This classic chicken salad recipe is the one I always come back to. It’s creamy but never heavy. Pile it on good bakery bread with a few thin slices of crisp apple tucked underneath, and you’ll have a new favorite lunch.

In my opinion, the best chicken salad starts with leftover chicken (shredded, poached, roasted, or rotisserie chicken are all great options), that gets mixed with mayo, celery, green onion, fresh dill, a splash of vinegar, and just a bit of Dijon mustard.

The secret most recipes skip is a small splash of light vinegar. It’s what keeps every bite from tasting flat, and it’s the difference between fine chicken salad and the kind you keep sneaking spoonfuls of straight from the bowl.

Why You’ll Love This Classic Chicken Salad

• The splash of champagne vinegar—it’s the trick to add brightness. A few teaspoons is all it takes to wake the whole bowl up. If you don’t have champagne vinegar, white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice also work.
• Fresh dill, green onions, and celery are what give you that specialty foods-store flavor with about 10 minutes of real work.
• It makes a great sandwich! My favorite way to serve it: thin slices of crisp apple on bakery bread, chicken salad on top, open-face or closed. The apple adds crunch and a little sweetness without putting fruit in the salad itself.
• It’s high in protein, naturally gluten-free and dairy-free on its own, and one of the best make-ahead lunches there is. It honestly tastes better on day two.

What You’ll Need

Here’s everything that goes into it:

• Cooked chicken (poached, rotisserie or leftover chicken work beautifully)
• Your favorite mayonnaise
• Celery
• Green onion (scallions)
• Fresh dill
• Dijon mustard
• Champagne vinegar (white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or fresh lemon juice works too)
• Sea salt and black pepper
• Good bakery bread and a crisp apple, for serving

Simple, fresh, and mostly things you probably already have.

Classic Chicken Salad Ingredient Notes

The Chicken

You have a few easy paths here, and they’re all great. Use it however you like to cook chicken: poach it for that clean, tender, deli-style texture, make it hands-off in the slow cooker, grab a store-bought rotisserie chicken on a busy week, or use up any leftover chicken you already have. Shred it for a softer, scoopable salad or chop it for more distinct bites. I let some of the chicken break apart so the dressing coats every piece.

Mayonnaise

Use your favorite mayo here. I love homemade mayonnaise when I have it, but most days I reach for Kewpie (the Japanese mayo, richer and a little tangy) or Vegenaise. Any good-quality mayonnaise you actually like the taste of will work, since it’s the base of the whole salad. For a lighter twist, use half plain Greek yogurt and half mayo. It adds a little tang and lightens things up without losing the creaminess.

Fresh Dill

Use fresh dill here, not dried. Dill is the flavor that makes this taste like the chicken salad you’d pay nine dollars for at a nice market, and dried just doesn’t have the same brightness. If you have extra, it keeps well wrapped in a damp paper towel in the fridge, and it’s lovely on salmon or stirred into a yogurt dip.

Champagne Vinegar

This is the ingredient that quietly does the most. A small splash of acid balances the richness of the mayo and makes every other flavor pop. Champagne vinegar is soft and a little floral, but white wine vinegar or a squeeze of fresh lemon juice will get you there too. To save on groceries, I buy my pantry staples like mayonnaise, Dijon, vinegar, and sea salt on Thrive Market, a high-quality online grocer. Get 40% off your first order at Thrive Market here.

