Southern Style Chicken Salad Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Is chicken salad a southern thing? ›

Early American chicken salad recipes can be found in 19th-century Southern cookbooks, including Sarah Rutledge's The Carolina Housewife: Or, House and Home (1847) and Abby Fisher's What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking (1881).

There could be several reasons why your chicken salad is bland. Here are some common factors to consider: Lack of Seasoning: One of the most common reasons for bland chicken salad is insufficient seasoning. Make sure to add enough salt, pepper, and other seasonings like herbs and spices to enhance the flavor.

To prevent your homemade chicken salad from becoming watery, ensure the chicken is fully cooled and consider roasting or grilling instead of boiling to reduce moisture content. Lightly salt watery vegetables like cucumbers and let them sit before adding to the salad to draw out excess water.

To offset the creaminess (and potentially wetness) of too much mayo, try adding in more of whatever crunchy element you were using. Celery and red onion are some of the most common ones, but you can also try chopped red peppers, bacon bits, carrots, cabbage, apples, chopped nuts, and more.

The important thing is to use white meat and shred it by hand, rather than chop it. Mayonnaise dressing clings to bite-sized shreds of chicken better than uniform little cubes. The only exception to this rule is if you like your chicken salad in more of a smooth, spreadable consistency, as a topping for crackers.

I prefer shredded chicken here instead of cubed, as I feel like it integrates with the rest of the ingredients much better. Combine the chicken and mayonnaise. You want to ensure that all of the chicken has a nice coating of mayonnaise on it so it doesn't dry out. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss to combine.

Overcooked or dry chicken

To ensure that your chicken salad tastes the way that it should, you should avoid using overcooked or dry chicken in your recipe. Unfortunately, as we cook chicken, the moisture of the bird slowly evaporates.

Your lunch choice may lack sufficient protein, healthy fats, and fiber to keep you feeling full and satisfied. Consider adding sources of lean protein, healthy fats (like avocado or nuts), and high-fiber vegetables to your meal to increase satiety.

It's tempting to stir up a big batch so that we can enjoy leftovers for a few days. But how long is it safe to keep chicken salad on hand? The short answer is to store chicken salad in a sealed container in the fridge or cooler for no more than four days.

You can do this by adding a dressing, such as mayonnaise or Greek yogurt, to the salad and mixing it well. Alternatively, you can mix in a bit of olive oil or a splash of vinegar to add moisture. Add flavor: Dry turkey or chicken salad can often be bland, so adding some flavorful ingredients can help improve the taste.

How long should chicken salad sit? ›

How long should chicken salad sit before eating? Let the chicken salad sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours before eating. This gives the flavors a chance to meld. It's even better if it sits overnight!

Fresh herbs, roasted garlic, chipotle, Sriracha or curry powder are all amazing options, as well. You might also enjoy our garlic aioli recipe, which is very similar to this recipe, but uses egg yolks instead of whole eggs.

Citrus juice and zest

Citrus juice does wonders to brighten the flavor of foods — including lackluster chicken salad. The acidity in citrus juice balances out the fat in the mayonnaise dressing while adding a tangy pop of flavor. The extra moisture from the juice can also help to make the salad tastier.

Be extra careful with mayo-based foods, such as chicken salad or potato salad. They're only safe to eat for 3 to 4 days after they're prepared. Sour Cream – Sour cream stays fresh for 1 to 3 weeks after it's opened, but if it starts to form a pool of liquid or grow mold, it's time to throw it out.

Historically, chicken salad is not as Southern as you might think. The chicken salad that's beloved today originated in Wakefield, Rhode Island. In 1863, Liam Gray, founder of Town Meats, was the first to mix leftover chicken with grapes, mayonnaise and tarragon.

The first place I got any real leads was from the website for Willow Tree poultry farms, who noted that “we can thank the Chinese for being the first to serve variations of “chicken salad.” Of course, these versions were far from what we are familiar with today, but the general idea was pieces of chicken mixed with a ...

In the video, Cleveland native Tanisha Godfrey has a chicken salad in front of her and says, “Y'all better come up here and get one of these.” Someone off camera asks her what it is, and she responds, “It's a chicken salad," then shares where she got it from ("81st Deli … superior") and what's in it.

It is often full of classic comfort dishes like fried chicken, collard greens, black-eyed peas, baked macaroni and cheese, candied yams, cornbread, sweet iced tea, and some type of cake or pie, like a 7-up pound cake or pecan pie to round off the meal!