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Make this easy and delicious chicken salad recipe for one today! With simple ingredients and a quick prep time, you can enjoy a satisfying meal in no time.
Introducing our quick and easy single serving Chicken Salad recipe, perfect for transforming leftover cooked chicken into a scrumptious and healthy meal. This dish brilliantly combines the savory taste of chicken with the freshness of celery, sweet grapes, tangy dill pickles, and crunchy pecans, all bound together with creamy mayonnaise and a hint of stone ground mustard. Whether you’re searching for an individual chicken salad recipe, a delightful way to utilize leftover chicken, or a straightforward, nutritious meal, this single serving chicken salad checks all the boxes, promising a satisfying culinary experience with every bite.
Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
- Efficient: A quick and simple way to utilize leftover cooked chicken.
- Customizable: You can easily adjust the ingredients based on personal preferences or what you have on hand.
- Balanced Flavors: This recipe offers a satisfying blend of textures and flavors, with the crunch of pecans and celery, the sweet burst of grapes, and the tangy kick of dill pickles.
- Recipe doubles well: This is the best chicken salad recipe and if you want to make extra, just double or triple the ingredients.
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Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
See below for ways to use leftover ingredients.
- Cooked chicken: Chicken salad is an excellent way to use up leftover chicken.
- Celery: Adds a crunchy texture.
- Grapes: Lends a sweet contrast.
- Dill pickle: Offers a tangy flavor.
- Nuts: Provides a nutty taste and texture. Feel free to use pecans, walnuts, cashews, or peanuts.
- Mayonnaise: Forms the creamy base of the salad. You can replace the mayo with mashed avocado and sour cream for a different version, or use Greek yogurt instead.
- Stone ground mustard: Adds a touch of spicy tanginess.
- Salt and black pepper: Season to taste.
This is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why I used them. For the full recipe please scroll down to the recipe box at the bottom of the post.
How To Cook Chicken For Chicken Salad
If you find yourself in a pinch craving chicken salad but without any precooked chicken, there’s a simple solution: poaching a boneless, skinless chicken breast or thigh. Poaching is an easy and efficient method to cook chicken specifically for salads.
Here’s a straightforward guide:
- Lay the chicken flat at the bottom of a small pot and season with 1/8 teaspoon of salt. You can also enhance the flavor by adding aromatics like smashed garlic, lemon slices, fresh ginger, or herbs.
- Pour cool water into the pot, ensuring it covers the chicken by about an inch.
- Heat the pot over medium-high heat until the water begins to boil. You might notice some foam forming on the surface. This is fine to leave, or it can be skimmed off if you’re planning to use the water in a soup or sauce later.
- As soon as the water starts boiling, lower the heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and let the chicken cook for about 10-12 minutes. To confirm if the chicken is fully cooked, use an internal thermometer to check that the thickest part of the meat has reached 165° F. Also, the chicken’s juices should run clear when it is pierced with a knife.
- Remove the chicken from the pot and place it on a cutting board. Cover it and let it rest for about 10 minutes before slicing or shredding for your salad.
This method of poaching chicken is simple and versatile, making it an excellent technique for preparing chicken for salads or other dishes.
How To Make Chicken Salad For One
See the recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.
- Add all of the ingredients to a medium-sized bowl and stir well.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve at room temperature or chilled
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Expert Tips
- Chicken Texture: Shred or chop the chicken based on your preferred texture.
- Dressing Balance: Adjust the amount of mayonnaise and mustard to your taste.
- Freshness: Consume soon after preparation to maintain the freshness and crunch of the ingredients.
Frequently Asked Questions
Stored in an airtight container, the salad will stay fresh for about 2-3 days.
Absolutely! A rotisserie chicken is great to use for meal prep and a little leftover rotisserie chicken is ideal for making a chicken salad.
Absolutely! Apples or dried cranberries can add a sweet element to the salad.
You can omit the nuts entirely, or substitute with seeds like sunflower or pumpkin for a similar crunch.
Serving Suggestions
Here are some exciting ways to serve your chicken salad:
- Breaded Delight: Place a generous scoop of chicken salad between two slices of whole grain bread for a hearty and healthy sandwich.
