I couldn’t very well make homemade pita bread last week without making Chicken Salad, now could I?
Matt happened to be out of town for two days last week on a soccer trip. The poor guy. All I talked about when he came home was how good the new pita bread recipe ended up and how I’d made chicken salad to go in it and served it all with fresh tomatoes from our garden. And how all four boys scarfed it up and came back for more.
And then I had to tell him that all of it was gone – that we’d saved none at all for him.
Yeah. Welcome home, Dad. ;)
Not to worry. I’ll make him more soon. Have you tried the Whole Wheat Pita Bread recipe yet?
Easy Chicken Salad
- 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
- ½ cup mayonnaise (I use Hain Safflower)
- 2 Tablespoons pickle relish (I use either homemade pickle relish or an organic variety from Amazon or Vitacost)
- ¼ teaspoon onion salt
- 2 hard boiled eggs, chopped (optional)
- Mix all ingredients together and serve on crackers, on bread, or in pita pockets.
Shucks, get out a fork and eat it plain if you want. It’s good stuff. :)
Recipes and links you might need for your Chicken Salad:
- Hain Safflower Mayo
- Homemade Pickle Relish Recipe
- Pre-made pickle relish from Amazon or Vitacost
I’m not a fan of hard boiled eggs in my meat salads. You? And you know, if you all leave a comment answering that question, this will make for one of the most exciting blog conversations – ever. :)
You can also use this recipe to make Turkey Salad with turkey leftovers after a holiday meal. This is one of my favorite ways to use up chicken or turkey leftovers! Chicken or turkey salad makes a wonderful convenience food!
I have an egg allergy, so no eggs or mayonnaise here. But I missed tuna salad, so I made up a honey mustard dressing to mix with tuna fish. Not bad! Just a couple tbsp of each honey mustard and dijon mustard, a little salt and pepper, sometimes a little olive oil drizzled in if it’s dry. Can’t wait to try your pita bread recipe, thanks!
Thank you for the nice idea to use a homemade honey mustard (I do not eat mayo). I will try that in my chicken salad next time!
Funny! I just made a yummy chicken salad this week too! Here’s mine~
3 C cooked, shredded chicken
3 chopped hard-boiled eggs
1 C halved red grapes
1/2 C (or more) chopped celery
3/4 C mayo
2 T lemon juice
2 tsp. curry powder
Mix mayo, lemon juice and curry together. Pour over other ingredients and stir gently. Serve in pitas or whole wheat bread. YUM!
Ours is similar. No eggs. Apples instead of celery for the crunch.
Apple cider vinegar instead of lemon juice. Plus garlic powder and
minced onions. I let my chicken cool and cube it instead of
shredding it.
I’m okay with eggs in my chicken salad, but we like to have fruit and nuts in ours too. My favorite add-in’s are grapes, dried cranberries, celery, and almonds. Mmmmm!
Though with tuna salad I am a just pickle relish kind of girl. :)
No eggs in chicken salad for us, bleh! I make 2 versions, one is chicken breast, toasted slivered almonds, garlic powder and mayo and the other is my late MIL’s version which is chicken,almost as much chopped celery, A LOT of fresh ground pepper and mayo.
We do love egg salad but it has to be freshly made and not refrigerated. I know we are picky!
We love chicken salad. Especially my husband who likes it when I add grapes and walnuts. Yum! Yum!
sounds ymmmy!
Our incredible chicken salad :-) has cooked broccoli, shredded chicken, shredded cheese, chopped tomato, celery, homemade mayo (oils: coconut, olive, sesame), mustard, salt, pepper, relish (opt). And I agree, there’s nothing like a homemade pita to put it in!! Sometimes I’ll throw in a spoonful of home-canned roasted red pepper spread (red pepper, tomato, garlic) in place of relish. Depends on what I’m clearing out of my fridge. :-)
Which came first the chicken salad or the egg?
I prefer chicken in my chicken salad and eggs in my egg salad.
