I just made a huge batch of my favorite chicken salad, and as much as I want to make sandwiches out of this Awesome Chicken Salad with Grapes and Walnuts for the rest of the week, I’m not sure it’s going to last as I keep visiting the refrigerator for spoonfuls of it.
It has the PERFECT sweet/salty flavor, with a wonderful crunchy texture and might just be the most perfect chicken salad in the world.
This chicken salad recipe was inspired by a sandwich at Galaxy Cafe in Austin, and includes grapes, celery, and walnuts. It’s simple, and easy to make in bulk on the weekend so you can have sandwiches or lettuce wraps (or spoonfuls) all week. It’s the perfect weekend meal prep recipe.
Sometimes, I substitute sour cream for mayo, like in homemade ranch dressing. For this chicken salad, you can use mayo, sour cream, or a mixture of both.
You will need about 1 pound of cooked chicken. I sometimes grill mine on my cast iron grill by brushing with olive oil and adding salt and pepper to each side. This time, I just used leftover rotisserie chicken from the store. You can use leftover roast chicken, or whatever cooked chicken meat you have.
Here’s a tip: shred the chicken. Don’t chop, shred. I used two forks to do this. When you shred it, there is more surface for the sauce to stick to, and it will stay in your sandwich better without falling out the sides as much. Physics, people.
Add to the bowl 2/3 cup of mayo or sour cream, or 1/3 cup of each. Season with salt and pepper to taste, add some fresh parsley, and mix. Add the shredded chicken to the bowl and mix well.
Quarter some red grapes and slice some celery very thinly. Add them to a large bowl, along with some chopped walnuts and red onions.
Go ahead, try a spoonful. Or 7.
This recipe makes a bulk batch of chicken salad with grapes and walnuts, which is enough for 6-8 sandwiches. Elizabeth-sized sandwiches. I don’t mess around. If you want less, adjust the ingredients accordingly :-)
Recipe below. Enjoy!
PrintAwesome Chicken Salad (with grapes and walnuts)
This simple, awesome chicken salad with grapes and walnuts is the perfect meal prep recipe for delicious sandwiches all week. Serve on bread or lettuce wraps for a low carb, paleo option.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 6
- Category: Sandwich
- Method: Mix
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 lb. cooked chicken, shredded (I used rotisserie)
- 2/3 cup mayonnaise, sour cream, or a mixture of both
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
- 1/2 cup quartered red grapes
- 1/2 cup finely sliced celery
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or sliced almonds
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix mayo, salt, pepper, and parsley together.
- Add the chicken, grapes, celery, nuts, and red onion. Stir well to combine.
- Serve on sandwiches with toasted bread, on lettuce wraps, or on top of a green salad.
Notes
- This recipe makes a lot, which is perfect for meal prep for the week. For a smaller portion, reduce amounts accordingly.
- I do my best to provide accurate nutrition information for my recipes, but I am not a nutritionist. The provided nutrition information is my best estimate. It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
- Calories: 257
- Sugar: 3.3 g
- Sodium: 241 mg
- Fat: 14.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 8.9 g
- Fiber: 0.7 g
- Protein: 23.6 g
- Cholesterol: 65 mg
Keywords: chicken salad, low carb, paleo, whole30
Hi, I'm Elizabeth! I create easy, real food recipes for busy people. I'm a former HS art teacher, now full time food blogger. I live near Austin, TX with my hubby and two baby girls.
I add a little grated ginger and a bit of curry powder.
★★★★★
Yum- I love curried chicken salad! I have a recipe for that on my blog as well, with raisins.
This dish is amazing on pita bread!!! Try it! You won’t be disappointed!!!
Pita bread is the BEST BREAD! :-)
This is still my go to recipe for chicken salad. Thank you for sharing.
★★★★★
Thanks Marisa! I make it ALL the time. One of my favorites :-)
Awesome chicken salad. Made some for work tomorrow to share with fishing buddy of mine. What can I not taste test it? Lol
So glad you liked it! It’s STILL my go-to chicken salad recipe.
This recipe was very good! I used Greek Yogurt instead of sour cream or mayo, seasoned it with some lemon juice, chives, garlic and onion powder, and it turned out fantastic! I also used green Cotton Candy grapes, and they worked well with the recipe. Definitely will make this again, as the family ate all my salad!
I’m so glad you like it! It’s still my go-to chicken salad recipe. I keep seeing cotton candy grapes at the store but I haven’t tried them yet- I’ll have to give them a try! :-)
I make this exact recipe only I add bacon, yum yum:)
Yum, BACON! I’ll have to try that next time :-)
I have always used bacon also. Making it for 30years
Yuuuuum!!! Can this be frozen and if so how long for?
★★★★★
This is definitely one recipe that I would NOT freeze. The texture of the grapes would be weird and I think it would be pretty soggy. What you can do is freeze just the chicken (or turkey!) meat, and then defrost/mix the salad when you are ready! Hope that helps :-)
Hi. Elizabeth, this sounds delish!!! Have you ever used canned chicken ?
Thanks,
Germaine
Thanks! I’ve never used canned chicken before, but I think it would work fine :-)
Great recipe. I used 1/2 cup each of lite mayo and sour cream and doubled the amount of grapes and nuts. Delish
★★★★
So glad you liked it! I actually just made it yesterday too. It’s one of my favorites!