Chick Fil A Chicken Salad Recipe

What’s not to love about the most addicting, delicious chicken salad? I’m telling you, we’ve been on a hunt for the best recipe and I do think this is the one. Of course we love recipes like our chicken salad with grapes and walnuts, but for an everyday basic option, we make this chick fil chicken salad all the time.

• Easy To Make: Everything goes right into a food processor for the perfect texture.
• Spot On Copycat Recipe: If you’re a fan of the (now off the menu) Chick Fil A recipe, one bite and you’ll be in love.
• Make Ahead Recipe: Perfect for meal prepping, this chicken salad stays good in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Of course you can take some liberty with these ingredients, but the ones listed here make the perfect copycat chick fil a chicken salad.

• Cooked Chicken: We season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and cook them in the oven. You can use any leftover chicken that you have, of course, but for once – we don’t recommend using rotisserie chicken. Rotisserie chicken tends to have a very soft texture and since we’re processing the chicken for this recipe it can turn out mushy.
• Hard Boiled Eggs: Adds flavor and a creamy texture (also a bump of protein!).
• Celery: Even though the celery goes into the food processor, it still adds a little of crunch to this creamy chicken salad.
• Mayonnaise: For the best copycat flavor, we recommend using full fat mayo, but you can add whatever you normally use.
• Pickle Relish: Sweet or dill, whichever you prefer. The true Chick Fil A version uses sweet relish but we prefer dill. You can also chop up your favorite pickles, too!
• Paprika: Just a 1/4 teaspoon of paprika adds a depth of flavor and a bit of color.

• Add cooked, roughly chopped chicken to a bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the consistency looks something like the picture above. For us it’s perfect, some texture but mostly finer pieces. Again, you can pulse the chicken finer if you like, it’s all about your preference. Remove the chicken to a large bowl.

• Add chopped celery and hard boiled eggs to the food processor and pulse until the texture looks like the picture above. Pour into the bowl with the chicken.

• Add mayonnaise, pickle relish, paprika, salt and pepper to the bowl and mix until combined. Chill the chicken salad for an hour before serving if time allows.

Texture is one of the keys to making this chick fil a chicken salad so unique and flavorful. Of course, it’s all about preference, but we’ve found that this texture is prefect for our tastes.

• Pulse the chicken in batches: If you add all of the chicken to your food processor at once, you’ll have some really finely minced chicken and some larger pieces. We add a cup at a time to get an even consistency.
• Don’t use rotisserie chicken: As we mentioned before, rotisserie chicken has a softer texture so when it’s processed it can end up with a mushy texture. It’s best to cook your own chicken, or you can grab cooked chicken breast at most grocery stores.
• Let it chill: If time allows, let the chicken salad chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving to let the flavors blend. Stir and re-season the salad if needed before serving.

There’s so many ways to serve this delicious chicken salad, besides just taking a fork to it. We love making this for easy meals, lunches on the go and even for parties!

• Serve on rolls or sandwich bread
• In a bowl with crackers on the side
• Scooped into celery sticks
• Make a BLT wrap with lettuce, tomato and bacon
• Add a scoop on top of a salad

Looking For More Chicken Salad Recipes?

• Caramelized Onion Chicken Salad
• Chicken Salad on Apple Slices
• Caesar Chicken Salad
• Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
• Buffalo Chicken Celery Sticks