that before....very easy to follow instructions. I am going to try it on Tuesday night for a ladies meeting at church.
ReplyDeleteDang this is going on the Saturday lunch menu with the Girls!!
ReplyDeleteThanks many thanks cause this is the reason i dearly love Pinterest!! I would probably never have found you otherwise.
My goodness this was the easiest chicken salad I have try!! Thank god for Pinterest because I had to find a recipe and I am going to try your chicken salad thanks Pinterest!!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds delicious! I'll be trying soon. I usually just use chicken from the can, though. I'm having the same issue as Karen above with the Pin. It won't work for me.
ReplyDelete