This recipe is the best chicken salad you will ever have! Filled with freshly pulled rotisserie chicken, apples, celery, shallots, grapes, and fresh herbs tossed in a herbed lemon mayonnaise dressing. Delicious on its own or piled high on toasted bread!

the best chicken salad mixed in a bowl and topped with fresh minced chives.

I’m a huge chicken salad lover.

In fact, if I had my way I could easily eat it every. single. week.

I especially love chicken salad when it’s made with freshly pulled rotisserie chicken. It adds such a nice flavor that you’re guaranteed to love!

I also added a little celery and apple for crunch, grapes for sweetness, herbs for flavor, and a homemade herbed lemon mayonnaise to pull it all together.

Usually, I eat this salad right from the bowl but it’s also great on top of toasted sourdough bread, butter croissants, or wrapped up in lettuce wraps.

ingredients for the best chicken salad in a bowl waiting to be stirred together.

Table of Contents

How do I make the best chicken salad?

I’m going to go into more detail below about each ingredient option but here is what you’ll need:

Rotisserie chicken
Red grapes
Fuji apple
Celery
Shallots
Fresh herbs
Mayonnaise
Lemon juice

What’s the best chicken for chicken salad?

My personal favorite chicken for chicken salad is pulled rotisserie chicken. It’s juicy, tender, and really knocks it out of the park in the flavor department.

Stores like Costco and Walmart actually sell containers of pulled rotisserie chicken in the store, making it easy to use if you don’t want to shred your own.

My next favorite chicken option is to just roast whole breasts and shred them by hand. That is the method I used for my chicken and chard tortilla soup.

If you don’t have the time or energy to shred by hand (or can’t find pre-shredded rotisserie chicken) canned and drained chicken breast is always a great option.

What type of apple should I use?

I like to use a crisp red apple so I usually go with a Fuji apple as they are easy to find and available year-round.

However, there are other great options such as Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, and Empire.

The biggest thing to keep in mind is that the apple brings crunch to the dish, so pick something that will stay crunchy, not brown too quickly, and easy to find.

Can I use green grapes?

Yes, but green grapes are naturally more tart than red grapes so you’ll want to keep that in mind.

The grapes are used for a subtle bite of sweetness.

Should I add nuts?

Ok, personally my favorite chicken salads are typically nut-free.

However, I realize a lot of folks love nuts in their chicken salad so if you want to add nuts add 1 cup of your favorite chopped nuts.

Almonds, pecans, and walnuts are the most popular choices.

the best chicken salad stirred in a a mixing bowl.

Can I use Greek yogurt for chicken salad?

Of course!

If you’re a big fan of Greek yogurt you can do a one-for-one swap but if you want to keep some of the original flavors do a 50/50 split of mayonnaise and plain Greek yogurt.

The plus side of using Greek yogurt is that it helps lower the fat content of the chicken salad. It also adds a nice zing from the tangy Greek yogurt.

Make sure to use fat-free Greek yogurt for the biggest nutritional boost.

How long will chicken salad last?

If properly stores chicken salad should last 3-5 days.

How do I store chicken salad?

You’ll want to make sure to store any leftover chicken salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Love this chicken salad recipe?

Why not try a few of my other easy chicken recipes!