If you don’t know how to make Chicken Salad, you’re in a safe space. Some folks may scoff at you, or try to take away your Southern card, but not us! We understand that everyone wasn’t born a great cook; that we all didn’t grow up with the profound blessing of a food-loving grandmother who passed down all her secrets, tips, and time-tested recipes.
In this age of grocery store deli convenience and entire restaurant chains devoted to chicken salad, it’s no wonder that plenty of folks don’t know how to make a proper chicken salad at home. So without further ado, I’m hopping off my soapbox and getting to the good stuff: how to make chicken salad from scratch, the way our grandmothers did.
How To Make Homemade Chicken Salad
Step 1: Gather your ingredients
There’s a million ways to make chicken salad—this recipe keeps it pretty classic so you can jazz it up to suit your taste.
- Chicken: Get the best bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts you can; they’re cheaper than boneless-skinless and have more flavor.
- Chicken broth: To cook the chicken in for extra chicken-y goodness.
- Thyme: To flavor the chicken broth while boiling.
- Celery: For crunch.
- Lemon juice: To brighten up the chicken salad dressing.
- Salt and pepper: To finalize the flavor for the chicken salad.
- Mayonnaise: Grab your favorite mayonnaise to bind everything together. Because in the South, it’s not a salad unless mayonnaise is invited to the party, right?