How to Make Classic Chicken Salad

The whole thing comes together in one bowl. You can chop everything by hand for a chunkier salad, or pulse it all together in a food processor for a finer, more spreadable texture. Both are great, so go with whatever you have and how you like it. Here’s how I do it:

1. Start with cooked, cooled chicken. If you’re poaching, let it cool before mixing so the dressing doesn’t go oily. Shred or chop it into bite-sized pieces.
2. Prep your aromatics. Finely dice the celery, thinly slice the green onion (use both the white and green parts), and roughly chop the dill. Smaller pieces mean a little of each in every bite.
3. Mix the dressing first, right in the bottom of the bowl. Stir together the mayonnaise, Dijon (just 2 teaspoons, a little goes a long way), vinegar, salt, and pepper before the chicken goes in. This is the trick to evenly seasoned chicken salad instead of pockets of plain mayo.
4. Fold in the chicken, celery, green onion, and dill. Mix gently until everything is coated, letting some of the chicken break up as you go.
5. Taste and adjust. This is the most important step and the one people skip. It almost always wants a little more salt, and sometimes another splash of vinegar. Trust your tongue here.
6. Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving. The flavors meld and the whole thing gets better. If you can make it a few hours ahead or the night before, even better.

See the full recipe and tips in the printable recipe card below.

How to Serve This Chicken Salad

My favorite way, and the reason I make it as often as I do: lay a few very thin slices of crisp, sweet apple (Honeycrisp, Fuji, or Honey Bee) onto a slice of good bakery bread, then pile the chicken salad on top. Eat it open-faced or close it into a sandwich. The apple gives you sweetness and a clean crunch that you don’t get from celery alone, and it keeps fruit out of the salad itself so leftovers stay fresh.

A few more ways I love it:

• Scooped onto buttery crackers for an easy snack or appetizer
• Tucked into butter lettuce cups for a lighter, lower-carb lunch
• Spooned over a bed of greens with extra dill on top
• On a lightly toasted croissant when I want something a little more special

Want to change it up? A few easy add-ins I like:

• Chop the apple and fold it right into the salad instead of layering it on the bread, so you get a little crunch and sweetness in every bite
• Add halved grapes for a juicy, slightly sweet version
• Stir in a small handful of raisins if you like a bit of chew and natural sweetness

Chicken salad is one of those throw-it-together lunches that quietly saves a whole week, which is exactly the kind of thing I built Butler for. It keeps my recipes, meal plans, and grocery list in one place so I’m not standing in the kitchen wondering what to make.

How to Store Chicken Salad

• Store chicken salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 to 4 days.
• If you’re packing sandwiches for later, add a layer of lettuce between the chicken salad and bread so nothing gets soggy.
• I don’t recommend freezing it, because both the mayonnaise and the fresh aromatics break down and turn watery once thawed.

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Classic Chicken Salad FAQs

What’s the best chicken to use for chicken salad?

The best chicken for chicken salad is tender, mild, and easy to shred, which means either a rotisserie chicken, Crockpot shredded chicken, or poached chicken breast. Rotisserie is the fastest, and poaching gives you that clean deli-style texture. Avoid chicken that’s been heavily seasoned or grilled with char, since those flavors can fight with the dill and Dijon.

Why does my chicken salad taste bland?

Bland chicken salad almost always needs two things: salt and acid. Most people add the mayo and stop there. A splash of champagne vinegar or lemon juice, a real pinch of salt, and fresh herbs like dill are what take it from flat to crave-worthy. Always taste and adjust at the end rather than trusting the measurements blindly.

Can I make chicken salad ahead of time?

Yes, and you should. Chicken salad is one of the best make-ahead lunches because the flavors meld as it sits. Make it up to a day or two ahead and store it in an airtight container in the fridge. It genuinely tastes better the next day.

Can I use Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise?

You can. Swapping half the mayonnaise for plain Greek yogurt lightens it up and adds a little tang, and it’s a swap I make often. If you go all yogurt it will taste noticeably more sour, so I like the half-and-half approach for the best of both.

How long does chicken salad last in the fridge?

Chicken salad lasts 3 to 4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Keep it cold and don’t leave it sitting out for more than about two hours. Chicken breast is one of the leanest high-protein foods you can build a lunch around, with roughly 31 grams of protein per 100 grams of cooked chicken, so a batch covers several satisfying lunches.

If you love this, it’s a natural fit for my easy no-cook meals roundup on the hot days when turning on the stove sounds like too much.