- Lettuce Wraps: For a low-carb alternative, scoop the chicken salad into crisp lettuce leaves for refreshing and tasty wraps.
- Stuffed Tomato: Hollow out a ripe tomato and fill it with chicken salad for a vibrant, wholesome, and innovative dish.
- Salad Topper: Toss the chicken salad over a bed of mixed greens, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes for a more traditional salad meal.
- Cracker Spread: Serve the chicken salad as a spread with whole-grain crackers for a light snack or appetizer.
Chicken Salad Variations
- Curried Chicken Salad: Add a teaspoon of curry powder for an exotic twist.
- Greek Chicken Salad: Substitute the mayonnaise with Greek yogurt, omit the pecans, and add olives, cucumbers, and feta cheese.
- Asian Chicken Salad: Swap out mayonnaise with sesame oil and rice vinegar, replace grapes with mandarin oranges, and add sliced almonds instead of pecans.
This single-serving Chicken Salad recipe provides an effortless solution to repurposing your leftover cooked chicken into a flavorful, satisfying meal perfect for any occasion. Enjoy its traditional taste or experiment with our suggested variations to match your personal preferences.
Ways To Use Leftover Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this chicken salad recipe, you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving and small batch recipes:
- Cooked chicken: Chicken Pot Pie, Chicken Caprese Salad, Enchiladas Verdes, Chicken Tortilla Soup, Chicken and Golden Rice
- Celery: Baked Stuffed Fish, Tomato Sauce, Shrimp Creole, Potato Salad, Tuna Salad
- Pickles: Juicy Lucy, or enjoy with a Reuben Sandwich, Turkey Wrap, or Southwest Wrap
- Pecans: Butter Pecan Granola, Pecan Pie, DoubleTree Cookies, Mini Hummingbird Cake, Carrot Cake
- Stone-ground mustard: Mashed Potatoes, Crawfish Beignets, Ham and Cheese Dutch Baby, Poppy Seed Dressing
- Mayonnaise: Pineapple Lime Jello Salad, Goat Cheese Dressing, Ranch Dressing, Potato Salad, Tuna Salad
More Classic Salad Recipes
Here are a few of our single serving salad recipes:
- Cucumber Salad
- Tuna Salad
- Taco Salad
- Cobb Salad
- Greek Salad
- Potato Salad
- Pasta Salad
- Caprese Salad
- Spinach and Orzo Salad
If you would like additional information on the cooking and baking dishes I use in our “recipes for one”, please visit our FAQ page.
For examples of the dishes used at One Dish Kitchen, please visit our Store page.
If you’ve tried this chicken salad or any recipe on One Dish Kitchen please let me know how you liked it by rating the recipe and telling me about it in the comment section below. Also, if you take a picture please tag us on Instagram (@onedishkitchen) we’d love to see it!
Chicken Salad For One
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup diced cooked chicken
- 1 celery rib , chopped
- ½ cup chopped red grapes
- ¼ cup chopped dill pickles
- 2 tablespoons chopped pecans (or use your favorite nuts)
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon stone ground mustard
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt (optional)
- ⅛ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a medium-sized bowl and stir well.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Notes
- Chicken Texture: Shred or chop the chicken based on your preferred texture.
- Dressing Balance: Adjust the amount of mayonnaise and mustard to your taste.
- Freshness: Consume soon after preparation to maintain the freshness and crunch of the ingredients.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Amazing recipe. I had to sub in raisins and Dijon mustard, but it was really good and will make again.
This is my go to recipe. Now that it’s warm out I’m making it every week or two. Always a touch different and always delicious!
The pinterest button used to be in the recipe. It is not there now. ???
The Pinterest button is just below the recipe title and also in the recipe box at the bottom of each page.
Great, versatile recipe.
I just got the cookbook ” THE uLTIMATE COOKING FOR ONE COOKBOOK ” Can’t wait to try the great recipes ❣😀
Chicken salad is my go-to summer cold salad. I like this easy for one version because then I’m not eating it for days straight!
Best chicken salad recipe ever!
Great recipe.