Today I’m going to show you how to make your own chicken salad. It’s easy and super quick to make.
Homemade chicken salad is simply delicious. You can eat it in different ways, such as on freshly baked bread, baguettes or sandwiches. It also makes an excellent dip or finger food.
With fresh ingredients and a pinch of creativity, you can make your own chicken salad to suit your taste. I have put together three chicken salad ideas for you in this post. But as I said, you can adapt them to your taste.
You can find the complete chicken salad recipe here as a video or to read through.
Have fun and good luck making it!
Table of Contents
The equipment to make chicken salad
Making chicken salad yourself is actually very simple. So you don’t need any special equipment.
Preparation: cooking meat for chicken salad – these are the options.
For the chicken salad, you can roast a chicken breast, poach it or use a baked chicken from the day before. This is up to you.
Option 1: Pan-frying
Pan-fry your poultry meat in a pan. Make sure the pan is very hot at the beginning.
Once the meat has a nice color, you should reduce the temperature and cook the meat slowly. This keeps your meat juicy. Now, you can also season the meat with salt and pepper.
The advantage here clearly lies in the roast flavors, whereas achieving a uniform degree of doneness is more difficult than with the next method.
Option #2: Poaching the chicken
Ingredients for 500 g of poached chicken
- 500 g chicken (chicken breast, chicken legs, or similar)
To poach 500 g, you will need about 1 liter of liquid, depending on the size of the pot.
Spices per 1 liter of water
- 1 liter water
- 18 g salt
- 3 g black pepper
- 2 g sugar
- 2 g juniper berries
- 1 bay leaf
- Add the spices to a pot of cold water.
- Place the chicken in the pot.
Sous Vide method: Put the water with the spices and the chicken in a bag. - Place the pot on the stove and slowly heat the water. The water temperature should reach 66 °C (151 °F).
Sous Vide method: Put the bag in the container/pot and set the temperature to 66 °C (151 °F). - Once the temperature is reached, let the chicken poach for 20 – 30 minutes at a water temperature of 66 °C (151 °F), depending on its thickness.
The goal is to heat the chicken breast to 66 °C (151 °F) and then hold it there for a few minutes. This ensures that it can be safely consumed. Depending on taste, the temperature for chicken legs may vary.
Further down, you will also find a more detailed explanation of the temperatures. - Remove the chicken breast from the pot. Once cooled, you can use it for the chicken salad.
Option #3: Roast chicken
For the recipes in this post, you can of course also use a roasted chicken from the previous day, or at least one that has cooled down sufficiently.
Recipe #1: Chicken salad – German classic
Ingredients for approx. 400 g:
- 200 g chicken
- 100 g mayonnaise
- 75 g peas
- 75 g corn
- 7.5 g parsley
- Lemon juice to taste
- Salt + pepper to taste
Step-by-step instructions
1. Cut your chicken into small pieces. You can decide for yourself whether you want strips or cubes.
2. Put the meat, mayonnaise, peas, sweetcorn and parsley in a bowl.
3 Mix the ingredients together.
4. Season the chicken salad with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
5. Your classic chicken salad is ready 😄. Enjoy it!
Recipe #2: Chicken salad with mandarins / pineapple
Ingredients for approx. 450 g:
- 200 g chicken
- 100 g mayonnaise
- 75 g mandarins
- 75 g pineapple
- 6 g curry powder
- Salt + pepper to taste
Step-by-step instructions
1. Cut your chicken into small pieces. You can decide for yourself whether you want strips or cubes.
2. Put the meat, mayonnaise, mandarins, pineapple and curry powder in a bowl.
3. Mix the ingredients together.
4. Season the chicken salad with salt and pepper.
5. Your chicken salad with mandarins and pineapple is ready 😄. Enjoy it!
Recipe #3: Spicy chicken salad
Ingredients for approx. 400 g:
- 200 g chicken
- 100 g mayonnaise
- 15 g chili crunch
- 75 g corn
- 2 g cayenne pepper
- 7.5 g chives
- Salt + pepper to taste
step-by-step instructions
1. Cut your chicken into small pieces. You can decide for yourself whether you want strips or cubes.
2. Put the meat, mayonnaise, chili crunch, corn, cayenne pepper and chives in a bowl.
3. Mix the ingredients together.
4. Season the chicken salad with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
5. Your spicy chicken salad is ready 😄. Enjoy it!
What is the shelf life of chicken salad?
The shelf life of homemade chicken salad depends on several factors, including the ingredients, preparation method and storage conditions. Here are some general guidelines:
- Fresh ingredients: If you’re using fresh ingredients, especially poultry, it’s important that they are of good quality. Use fresh, unexpired poultry meat and fresh vegetables.
- Hygiene: Be sure to work hygienically to minimize contamination. Use clean utensils and hands during preparation.
- Mayonnaise and other sauces: If you use mayonnaise or other creamy sauces in your poultry salad, this can affect the shelf life. These ingredients tend to spoil more quickly. If you prepare the salad with mayonnaise, keep it cool and store it in the fridge.
- Storage: Always keep chicken salad in the fridge. Heat accelerates food spoilage, so it is important to keep the salad at a cool temperature.
- Perishable ingredients: If you use hard-boiled eggs in your chicken salad, for example, this can affect its shelf life. These ingredients can spoil faster than the salad itself.
It is generally recommended to consume homemade chicken salads within 3-4 days. If you notice signs of spoilage, such as an unpleasant odor or discoloration, you should stop eating the salad. If you are unsure whether the salad is still good, it is safer to play it safe and dispose of it.
What alternatives to mayonnaise can I use?
Instead of mayonnaise, you can use yogurt or sour cream.