This is an oldie but a goodie that’s been passed around for decades. Chicken Salad with Grapes is incredibly good, cheap to make & everyone seems to like it. Best of all, the simple ingredients are available year-round almost everywhere, and it’s a great use for leftover chicken.
Chicken Salad with Grapes and Pecans
I’ve made a few changes over the years. The original had sunflower seeds. I like it better with pecans instead. I also like loading it up with grapes and celery, as much as I think my family will tolerate!
About Chicken Salad with Grapes and Pecans:
Chicken Salad with Grapes and Pecans is cool, delish, and chill. The dressing is a creamy (and better with a touch of yogurt and/or sour cream) honey Dijon accented with just a touch of tarragon. Basil works, but tarragon is better! It adds a bit of mystery; people these days don’t use tarragon much.
This can be made with any grapes; see the shortcut method for cutting in half below. Make it a bit ahead so the flavors can mingle and the salad is good and cool when served.
Chicken Salad with Grapes & Pecans
The Chicken:
As for the chicken, cooked chicken works, whether prepared specifically for this recipe, as leftovers, or from a roasted or rotisserie chicken. If you’re having chicken earlier in the week, cook a couple of extra pieces and save them for this salad.
- Poaching Chicken: Add breasts to cold water in a pot, toss in a few peppercorns, a bay leaf, and a little salt. Bring to a light boil, and immediately reduce to a bare simmer for 10 to 12 minutes. If time allows, remove from heat and allow to cool in the water before shredding. They remain moister.
- Roasting Chicken: If this method is preferred, start with large bone-in, skin-on breasts. Rub with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast on a foil-lined tray in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F. for 35 to 40 minutes. When finished, let cool before removing from the bone and shredding.
Easily shred chicken with a handheld or stand mixer. Use a guard to prevent fly-away pieces.
Serving:
- Serve your Chicken Salad on bread or croissants with curly lettuce for a gorgeous sandwich. A slice of provolone goes well with the filling.
- Make it a snack by spreading it on your cracker of choice or chunks of bell pepper, or wrap it in lettuce.
- Use it to fill tomatoes; hollow the tomatoes out, sprinkle with salt, and turn them upside down to drain before filling. Or just serve it on a bed of lettuce, maybe with some fruit.
Leftovers:
- Store any leftovers, tightly covered, in the fridge for three to four days. The dressing may become watery after refrigeration. Stir back together or drain off any excess liquid.
- Do not freeze.
Other Chicken Salad Recipes You Might Like:
I have quite a few varied chicken salad recipes on my site. Here are a few to get you started. Use the search bar or follow the tags at the bottom of the post for more!
- Caeser Chicken Salad – bright and tangy, suited for adult palates! Serve over lettuce or with a little cheese on Italian bread.
- Copycat Costco Chicken Salad – what can I say? It’s the epitome of a classic Southern chicken salad.
- Candied Jalapeno Chicken Salad – if you’re a Cowboy Candy lover and not afraid of a little sweet heat, this one’s for you!
Copycat Costco Chicken Salad – Instant Pot or Not
Saving Money on Groceries:
What you pay for groceries depends on not just WHERE you shop, but WHEN. Be strategic and stock up at rock-bottom prices.
- The best sales are before holidays; check out Win at the Grocers. Think beyond the occasion & use the opportunity to stock up at a low for the coming weeks to months.
- If available, take advantage of discount stores like Aldi or Lidl. The pricing at Buyer’s clubs is not always the lowest, but can trump in quality. Be selective when shopping there.
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast:
There are options when it comes to purchasing boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Generally, buying in larger amounts means you’ll pay less per pound.
- Chicken drops to a low once a quarter. Know the pricing in your area, what’s a good deal, and a great one, and never pay full price. Stock the freezer at rock bottom. Divide family packs into amounts for meals.
- Take it one step further and reduce today’s huge breasts into actual serving sizes. Often, large ones can be cut in half and smaller ones trimmed to size. Package trimmings for stir-fries, casseroles, chicken strips, and so on.
- See this post on Bagged Frozen Breasts and this post on Bone-In and Boneless.
- Compare sale pricing at all the available stores, and fresh to frozen. Frozen is often priced in ounces; learn how to compare to fresh, priced by the pound. Unless it’s a great sale, it will almost always be more per pound than fresh chicken on sale.
Nuts:
- Look for any dried fruit or nuts during the Winter Holidays, when the sales are competitive, and stock up. Check after the holidays in the bargain bin or shelf. Check out Farm/Tractor supply stores for incredible pricing.
- Store nuts in the freezer and repackage any nuts or fruits that are in flimsy packaging.
Honey:
- Honey can be pricey. Check drugstore sales (not a typo – they’ll have coupons) and ethnic markets for best pricing. Buyers’ clubs and discount stores offer decent prices.
- If your honey is crystallized, don’t toss. Gently heat in the microwave or on the stovetop in a pan of warm water. Be careful if it’s in plastic. If it is, melt only enough to pour into a glass jar, then continue to heat.
Mayonnaise:
- Buy your condiments, like mayo, during the summer holiday sales when they drop to a low. Stock up for the year. If you miss those sales, the sales before the Super Bowl are pretty good.
- The discount stores have good pricing all year round, and some have brand names.
Hey Frugal Friends, hope you love Chicken Salad with Grapes and Pecans, and that it serves you as well as it has us over the years. It’s truly a classic.
Mollie
Chicken Salad with Grapes and Pecans
Chicken Salad with Grapes and Pecans
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: sandwiches
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breast halves, about 2 1/2 cups of chicken breast, diced or shredded
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups of grapes, sliced in half (see photos, below)
- 4 stalks celery, sliced or finely diced, about a cup
- 1/4 red onion, minced
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise or a yogurt and mayonnaise mixture; if you have it, add a dab of sour cream to the mix
- 1 to 3 tablespoons honey, as desired
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon tarragon or basil
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans or cashews
Instructions
See the above post on cooking the chicken.
Cut grapes in half (see below), slice or dice celery, and dice onion. I like to use the celery leaves in the salad, and then later in the garnish, too.
Put all into a bowl, add mayonnaise, honey, Dijon, and tarragon or basil. Check and make sure it tastes good to you; I like it strongly flavored and a little zippy, but adjust the ingredients to suit your taste. Salt and pepper to taste, remembering that when you add nuts, they may be salty.
Just before serving add nuts. Nuts or seeds may become soggy in the dressing; if leftovers are apparent, add them to just the portion of the salad you know you’ll be using.
The next day, this will not look as attractive as the mayonnaise will mingle with the grape juices and get a little watery, but it will taste even better.
