Rotisserie chicken salad makes an easy and flavorful lunch or meal prep for the entire week. Rotisserie chicken, celery, onions, walnuts, and cranberries are tossed in a creamy homemade herb dressing.
You'll love this rotisserie chicken salad recipe because it's easy to whip up for a quick lunch, dinner, or meal prep for the week.
This chicken salad is filled with fresh veggies like celery and red onion. Walnuts and dried cranberries are also added for crunch and flavor.
Ranch seasoning is my secret ingredient to add tons of flavor to the dressing, which includes flavors like dill, parsley, and garlic.
For this recipe, you'll be shredding a whole rotisserie chicken, then adding a few simple ingredients to make enough chicken salad to enjoy all week long.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Chicken - For this recipe, you'll need a whole, cooked, rotisserie chicken. These can usually be found at your local grocery store deli. This can also be substituted with 16 ounces of cooked and shredded lightly seasoned chicken breasts or thighs.
- Mayonnaise - The base of your chicken salad dressing. Mayonnaise can be substituted with plain Greek yogurt for a tangier flavor and fewer calories.
- Mustard - Dijon mustard adds flavor and tang to the chicken salad. Can be substituted with yellow mustard if that's what you have on hand.
- Celery and onion - Adds flavor and crunch.
- Ranch seasoning - Adds flavor to your chicken salad. You can use a homemade ranch seasoning blend or a store bought packet.
- Mix-ins - Walnuts and cranberries are optional, but provide great texture and flavor to your chicken salad. Use any type of nuts or dried fruits you have on hand. Or, try adding fresh grapes sliced in half.
Tips and tricks
Dicing veggies - Dice your onion, celery, and pickles evenly. This creates a uniform flavor and texture throughout the chicken salad.
Allow chicken to cool - If you're using freshly cooked chicken or a warm rotisserie chicken from the deli, allow the shredded chicken cool to room temperature. Hot chicken can melt the mayonnaise and cause it to separate into an oily mess.
Chill before serving - Your chicken salad can be enjoyed immediately, but tastes better after refrigerating for at least an hour. This allows the flavors to meld and ingredients to chill.
Variations - Try seasoning variations like adding Italian seasoning, Cajun seasoning, or a dash of your favorite hot sauce.
Mix-ins - Add other mix-ins like pecans, sunflower seeds, raisins, sliced fresh grapes, or cubed apple.
Storage
Homemade rotisserie chicken salad will keep for up to 5 days in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, chicken salad keeps for up to 5 days in the refrigerator and is easy to make a day or two ahead of time.
Yes, this recipe can be prepared with an equal weight of canned chicken or tuna. Since canned meats are generally unseasoned, I recommend doing a taste test and adding more seasoning to taste after assembling your chicken salad.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Rotisserie Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cooked rotisserie chicken, *
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 1 large celery rib, diced
- ½ small red onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon ranch seasoning
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Remove the meat from your rotisserie chicken and shred into bite size pieces, discarding the skin and bones.
- In a large bowl, add your shredded chicken meat and remaining ingredients. Stir to incorporate, adding more mayonnaise as needed to achieve your desired consistency.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve over a bed of lettuce or on lightly toasted bread as a sandwich.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- *One rotisserie chicken can be substituted with 14-16 ounces of any cooked chicken meat.
- Walnuts and cranberries are optional, and can be substituted with almonds, pistachios, pecans, raisins, fresh grapes, or diced apple.
- Chicken salad will keep for up to five days in the refrigerator, stored in a tightly sealed container.
- For a lower calorie variation, try replacing some or all of the mayonnaise with plain Greek yogurt.
Love this recipe. I added 1 chopped seeded baby Cucumber 1 tsp sweet Pickle relish 1 tsp creamy Horseradish sauce cut green Grapes craisins chopped walnuts1 tsp honey mustard dash of Everything but the Bagel seasoning 1 dash garlic powder..lots of love too..
Glad you enjoyed the recipe, Lorrie - it sounds like you made a great variation!
THANK YOU. I love chicken salad but was always intimidated by it for some reason. This simple recipe with easily-swapped ingredients was hyper ideal! Swapped mayo for half plain Greek yogurt, half pesto vegenaise, the dried cranberries for grapes, and the walnuts for almonds and it was delicious!