There is a scene in the Julia Roberts movie ‘Runaway Bride’ where she sits down to finally determine how SHE likes her eggs cooked – instead of conforming to her many ex-boyfriends’ tastes in eggs. Take away the ex-boyfriends and that’s kind of how I feel about chicken salad. I LOVE it, however, I get side-tracked with all of the millions of flavors out there these days. Call me crazy (and I’m okay if you do) but I don’t want bacon, ranch dressing, or cheese in my chicken salad. That’s not chicken salad – it’s something completely different! I prefer the old fashioned, classic chicken salad…..but I didn’t have a classic recipe I just loved. I always loved my mom’s chicken salad growing up but didn’t like using canned chicken (something about a non-refridgerated canned meat grosses me out now as an adult). So I set out to find MY perfect chicken salad. I tried LOTS of recipes – with mayo, without mayo, with egg, with nuts, with sunflower seeds, with sour cream…..the list goes on and on. After many tastings and shoving lots of chicken salads in my family’s faces, I combined what I love in a chicken salad and created this recipe. It is a great base recipe if you like fancier things like pecans, grapes, apples, etc. But I prefer mine simple, delicious, and classic – just like this recipe!
Tried and True Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts, uncooked
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise (I prefer Duke's), more if you like a creamier chicken salad
- 1 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 stalks of celery, finely diced
- 1/4 cup chopped sweet salad pickle cubes
- 1/4 cup chopped dill pickles
- 2 tsp tarragon
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Fill a large skillet halfway with water or broth and heat on medium high heat. While it is heating, add a couple of cloves of garlic (crushed) and some salt and pepper.
- Add chicken breasts to skillet, making sure water or broth is just covering the chicken breasts. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- Once cooked, finely dice the chicken breasts and add to a large bowl. *I like my chicken diced very fine. If you prefer to shred the chicken, you may do that as well after allowing it to cool.
- Add all other ingredients to the bowl with the chicken. If you prefer a creamier chicken salad like I do, add more mayo a spoonful at a time until you get the consistency you prefer.
