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This Southern Chicken Salad Recipe is great for Chicken Salad Sandwiches or as a spread for crackers. My Southern Chicken Salad Recipe is my copycat version of the famous Midtown Market Chicken Salad!
RECIPE IS BELOW IN PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD BUT BLOG POST IS FULL OF “HOW TO MAKE IT”, TIPS, INFORMATION AND FAQ
Chicken salad is a staple around most southern homes and most people have a favorite style of chicken salad that they claim to be the best that stands above all others.
This is my favorite style of southern chicken salad. It’s creamy and full of flavor without tons of extra add ins like grapes, apples or nuts. I’m not a fan of chunky chicken salad and prefer more of a smooth texture.
This recipe is my take on a famous local Chicken salad called “Midtown Market Chicken Salad”. Although I don’t know exactly what their recipe is, I have been eating their chicken salad for year and I used the ingredients list on their chicken salad to figure out what all was in there. I have to do a bit of trial and error with amounts of each ingredient but I’m pretty happy with the final product!
Why You Should Make this Southern Chicken Salad…
- this Southern Chicken Salad recipe is great for Chicken Salad Sandwiches
- our recipe isn’t filled with things like raisins, grapes or nuts
- If you use the Mt.Olive pickles and Dukes Mayo, this recipe is gluten-free’
- This chicken salad is perfect for little sandwiches along side of homemade pimento cheese sandwiches at baby showers and bridal showers.
QUICK GLANCE AT INGREDIENTS FOR Southern Chicken Salad:
- rotisserie chicken/shredded chicken
- celery
- sweet gherkin pickles
- Dukes Mayonnaise
- Spices and Seasonings in list below
(AMOUNTS IN RECIPE CARD BELOW)
How to make Southern Chicken Salad from scratch:
Time needed:15 minutes
- The Chicken!
You’ll need 1 rotisserie chicken or about 3-4 cups of chopped/cooked boneless, skinless chickenRemove meat from rotisserie chicken.
Remove skin from chicken.
Add chicken to a food processor* and blend until finely chopped.
- Grab a bowl.
Pour chicken into a large bowl.
- Chop the celery & Pickles and add them in.
Add celery and pickles to a food processor and blend until finely chopped.
Add chopped celery and pickles to bowl with chicken. - Combine and Stir!
Add remaining ingredients to bowl with chicken and stir well until everything is combined.
- Stick it into the fridge and let those flavors blend together!
Place in an air tight container and place into fridge for at least 4 hours to chill.
Chicken salad is best if left to chill for 12 hours or more in fridge, the flavor gets better the longer it chills.
I absolutely love to use this chicken salad recipe to make chicken salad sandwiches with extra mayo and tomatoes!
Want to add grapes and nuts to this salad?
While this recipe doesn’t call for things like grapes and nuts, you can add them if you like them in your chicken salad. Just make sure that the grapes are seedless grapes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can I substitute for celery in chicken salad?
I’m not a fan of celery but I love it in chicken salad. However, if you 100% hate it and want to leave it out, you can but I can’t promise that it will taste the same. You can try substituting scallions or more pickles for the celery.
How do you fix dry chicken salad?
If you find that the chicken salad is too dry for your liking, you can add a bit more mayo or a bit more pickle juice.
How do you shred chicken for chicken salad?
You can either use a food chopper, a high powder blender or a knife to chop chicken for chicken salad. If you want more of a chunky chicken salad, it would probably be better to just chop it with a knife.
What kind of chicken should I use for chicken salad?
I use store bought rotisserie chicken for my chicken salad but if you want to, you can make an Air Fryer Roast Chicken or an Instant Pot Whole Roast Chicken for this recipe.
