I love love love me some Chicken Salad, and one of my faves is this old-fashioned Chicken Salad with Dried Cherries & Toasted Nuts. Not only is it delish, but it’s also pretty & festive! With the dark cherries and the celery, the colors just pop.

Chicken Salad with Dried Cherries

Chicken Salad with Dried Cherries & Toasted Nuts is nothing new. I’ve been making it for ages. I always thought it was an old-fashioned ladies’ luncheon kind of salad until I learned it’s a popular thing at Trader Joe’s! I guess I’ve always been “hip”, when all along I thought I was nerdy, lol!

About Chicken Salad with Dried Cherries:

Now that I’m thinking (and writing) about my Chicken Salad with Dried Cherries & Toasted Nuts, I noticed that I usually make it and serve it during the fall and winter, not as much during the summer.

I think this chicken salad is more substantial than some. The chewy dried cherries, crunchy celery, and toasted pecans (I’ll give other choices, too), read more fall and wintery.

So bring Chicken Salad with Dried Cherries & Toasted Nuts to the cabin if you’re snowmobiling, or along on a ski trip. Take it to a buffet or potluck, or think about it while you’re snug and toasty at home, maybe in front of the fire, while you’re catching up on movies.

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.
• 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.

Chicken Salad with Dried Cherries

Making Chicken Salad with Dried Cherries:

I used to make this with all mayonnaise, but now I like to add a little Greek yogurt and/or sour cream to the mix. It makes the dressing a little thicker, smoother, and adds a little tang. It also holds up a little better than an all-mayo version.

The dressing has very little sweetness, just a touch of honey or sugar if you’d like, but once added to the chicken, it’s transformative. As everything mingles, the dried cherries add their tartness to the mix. Make it a bit ahead for the best chicken salad.)

The Chicken:

As for the chicken, cooked chicken works, whether prepared just for this recipe, leftovers, either planned or on-hand, or a roasted or rotisserie chicken. As far as leftovers, 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.

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, but be sure to use the search bar or follow the tags at the bottom of the post for more!

• Cranberry Almond Chicken Salad – this is a classic, often found in delis or the refrigerator section at groceries.
• Chicken Salad with Grapes and Pecans – another classic that’s been around for years! A family fave.
• Wild Rice Chicken Salad – what can I say? This deliciousness is from my years in Minnesota.
• Candied Jalapeno Chicken Salad – if you’re a Cowboy Candy lover and not afraid of a little sweet heat, this one’s for you!

Cranberry Almond Chicken Salad

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.

Saving Money on Groceries:

What you pay for groceries depends not only on 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. Use these sales not just for your holiday, but to stock up at a low for the coming weeks to months.
• 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.

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.

Dried Cherries, Cranberries, and Nuts:

• Most dried fruit isn’t cheap, but cranberries usually come in at less than the pricier Cherries.
• 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.

Chicken Salad with Dried Cherries

Chicken Salad with Dried Cherries & Toasted Nuts

Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

• Author: mollie kirby
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 15 minutes
• Yield: 4 to 6 servings 1x
• Category: Salads
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 4 six-ounce boneless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (about 4 cups cooked)
• 2 celery ribs, about a cup, diced, leaves included, if desired
• 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
• 1 cup dried cherries, chopped (dried cranberries work well, too)
• 1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped, almonds or walnuts work well
• 2 tablespoons champagne vinegar; other vinegar works, too, but go by taste
• about 3/4 to a cup mayonnaise, Greek yogurt or a mixture. A small amount of sour cream may be used in the mixture, if desired
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh tarragon, marjoram in a lesser amount is good, too
• Honey or sugar, to taste, if desired
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (do not use if chicken is brined)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

If needed, see instructions for poaching the chicken in the above post.

Mix up dressing ingredients: the vinegar, mayo/yogurt and optional sour cream, and herbs along with salt and pepper. Taste, and if desired add a bit of honey or sugar. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl, add dressing and toss. Make a bit ahead for the best flavor, but be aware some nuts may become a bit soggy over time.

Nutrition:

Per serving, a scant cup, made with mayo: Calories 402, tot fat 29g, sat fat 4g; mono 11g; poly, 13g, trans 0, chol 57mg; sod 354mg; pot 331mg; carb 15g; fib 2g; sugar 10g; prot 22g; vit a 15%, vit c 3%; calc 4%; Iron 7%