Classic Chicken Salad

This is one of those recipes that I make all the time but forget to add to the blog. It doesn’t have the ‘excitement’ factor but as someone who believes wholeheartedly that often the best recipes are the simplest ones, I figure this recipe better find a permanent spot on the blog.

I almost always buy a rotisserie chicken every time I go to Costco. They are $5, taste good and make a dozen different easy and delicious meals. Often, I’ll whip up a big batch of chicken salad and it feeds Aaron and I lunch for a few days.

Because this is such a simple recipe, to make it delicious as possible, use the best ingredients you have. Choose your crunchiest best apple and chop up the celery leaves along with the stalks. The fresh parsley might seem like an annoying extra but its bright herby flavor makes it taste that much better.

Years ago, at my sister-in-law’s bachelorette weekend, a group of us were staying in a gorgeous condo on San Juan Island. We could see Puget Sound from our rooftop patio and one of the girls was the self-designated cook for the weekend. She made so many delicious meals for us over the course of the weekend but one of my favorites was a curried chicken salad. She swapped the dried cranberries for raisins and liberally mixed about a tablespoon of yellow curry powder and a dash of turmeric to the mayonnaise. We inhaled it and I’ve been making a version of her recipe ever since.

A few additions or swaps you could try out are purple seedless grapes, slivered almonds or chopped pecans and a few leaves of fresh basil, minced right along with your green onions and parsley. Whatever you land on, I’m sure it’s going to be delicious.

Classic Chicken Salad

• 4-6 cups shredded or cubed cooked skinless rotisserie chicken breast

• 1 medium honey crisp apple diced

• 4 celery stalks diced

• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

• 1/4 cup green onions OR chives slivered

• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley minced

• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 cup olive oil mayonnaise

Start by skinning and deboning the otisserie chicken. Chop or shred into bite-size pieces. I typically don’t measure too closely, but watch my ratios as I mix the ingredients together. You want about an equal amount of chicken to the goodies you add to the salad. Place chicken in a bowl.

Wash and chop the apple and celery. Add to the bowl. Add the dried cranberries, green onions and parsley. Stir gently to combine. Add the mayonnaise and sprinkle with salt and pepper (not all at once, a little at a time). Give the salad a good stir so the ingredients are well-combined and the mayo coats all the ingredients evenly. Taste and add the remaining salt and pepper to taste.

Store salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. To serve, scoop salad onto toasted bread and top with sliced cucumbers and greens. Or just eat it straight form the container with a fork like we do most days.