What to serve with Southern Chicken Salad:
- Fluffy Homemade Rolls
- Homemade Artisan Style Bread
- 4 Ingredient Quick Homemade Beer Bread
- Whole Wheat Cheese Crackers
More Amazing Southern Recipes
- Sausage Gravy and Biscuits
- Jack Daniels Bread Pudding
- Broccoli Casserole
- Southern Fried Okra
Southern Chicken Salad
Southern Chicken Salad
Yield: about 4 cups
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Chill Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
This Southern Chicken Salad Recipe is great for Chicken Salad Sandwiches or as a spread for crackers. My Southern Chicken Salad Recipe is my copycat version of the famous Midtown Market Chicken Salad!
Ingredients
- 1 rotisserie chicken, about 4 cups of shredded chicken
- 2 stalks of celery
- 10 sweet gherkin pickles
- 1 tablespoon sweet gherkin pickle juice
- 1 1/2 cup Dukes Mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground marjoram
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
Instructions
Remove meat from rotisserie chicken.
Remove skin from chicken.
Add chicken to a food processor* and blend until finely chopped.
Pour chicken into a large bowl.
Add celery and pickles to a food processor and blend until finely chopped.
Add chopped celery and pickles to bowl with chicken.
Add remaining ingredients to bowl with chicken and stir well until everything is combined.
Place in an air tight container and place into fridge for at least 4 hours to chill.
Chicken salad is best if left to chill for 12 hours or more in fridge, the flavor gets better the longer it chills.
Notes
*if you don't have a food processor you can also use a high power blender or just chop everything carefully with a knife.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6Serving Size: 1/2 cup
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 400Total Fat: 52gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 40gCholesterol: 138mgSodium: 1145mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 1gSugar: 10gProtein: 37g
This data was provided and calculated by Nutritionix on 6/11/2021Numbers may change based on brands and amounts.
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Comments
- Kathi says
Hi Angie – Can’t wait to make this Southern Chicken Salad – even tho’ I am a California girl. I like that it is smooth without the grapes or nuts. I just sauted 2 large skinless boneless checken breasts in butter with just salt, pepper and minced garlic that I will be shredding in my food processor for this recipe. Thanks so much for posting this recipe.
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- Angie says
I hope you like it! I love smooth chicken salad too! I am not a fan of grapes in my chicken salad haha
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- Dale says
I don’t know if I will be able to wait the 12 hours to taste it again. I have several chicken salad recipes that I’ve used that have grapes and other fruits, but wanted something different and came across your recipe. I had several packages of chicken backs that I was using to make stock with. I put it on for 20 minutes in the instant pot. Took it out and took off what chicken I could off the bones. I was surprised that I got 2 cups. I threw the bones back into the stock and put it back on the instant pot for another 40 minutes to draw out all the flavor from the bones. Since I was picking little pieces of chicken off these bones there was not much shredding I had to do, just a few chops and it was done. I use the Cuisinart for the pickles and celery and all the rest of the ingredients. I took a taste and was like expecting much. Oh my God, I’m in love. I can’t wait until it’s cold enough to eat. This is the first time I’ve used one of your recipes but now I’m going to go through your list to see what you have today Thank you for the recipe and blogging.
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- Angie says
Hi Dale!! I’m so glad that you like the chicken salad recipe!!
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- Bill Schiff says
I went looking for a recipe to use up some deli chicken meat that I was given. I ground the hunk up and froze it a while back, and while digging around in the freezer yesterday it popped up in front of me. Figured I better use sooner than later. I am also going to add some kind of pasta to it.
ThanksReply
- Barbara Miller says
This chicken salad is so delicious on Iceberg lettuce and tomato wedges.
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- Tracy says
I was looking for a good and easy chicken salad recipe. I made this and it is honestly some of the best freaking chicken salad I’ve ever had. This is a keeper. I’ll be making this many times in the future.
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- Maureen O'Reilly says
I was just about to make this salad because it looks so deli and I like being able to use a food processor for chopping! But….10 stalks of celery came out to be almost 2 heads-almost 2 pounds. The chicken was about one pound. Is that much celery accurate or a typo? Please let me know before I start chopping!
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- Angie says
I am so sorry! It should be 2 stalks of celery!
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