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This easy Chicken Salad with Grapes recipe is absolutely amazing on a hot summer picnic day, or anytime you like! With a colorful blend of grapes, chicken, nuts, and veggies, it’s a healthy and classic favorite, perfect for sandwiches, wraps, or salads.
Healthy Chicken Salad with Grapes
The ultimate summer dish, homemade chicken salad is killer with crackers, in a pita, on a sandwich, or just on its own as a tasty snack! Plus, it’s super easy to make. Tender chicken, juicy grapes, cool veggies, and a delectable dressing are mixed together and topped with chopped, roasted walnuts. This. Is. Serious. Yum. 😋
Plus, you can easily customize this recipe to use up the items in your fridge, or work for special dietary considerations. Whether you adapt it, or keep it just as it is, you’ll love this wholesome recipe!
What You’ll Need
Let’s take a look at the list of ingredients. Pro tip: One of the stars of this chicken salad is the dressing – sweet, savory, tangy, and creamy. And, it’s not just for chicken salad. You can use it on just about anything!
- Mayonnaise: You’ll need some of your favorite mayonnaise for the base of the dressing.
- White Wine Vinegar: Rice vinegar is also good, or apple cider vinegar.
- Dijon Mustard: Dijon is my favorite, with its complex, wine-like taste. But you can substitute any mustard.
- Maple Syrup: Honey is fine, too, or a little bit of brown sugar.
- Salt and Pepper
- Chicken: For this recipe, I used the meat from a shredded rotisserie chicken. You can use any shredded chicken, though.
- Grapes: Make sure to use seedless grapes, and cut them into quarters.
- Celery: Chop the celery ribs.
- Walnuts: Chopped and toasted walnuts add a beautiful crunch, or you could use pecans, pine nuts, etc.
- Parsley: Chopped.
- Green Onion: A few sprigs of chopped green onion.
Let’s Make Chicken Salad with Grapes!
Seriously guys, making this chicken salad is so easy – basically, all you have to do is chop up the ingredients, mix, and chill! Here are the steps in order:
- Make the Dressing. In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, white wine vinegar, dijon mustard, maple syrup, salt, and pepper. Taste, and adjust the amounts as needed. Whisk again.
- Add the Salad Ingredients. Add in the chicken, grapes, celery, walnuts, parsley, and green onion. Stir gently, until everything is evenly coated in the dressing.
- Chill. Cover the salad, and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes to allow the flavors to settle.
- Serve. Garnish the chilled salad with additional parsley or green onion, if you like. Serve out any way you like.
How Do You Keep Chicken Salad from Getting Watery?
There are two main reasons why your chicken salad might turn out runny or watery. The first reason is that you may have added ingredients that are juicy or were just freshly rinsed, but not dried. As you add your ingredients, if they are noticeably moist or watery, give them a little pat with a clean paper towel to remove some of the excess moisture.
The second reason involves stirring the ingredients. When you stir your chicken salad together, you can crush the veggies and grapes slightly, causing them to release their juices. That’s one reason I suggest stirring together the salad dressing first, and then tossing the other ingredients gently in the dressing to combine. You will avoid having to stir, stir, stir to get the dressing mixed in!
More Helpful Tips
Though this recipe may be simple, there are still a few more helpful hints that I’d like to share, for making the perfect chicken salad. Here are my best tips:
- Measuring: In this recipe, the chopped ingredients are measured after chopping them. This will give you the best ratio of ingredients.
- Walnuts: To keep your walnuts as crunchy as possible, put them in just before serving. If they are put in too soon, they will soak up the dressing and become soggy.
- Fruit Options: I love this refreshing salad with red grapes, but you could substitute green grapes, or even use a different fruit altogether, like chopped apple or pear.
Easy Variations
This chicken salad with grapes is one of the most versatile dishes on the planet. There are practically unlimited ways to mix it up! Here are a few of my favorites.
- Veggies: Feel free to shake up your salad with different veggies! Radish, onion, cauliflower, and bell peppers are all great!
- Cheese: Adding cheese is a great way to achieve a bit of extra protein as well as some extra flavor. I like using cubed cheeses such as cheddar or colby.
- Dressing: Changing the dressing is a nice option that can totally change the overall flavor of your salad. Ranch dressing, poppyseed dressing and even caesar are all tasty options!
How to Store Leftovers
- For easy storage, put your chicken salad with grapes in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator.
- Consume within 3 to 5 days.
Can I Freeze This?
- While you can technically freeze this recipe, it is not advised. Frozen grapes may not thaw well, and the creamy dressing will split.
- If you need to freeze it, it’s best to avoid putting your grapes in until after you thaw the rest of the salad.
Chicken Salad with Grapes
Ingredients
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 pound shredded rotisserie chicken,, skin and bones removed
- 1 cup quartered seedless red grapes
- 1 cup chopped celery
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- 3 to 4 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 2 to 3 sprigs green onion,, chopped
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, white wine vinegar, dijon mustard, maple syrup, salt, and pepper.
- To the bowl, add in the chicken, grapes, celery, walnuts, parsley, and green onion. Stir until everything is evenly coated in the dressing.
- Cover and refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes to allow the flavors to settle.
- Garnish with additional parsley or green onion. Serve as part of a sandwich, salad, or with crackers.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
That looks so creamy and delicious. I love that pop of sweetness with the grapes!
Thank you so much! Please enjoy! 🙂
I love chicken salad and never thought about adding grapes. This is a wonderful idea!
Thank YOU! I hope you’ll love it! 🙂
This Chicken Salad is such an amazing flavor combo!! Would love to try it!
I love the combination of flavors in this salad! Really worth a try!
I hope you enjoy it! Thank YOU! 🙂
I love this combo. It can be the perfect choice for our outdoor lunches.
I hope you’ll enjoy it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Delicious chicken salad! I had mine in a sandwich and it was a wonderful dinner
That’s great! I’m very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Interesting! I would love to make this one of these days.
I hope you’ll enjoy it! 🙂 Thank YOU!