Chicken Salad with Grapes Recipe
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This Chicken Salad with Grapes Recipe makes a quick, delicious meal! It also has roasted nuts for the best chicken salad recipe and makes a great chicken salad sandwich too! Perfect for serving for lunch, supper, or entertaining too!
Looking for more delicious chicken recipes? You’ll love Chicken and Dumplings, Chicken Parmesan, and Chicken Fajitas, to name a few!
Chicken salad has to be one of the most perfect dishes for an easy meal at home or to take to a picnic or potluck. This recipe is absolutely full of amazing flavor, is simple to make, and is positively the best chicken salad I’ve ever eaten!
I think this chicken salad recipe is such a delicious one because the generous amount of chicken is combined with fruit and toasted pecans for a savory crunch and flavor that’s a hit every time! It’s a recipe that I turn to time and time again for family meals, picnics, and parties. And you have to try this for the best chicken salad sandwich ever!
Table of Contents
Chicken Salad with Grapes Recipe
This makes a great salad for lunch and a light supper and takes hardly any time to mix all together. I love to keep a container of it in the refrigerator for super quick lunches. It’s great on its own, makes the best sandwich, and is delicious to fill wraps. I also love to make it to serve large gatherings of people at potlucks, picnics, or even tailgating! It is always a hit!
I think everyone enjoys this recipe because of the addition of fresh grapes. They add a burst of sweetness to the salad for the perfect blend of savory and sweet!
How to Make the Best Chicken Salad
You’ll need the following to make this delicious salad:
Ingredients
Chicken. You’ll need four cups of cooked chicken that you shred or chop, depending on the texture that you prefer. You can easily shred the chicken in your stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer if you want. Shredding with two forks also works great.
For the chicken, you can use baked chicken or roasted chicken that you cook ahead or make Instant Pot chicken. You can even use rotisserie chicken if you wish.
Celery. Chopped celery adds the perfect amount of crunch and freshness.
Grapes. Halved seedless grapes add a touch of sweetness. I love to use red seedless grapes as they add another bit of color to the salad.
Dried Cranberries. Sweet and yet a little tart, the dried cranberries are a delicious addition as well.
Roasted Pecans. Chopped roasted pecans are a great addition. Omit them if allergic to nuts or if you are serving at an event and do not know if there are nut allergies.
Mayonnaise or Greek Yogurt. You can use all mayo or all Greek Yogurt in your salad or even a little bit of each. Greek Yogurt will help to lighten up the recipe, but it is definitely a matter of preference.
Seasonings. Salt and pepper are the perfect seasonings for it.
Celery leaves. Chopped celery leaves add so much flavor, but if you don’t have them, omit them.
Step-by-Step Instructions
This is incredibly simple to make yet so scrumptious.
- Add the chopped chicken and all of the other ingredients to a large bowl. If using chopped celery leaves, add these as well.
- Stir together until just combined.
- Serve in your favorite way, and enjoy!
How Long Does Chicken Salad Last?
Refrigerator – This recipe keeps well in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Store in an airtight container. Refrigerate right after serving.
Left Out at Room Temperature – For food safety, I like to stick to what the FDA advises… “the two-hour rule,”….which applies since this recipe has chicken and mayonnaise; you should not leave this out at room temperature for any longer than two hours.
Left Out at Picnic or Potluck – If you are serving this at a summer event and the temperature is warmer, you should be extra careful to refrigerate as soon as possible. Again, I look to the FDA for their safety rule. If the outside temperature is above 90 degrees, the “two-hour rule” becomes ONE hour.
Ways to Serve
- Wrap. Stuff and slice in half for a simple wrap.
- Croissant. Toast a croissant and then fill it with the chicken salad.
- Bibb Lettuce. Make lettuce cups by washing and drying leaves of Bibb lettuce and placing them onto a plate. Then, fill with scoops of chicken salad and serve.
Tip – How Much Chicken Salad to Serve Per Person
If you are making for serving a large group for a party or event, you’ll want to increase the amount that you make. Here is the rule of thumb that I use for how much to prepare per person.
- Sandwiches and wraps = 4 – 6 ounces per person
- Lettuce cups = 4 – 6 ounces per person
- Main dish = 8 ounces per person
More Chicken Salad Recipes We Love
To say that we enjoy chicken salad in our family is an understatement! My husband is especially a fan, and it’s always a hit around my house!
Here’s my recipe for Chicken Salad with Grapes that I think you’ll love.
Chicken Salad with Grapes Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked, chopped chicken
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup red seedless grapes, halved
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup roasted pecans, chopped
- 1 cup mayonnaise, or Greek Yogurt
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- celery leaves, chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Add chopped chicken to a large bowl along with celery, grapes, dried cranberries, chopped pecans, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. If using chopped celery leaves, add these as well.
- Stir together until just combined. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Lighten Up!
To lighten up the recipe, you can use Greek yogurt in place of the mayonnaise. I used plain Greek Yogurt for the nutrition calculations.How Long Does Chicken Salad Last?
Refrigerator – This recipe keeps well in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Store in an airtight container. Refrigerate right after serving. Left Out at Room Temperature – For food safety, I like to stick to what the FDA advises… “the two-hour rule,”….which applies since this recipe has chicken and mayonnaise; you should not leave this out at room temperature for any longer than two hours. Left Out at Picnic or Potluck – If you are serving this at a summer event and the temperature is warmer, you should be extra careful to refrigerate it as soon as possible. The FDA food safety rule notes if the outside temperature is above 90 degrees, the “two-hour rule” becomes ONE hour.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
This looks ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!!! Will definitely have to try this one, tho will substitute roasted Sunflower Seeds for the pecans, and Dried Cranberry for the Cherries, since both are much more affordable… I’ll have to look at the recipe again — don’t remember any onion? Thanks for such great ideas!
Wow…this is amazing and perfect recipe till now…i will trying to make it few days later….am so glad to read it…Thanks for sharing….a beautiful recipe ….!
I hope you like the salad, Lily. Thank you.
Love your recipe! Can black olives be added? Bread recommendations? Thanks so much
I’ve never used black olives in this chicken salad recipe, Rita. I’m not sure how it would taste with the rest of the ingredients. I use croissants, wraps, or crackers. Hope you enjoy!
Robyn thank you for the best chicken salad recipe ever written! Made the recipe! Didn’t use the olives! However everything else followed recipe exact! The toasted pecans are indeed a must! Many years ago had a chicken salad sandwich at a high end restaurant that I tried for years to find a similar recipe……this is it! The taste is so delicious! Will make again! Bon Appetit!
So good! I had a curry version of this recipe in restaurant a few years back then spent some time trying to replicate it. I brought my test samples to work so people could give me their opinion and they still beg me to bring it all the time. I think I will make this tonight!
Thanks, Candie!
I’m going to buy some grapes and celery with lots of yellow leaves inside and guess what’s for lunch.
How many can you serve with this recipe? How many wraps? Croissants?
This recipe makes 8 cups for 8 servings for main meal. You can use 4 to 6 ounces per wrap or croissant. Hope you enjoy!
This was a delicious big hit for dinner. I used a pkg of Planters wholesome nut mix chopped as I didn’t have pecans and also some frozen cherries thawed out with the grapes and the flavors were perfect. I paired with seasoned red potatoes (baked Alexia oven reds) for easy gluten-free dinner and used a shredded rotisserie chicken. I will definitely make it again.
Thanks, Mellybelle. So glad you liked this recipe. xo
This was an absolutely scrumptious dish!
I added a couple spoonfuls of Durkeee Famous Sandwich & Salad Sauce. I like that tart taste and I thought
it was superb! Thank you. I will definitely be making this as my “go to” chicken salad.
My husband made a sandwich but I like this as a salad. Either way we loved it.
Thanks, Gretchen. So glad you and your husband love this salad. xo
Amazing
Thanks, Staci!
Great, easy recipe! While my rotisserie chicken was shredding in the KitchenAid, I chopped up my celery and nuts. I didn’t toast the pecans (would that make a big difference?) Also I used dried cranberries, as I had no dried cherries, so I added a tap of sugar. I used 2/3 mayo and 1/3 Greek yogurt. I also used green grapes mainly for the color. I used light and dark meat so it would have more moisture and lots of flavor. A perfect recipe, thank you so much. I like the suggestion of diced apple, too and may try that next.
Thanks, Jeanne. The toasted pecans add a slightly different flavor and a little crunch but I like it with raw pecans sometimes, too.