My chicken salad has to be on the sweet side. Relish is a must, but sweet relish. I’m not a fan of mayo so I make mine with only a little mayo and the rest of the “glue” is Ken’s Steakhouse Dressings Lite -Sweet Vidalia Onion(No HFCS!). Then I add apples, pecans, and a little bit of bacon bits! (haha). Eggs? Um, no way. I love a good hard boiled egg, but as a stand alone,served NEXT TO my chicken salad, doused with plenty of salt! :)
I never thought of putting eggs in my chicken salad. I might have to try that as I really like egg salad. Thanks for the idea!
Where do you find Hain’s Mayo? Is it GMO free? I have a hard time finding mayo without canola (sorry for the misspelling) oil in it… Anyone make it homemade?
I either buy my Hain Mayo from Amazon or through Vitacost. Shucks, I assume it is GMO free, but I am not entirely sure.
Thanks for the reply! Hmm I’ll have to look that up after church tonight
Well I couldn’t find Hain’s at Earth Fare, and I’m one of those
lazy people that doesn’t buy much food on the internet :/ I
did find an organic brand, but it has soy in it blah I still
bought it though, and told myself at least it’s organic soymilk…
Yay I found it! And it DOES NOT have soy in it :D Yay!!!!!!!
Oh and I like eggs, and fruit in mine LOL
Now that you mention it, I like plain egg salad and plain meat salad. I would not put the eggs in your recipe.
I definitely like eggs in my chicken salad. I don’t really have a recipe… I just wing it. :) Usually it includes chicken, hard boiled eggs, mayo (homemade), mustard, pickle juice, celery, onion, garlic powder, a dash or two of non-GMO soy sauce, tarragon from the garden, curry powder, dill, salt, and pepper. YUM!!! I’m going to try the pita bread soon!
Have you ever tried fruit in the chicken salad? We have also used plain greek yogurt if someone we are feeding has an egg allergy. Our recipe is:
-Boiled chicken breast (shredded)
-Mayo (or plain greek yogurt)
-Sweet Relish
-Grapes (sliced)
-Pinneapple (chopped)
-Apples (chopped)
-Celery (choped)
-Little bit of onion and garlic powder
We al so eat out on homemade crescent rolls :)
Do you have a good recipe for crescent rolls?
I love boiled eggs (the white) in all salads and definitely chicken salad!! Homemade bread scares me!! But I think I may try your one hour rolls. Thx!!
In my chicken salad, you will find loads of fresh parsley, maybe some fresh tarragon, finely, finely chopped celery, and usually sunflower seeds on top!
We love grapes in our chicken salad. My recipe is just cooked chicken, mayo, lemon juice and green grapes. I cut the grapes over the salad with scissors (pointed down) so I can catch as much of the grape juice as possible. Why waste that good juice?
Laura, though your chicken salad sounds fantastic, this comment isn’t about salad but our mothers….I completely understand your bittersweet relationship with M-Day as my own mom also passed away. Even though it was almost 20 yrs ago now , I still feel like some days I should pick up the phone and call her…or she would enjoy hearing about thus and so….or the antics of the granddaughter that she would have loved so much. Whew. It somehow gets a little easier with time to talk without tears ( I can relate as I am also
one who cannot talk and cry at the same time , though you did much better than I ever could)! Our moms will always be missed in ways that words can never describe. Your feelings are a testament to a truly great Mother and your relationship, which continues on forever. Even though we know as Christians their absence is a temporary one, the days “without” just seem very long. OK, just wanted to tell you that many completely understand and that you are among friends here. Sending hugs as we hold each other up….and as we enjoy those Bountiful baskets as well as all other blessings! Sorry to get off topic in the Chicken Salad aisle…couldn’t figure out how to post this in correct place! Take good care, Paige
Thank you so much for this!!
How do you cook your chicken where it works best for the salad? I always throw grapes in mine! So good!!
Usually I cook a whole chicken in an effort to make broth, then I use the cooked chicken to grind for chicken salad. https://heavenlyhomemakers.com/homemade-chicken-broth