How To Make Chicken Salad Sandwich Recipe - Alyona’s Cooking (2024)

How to make a Chicken Salad Sandwich from the best chicken salad recipe made of all-white-meat shredded chicken, lemon juice, mayonnaise, mustard, relish, dried herbs, and cheese! This chicken salad sandwich is always a hit at gatherings, dinner, or lunch!

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This is one of my favorite chicken salad recipes! You can eat these hot or cold and fill them into any type of bread, wrap, or lettuce! Here are more chicken salad recipes for sandwiches like thisBuffalo Chicken Salad, Chinese Chicken Salad in lettuce Wraps, Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwiches, and Canned Chicken Salad that works as a spread!

Watch How to Make Chicken Salad Sandwich at Home:

What Is Chicken Salad?

Chicken salad is a mixture of cooked chicken meat, mayonnaise, pickles, and mustard and is similar to tuna salad or egg salad. It’s either served on top of lettuce or used in sandwiches and sometimes includes hard-boiled eggs, celery, onion, or grapes.

I discovered this chicken salad recipe at a ladies’ tea party and since it’s been popular at gatherings for its easy cleanup, frugal way to serve crowds, and amazingly tasty chicken! It’sthe best recipe for chicken salad! Literally, when I make these chicken salad sandwiches I can eat the filling straight out of the bowl! Thanks to Susanna and Evelyn who served these super amazing sandwiches at the tea party, I added yet another family favorite recipe to my collection! You will LOVE these!

These hot chicken salad sandwiches are terrific served hot or cold and are a super-easy way to serve crowds. We love them wrapped in foil and warmed in the oven but fill this cold into croissants, sandwich bread, or tortillas! They are incredible even my brother-in-law raved after trying these and kept saying “WOW”! People need to know how good they are”!

Which Cut of Chicken Should I Use?

The best kind of chicken meat to use for chicken salad with mayo is a meaty chicken breast. Chicken breasts stretch the servings and are easy to shred. I only make this chicken breast salad with that kind of meat. However, you can use any cut of chicken to make this salad, just keep in mind that bone-in cuts will take longer to cook. Another option is to de-bone rotisserie chicken.

Ingredients for Chicken Salad:

What goes into a chicken salad? Traditional chicken salad recipes sometimes include celery, hard-boiled eggs, and onion but always chicken meat and some kind of binding ingredient like mayonnaise or salad dressing to moisten the chicken. This homemade chicken salad was originally made from dill pickle juice and pickles however, I took the shortcut of using sweet relish (already minced pickles in pickle juice.) That and lemon juice will make the juiciest and most flavorful chicken filling that is eat-out-of-the-spoon-delicious!

• Chicken Meat-I made my instant pot shredded chicken for these however, poached, grilled, fried, or cooked chicken breast meat will work. Just make sure it’s either cubed or shredded.
• Mayonnaise-is like the base of the salad dressing and works as a binder.
• Dressing-a simple combination of yellow prepared mustard, lemon juice, relish, dried dill, dried parsley, dried basil, and black pepper make the most flavorful chicken salad along with mayo!
• Bread-I like to use big and fluffy French Bread rolls from Walmart, they’re cheap and are crowd-friendly.
• Cheese- my favorite type of cheese for hot chicken salad sandwiches is melted Velveeta or American cheese however, use shredded Monterey Jack and Colby cheese when in a hurry. I like to melt the processed cheeses for a spreadable consistency.

Tip: melt 6 slices of American cheese and 1/4 cup of milk to make an easy cheese sauce like Velveeta!

How To Cook Chicken For Chicken Salad Sandwich?

Chicken salad chicken can be cooked in many different ways. The best chicken of choice is chicken breast. It’s meaty and goes a long way when cooked (stretches the servings too.) My favorite way to cook chicken for this is inside the instant pot! It’s easy cleanup, you don’t need to run the stove (super helpful in the summertime), and it makes tender meat fast, all in one pot!

If you don’t own a pressure cooker, you can easily poach the chicken in a saucepan or slow cooker for easy shredding. The chicken breasts can also be sauteed in seasonings and butter or grilled, just make sure to finely dice the chicken meat if going that way since it won’t be as easy to shred.

Cooks Tip:use canned chicken or rotisserie chicken instead for a quick shortcut.

How to Make Chicken Salad:

How do you make chicken salad? This hot chicken salad sandwich recipe is so easy to make! You can totally make this chicken salad with canned chicken too. We love to warm it up in the oven but you can serve this salad filling cold into your favorite type of bread! Use a large loaf of bread to use up all the chicken salad filling or fill it into multiple hoagie rolls.

1. Cook the chicken first, and shred.
2. Combine all the ingredients for chicken salad.
3. Slice and hollow out the french bread loaf.
4. Fill with the chicken salad mixture.
5. Top with melted American cheese (or Velveeta.)
6. Wrap in foil and bake until warmed (20-25 minutes.)
7. Slice and serve!

Chicken Salad Variations:

Chicken Salad Chick is a restaurant that only specializes in a chicken salad! They have interesting add-ins and seasoning for chicken salad ideas, like the Lemon Basil (almost like a Pesto chicken salad), BBQ chicken salad, Fruity Cranberry chicken salad, or even spicy variations!

• Chicken Salad With Grapes- add 1 cup of halved red seedless grapes.
• Healthy Chicken Salad recipe- make greek yogurt chicken salad by using yogurt for the mayo and scooping chicken salad into lettuce wraps instead. (Keto Chicken Salad approved that is low-carb and low-calorie!)
• Avocado Chicken Salad- add 2 chopped avocados into the mix. The lemon juice can help this chicken salad with avocado not brown so quickly.
• Chicken Salad with Apples- dice one apple into the chicken mixture for a fruity flavor.
• Mediterranean Chicken Salad-add 1/4 cup of roasted red bell peppers and a can of chickpeas.
• Pecan Chicken Salad- add 1/2 cup of roasted pecans.
• Southwest Chicken Salad- sort of like a chicken taco salad,add 2 T of taco seasoning, 1/4 cup of diced tomatoes and red bell peppers, and 1 can of black beans and corn for southwestern flavors.
• Spicy Chicken Salad:add diced jalapenos or buffalo hot sauce for a kick.
• Chicken Bacon, Ranch, and Cheese-omit the mayo and use ranch dressing, bacon bits, and cheddar cheese.

Note: Make chicken salad wrap or chicken salad croissant by using lettuce or your favorite bread.

What To Eat With Chicken Salad:

Homemade chicken salad tastes fresh and is so flavorful to fill into lettuce, bread, or croissants. When turning it into sandwiches it’s best with a side of potato chips, French fries, dill pickles, or some kind of cheese crackers. Another option would be a fresh green salad (like cobb salad) on the side of these sandwiches.

More Chicken Recipes To Make:

• Chick Fil A Grilled Chicken Sandwich– skip the buns and make grilled chicken salad.
• Costco Chicken Bake– chicken caesar salad dressing and cheese wrapped in pizza dough. This caesar salad dressing with chicken is amazing!
• Cheesy Bacon BBQ Chicken (Monterey Chicken)
• Slow-Cooker Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwiches (Crack Chicken)
• Curry Chicken

More Chicken Salad Recipes:

• Buffalo Chicken Salad
• Southwest Salad with Chipotle Ranch Dressing

How To Make Chicken Salad Sandwich: