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Protein Salad · American-inspired

Classic Chicken Salad

A mayonnaise-bound chicken salad built on gently poached, salted chicken, with celery, shallot, parsley, and optional tarragon, plus a clear cooling and storage routine.

Prep
25 min
Cook
20 min
Total
100 min
Servings
4 (about 4 cups (about 800 g), enough for four sandwiches or four generous bowls)

For the chicken

  • 1.5 lb / 700g boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 6 cup / 1.5l water, enough to cover the chicken by about 2.5 cm (1 in)
  • 1 tbsp (2 tsp if using fine sea salt) kosher salt
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ½ tsp black peppercorns

For the salad

  • 0.5 cup / 120g mayonnaise
  • 2 tsp / 10g Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp / 15ml fresh lemon juice
  • ¼ tsp celery seed (optional)
  • 2 stalks celery, finely diced
  • 1 small shallot, finely diced
  • 0.25 cup / 15g fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • 1 tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped (optional)
  • to taste fine sea salt and black pepper

Poach and cool the chicken

  1. Put the chicken in a single layer in a wide pot. Add the water, kosher salt, bay leaf, and peppercorns, so the chicken is covered by about 2.5 cm (1 in) of water.
  2. Bring to a bare simmer over medium-high heat, then turn the heat to low so the surface barely trembles. Cover and cook for 12 to 18 minutes, depending on thickness, until a thermometer in the thickest part reads 165°F (74°C). Go by the thermometer, not the clock.
  3. Lift the chicken onto a plate and let it cool for 20 minutes. Dice it into 1 cm (½ in) pieces, or shred it, then refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes until cold.

Mix and chill

  1. In a large bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, and celery seed, if using.
  2. Add the cold chicken, celery, shallot, parsley, and tarragon, if using. Fold until everything is coated. Taste, and add salt and pepper as needed.
  3. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Chicken salad goes wrong in the chicken, not the dressing. Overcooked breast meat turns dry and stringy, and mayonnaise can't bring it back. This version leans on a gentle poach, a thermometer instead of a timer, and salt that goes into the pot rather than only into the bowl.

Poach it gently, and salt the water

Keep the poaching water at a bare simmer, with the surface just trembling. A hard boil can leave chicken breast rubbery. Salt the water: unsalted poached chicken tastes of very little, and a dressing can't fix that afterward. The bay leaf and peppercorns are quiet background notes, nothing you'll pick out on their own.

Don't trust the clock alone. Breasts vary a lot in thickness, so 12 to 18 minutes is a guide, not a rule. Take the chicken out when a thermometer in the thickest part reads 165°F (74°C), which is the safe minimum for chicken.

Where the seasoning comes from

It's built in layers. The poaching water seasons the chicken itself. Mustard and lemon give the dressing its edge, and celery seed adds a savory, slightly bitter note. Parsley brings the green freshness. Tarragon is optional and the most distinctive thing in the bowl, with a clear aniseed edge. If that's not for you, leave it out and use a little more parsley.

Chill the chicken before you dress it

Cool the chicken for 20 minutes, dice it, then chill it before it meets the mayonnaise. Cold chicken keeps the dressing creamy, and it means the salad is cold from the start rather than warming up on the counter. Poach, cool, dice, chill, mix.

Dice rather than shred if this is going on bread. Diced chicken makes a firmer filling that stays in the sandwich. Shred it for a bowl, or for stuffing into something.

Keeping it

Get the cooked chicken into the fridge within two hours of cooking, or one hour if the room is above 90°F (32°C). Keep the dressed salad covered and cold, and eat it within three days. It's not a salad for a long stretch on a buffet table.

What to swap

Thighs are richer and more forgiving than breasts. Greek yogurt can replace half the mayonnaise for something lighter and tangier. For a grape-and-pecan version, see the variation below the method, and add the pecans at the end so they stay crisp. If you want a mayonnaise-bound salad built on eggs instead, the Classic Egg Salad is the place to start. For a seared, spice-rubbed chicken salad dressed with lime instead of mayonnaise, see the Mexican-Inspired Chicken Salad.