Our favourite hen salad recipe combines tender hen, celery, nuts, dried fruit, and a easy creamy dressing. This simple salad tastes nice right away however improves over time, making it a wonderful choice for meal-prepping. Bounce to the Simple Hen Salad Recipe

How you can Make the Greatest Hen Salad
I like this creamy hen salad, particularly the crunchy nuts and dried fruit. It’s additionally fast to make and lasts a couple of days within the fridge. So let’s rapidly stroll by our suggestions for making it — the detailed recipe is beneath.
First issues first, we’ll want some cooked hen. For this salad, you should utilize store-bought rotisserie hen, leftover hen, or prepare dinner your personal utilizing considered one of these simple strategies:
- Poached hen — Our recipe takes 25 minutes, and makes tender, flavorful hen.
- Simmered entire hen — We love this one, you obtain probably the most tender hen and a scrumptious hen broth for use in different recipes.
- Complete roasted hen — It is a basic recipe with lemon and garlic.
Along with the hen, we pull collectively some chopped celery, nuts or seeds (like sliced almonds or sunflower seeds), dried fruit (like raisins or cranberries), and our go-to hen salad dressing.

Associated: Our Favourite Tuna Salad
Creamy Hen Salad Dressing
The dressing for this salad couldn’t get a lot simpler. Mix mayonnaise with a little bit of contemporary lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper. Then, for a bit extra taste, add a splash of toasted sesame oil (Adam’s favourite) or stir in some jam to sweeten issues up.
Swap the mayonnaise for plain Greek yogurt if you’d like a mayo-free salad. It tastes a bit extra tangy however will nonetheless style nice.

Associated: Attempt our Smashed Chickpea Salad
How you can Retailer Hen Salad
When saved correctly, hen salad stays within the fridge for 3 to 4 days, which is good news as a result of, as I discussed above, the salad tastes nice the second you make it, however give it a day within the fridge, and it tastes even higher. We preserve the salad tightly lined in a glass container.
Our Favourite Hen Salad
I like this creamy hen salad, particularly the crunchy nuts and dried fruit. It’s additionally fast to make and lasts a couple of days within the fridge. We extremely advocate the toasted sesame oil — it provides a beautiful umami taste to the dressing. A little bit goes a good distance, so solely add a couple of dashes (no more than a 1/4 teaspoon).
When we’ve got the time, we poach hen breasts for this salad. Right here’s our detailed recipe for how we poach hen.
Makes about 8 (1/2) cup servings
You Will Want
For the Salad
3 cups (480 grams) chopped or shredded cooked hen, see our recipe for good poached hen
1 cup (120 grams) chopped celery
4 tablespoons chopped contemporary herbs like chives, parsley, and basil
1/4 cup (40 grams) flippantly toasted nuts like sliced almonds, walnuts, pecans or pine nuts
1/4 cup (40 grams) dried fruit like golden raisins, cranberries, dates, or blueberries
For the Dressing
1/2 cup (110 grams) mayonnaise, see our do-it-yourself mayo recipe
2 tablespoons contemporary lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon wonderful sea salt, plus extra to style
1/4 teaspoon contemporary floor black pepper
2 to 4 small dashes toasted sesame oil (scant 1/4 teaspoon), optionally available
1 to 2 teaspoons jam, optionally available
Instructions
Mix the hen, celery, herbs, nuts, dried fruit, and contemporary fruit (if utilizing) in a medium mixing bowl.
In one other small bowl, stir the mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, salt, and black pepper collectively. Style, then add the optionally available elements. Toasted sesame oil provides umami (slightly goes a good distance), and the jam sweetens the dressing.
Toss the dressing with the salad. Style, then regulate with extra salt and pepper. Retailer, lined tightly, within the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
Adam and Joanne’s Suggestions
- Along with or as an alternative to the dried fruit, add a handful of contemporary fruit like halved grapes or chopped apples.
- For a lighter hen salad, swap the mayonnaise for gentle mayo or use plain or Greek yogurt.
- Vitamin info: The diet info offered beneath are estimates. We’ve got used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.
In the event you make this recipe, snap a photograph and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We like to see your creations on Instagram and Fb! Discover us: @inspiredtaste
Vitamin Per Serving: Serving Measurement 1/2 cup / Energy 197 / Whole Fats 13.4g / Saturated Fats 2.1g / Ldl cholesterol 47.1mg / Sodium 269.9mg / Whole Carbohydrate 5.2g / Dietary Fiber 0.9g / Whole Sugars 3.2g / Protein 13.9g
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