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
I made this and it is delicious. However the prep time is way off. It says five minutes… Not so. I’m a very seasoned cook and it took me at least a half hour to get everything chopped, measured and put together.
Barbara, prep time in a recipe considers that the chopping, measuring, etc. have been done and the ingredients are at the level described in the recipe ingredient list. Prep time just figures the time it takes to follow the steps in the recipe instructions. While it took you half an hour to prepare the ingredients, it might take someone else 45 minutes.
Going to try this recipe! How much is a serving size with the calculated nutrition? Thanks!
The serving size is 1 cup, Hillary. I hope you enjoy the salad.
I added two ingredients to this recipe…2T. of poppy seeds and 3 T. of maple syrup, both mixed into the mayonnaise. The flavor boost from the maple syrup is incredible! Everyone wants to know the secret ingredient….which you can keep secret or share.
Thanks, Kristie. That sounds amazing!
JUST LIKE THE RESTAURANTS!!! This is so delicious! I used slivered almonds instead of pecans and I added some spinach and maaaybe half a teaspoon of sugar… shh! So yummy!
I like this chicken salad with slivered almonds sometimes, too, Maggie. Thanks.
I forgot to rate it! 5 stars!
Super good! I made this but didn’t have pecans so I used a bag of dried cranberries and slivered almonds. I also added about a tablespoon of curry powder. It added another dimension of flavors.
It sounds good with the cranberries and almonds, Nikki. Thanks!
I made this one day years ago with all the nuts, for my daughter and her boyfriend. He fell in love with it. My daughter still asks for it but we ended up just omitting the nuts altogether and she still loves it. We moved states so she is not near her boyfriend to share with him but she teases him when I make it by sending him a pic!
Thanks for the story, Kim. That’s funny. Maybe her boyfriend needs to learn to make this chicken salad. Then he can send her pics..
I just threw this together and it’s absolutely delicious. Just toasted pecans and red grapes in mine. I am a weirdo who doesn’t like fruit unless it’s by itself, but this is making my mouth happy! Thanks so much for posting the beautiful pictures that encouraged me to try it!
Kristen, I’m glad you tried this and loved it. I think my husband could eat it at least once a week.
Has anyone made this with Mayo and then with yogurt? What are the thoughts on both?
Can I freeze this?
I would not recommend it, Jeanne. Some of the ingredients do not freeze well. For example, the ingredients in the mayonnaise tend to separate when frozen.