This Grape Pecan Chicken Salad is perfect for taking to any party or picnic. Eat it on a sandwich or eat it plain. Either way, you will fall in love with it.
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So, the first time I had this particular chicken salad was at a church baby shower. I had asked our pastor’s wife if she wouldn’t mind making a bowl of the salad since I had heard everyone raving about hers.
After one bite I had to agree with everyone. It was so good!!!
After the shower I took home a container of extra salad so that my hubby could try it. He went bananas over it. Now part of the flavor came from the bread she brought with it. It came from a local bakery, and it had a little bit of kick to it. So scrumptious!!!!
I just knew that I wanted to make this again for our family. So I called her up and asked if she wouldn’t mind sharing the recipe. I had my pen in hand, and I was ready for the family secret.
She laughed and told me it was just one she had found online a few years ago. Everyone loved it so much that she had continued to make it for dinners and showers.
Seriously???? That’s it? Just a random recipe from online?
I was sort of disappointed that it wasn’t some family recipe that had been handed down through the years. I thought I was on to some secret recipe.
Not that I was planning on keeping it a secret because I love to share fun and new recipes here on the blog. You guys need to enjoy these recipes too. Am I right?
Tips for making Grape Pecan Chicken Salad:
One of my favorite little tips for making this salad even easier is to use a rotisserie chicken from the store. We usually keep bags of the chicken in our freezer for easy meals like this Chicken Supreme Pasta Bake or these Bbq Chicken & Avocado Quesadillas. This time the bag of chicken was going into salad!
This recipe calls for a mixture of mayo and sour cream. But you can also use Greek yogurt, ranch dressing, or a mixture of any them.
The fresh dill gives this Grape Pecan Chicken Salad it’s unique flavor. You may think that it seems like a lot of dill, but when you use fresh herbs you use more.
If you are going to use dried dill for this recipe, you will only use about 1/3 of the amount. Dried herbs have a much more concentrated flavor, so you need to use less.
What do I do if I feel like it has too much dill?
If you make it and feel like the flavor of dill is overwhelming to you, here are a few things you can do to salvage the chicken salad recipe.
- Add more of the other ingredients to tone down the flavor.
- Give it time. Dill is actually an herb that looses strength over time. Refrigerate the chicken salad overnight, and the flavor of the dill may be toned down enough for it to be palatable for you.
- Vinegar can neutralize the flavor of dill, so stir in a little bit of vinegar at a time to the chicken salad until you like the taste.
More chicken salad recipes that you may like:
Hawaiian Chicken Salad – juicy pineapple, crunchy nuts, and spicy peppers mixed with chicken and Greek yogurt makes a delicious and healthy salad
Cherry Walnut Chicken Salad – fresh cherries, cilantro, and walnuts give this salad a delicious twist
Fiesta Chicken Salad – corn, beans, spicy tomatoes, and cilantro give this chicken salad a good Tex Mex flavor
Apple Cranberry Turkey Salad – apple chunks, dried cranberries, and parsley are a great combo. (You can also use chicken in place of the turkey.)
Looking for more ways to use up leftover chicken? You should check out these delicious looking recipes from my friends.
- Avocado Ranch Chicken Salad Wrap from Spend with Pennies
- Quick Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowls from Crunchy Creamy Sweet
- Asian Chicken Cranberry Salad from Reluctant Entertainer
I was craving another big bowl of this Grape Pecan Chicken Salad for dinner again, so I headed to the store right away and got the rest of the ingredients.
This is so easy to make, and it makes a giant bowl of chicken salad. It’s perfect for eating with bread or on green salads all week long. Well, it it lasts that long. We usually finish off a bowl in about 2 days with five people munching on it.
What do you serve this Grape Pecan Chicken Salad on?
- Bread
- Crescent Rolls
- Hawaiian Rolls
- Crackers
- Pretzels
- Salad
- Lettuce Wraps
- Tortilla Shells
Of course, my new favorite way to enjoy this chicken salad is with pretzel crackers. Seriously. You have to try it because you may never use bread again.
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*Recipe slightly adapted from cooks.com **To make this lower in calories, substitute Greek yogurt for the sour cream.Grape Pecan Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
24
Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 221 Total Fat: 18g Saturated Fat: 4g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 13g Cholesterol: 41mg Sodium: 178mg Carbohydrates: 6g Fiber: 1g Sugar: 5g Protein: 9g
Margaret Whiteside says
I made this for the first time. I left out the dill, but added a little lemon juice squeezed into it. I honestly think that instead of mayonnaise, you could use Miracle Whip. I added purple grapes, toasted Pecans, celery, used rotisserie chicken from my local market, Duke’s Mayonnaise (which I prefer to any other brand), black pepper, and a little salt. My daughter has taken it to work for her lunch for two days on whole wheat bread with the potato salad I made. She loves it, and so do I. Will be trying out different things in it. Love it!
Jean kirschenheiter says
Hello, I’d like to make this for occasions and gatherings. How do I double the amount of food? And what kind of bread do you recommend? Thank you very much.
Jocelyn says
To double this recipe, just use 2 times the amount shown in the recipe. Or just make the recipe twice. As for the bread, I honestly think this chicken salad is amazing on just about anything. Depending on the occasion, maybe a crescent roll would be nice. For picnics, a heartier roll holds up well. I hope that helps. Feel free to ask any other questions.
Brian Brock says
Could I substitute Greek yogurt for the sour cream?
Jocelyn says
Yes, you can. We do that sometimes too!
mindykeith says
i made this last week i use the 1cup of dill and all i tasted was dill i did not taste the chicken or the rest of the stuff in it .i think 1 cup of dill is too much so i am going to use less dill.but other then that its a good sumer dishes .
Jocelyn says
Did you use fresh or dried dill? Dried dill is way more potent than fresh, so you only use a 1/3 of the amount. If it was fresh, did you pack it in the measuring cup? Other than those two things, it could just be a preference thing. Most people love it this way, but you many need to adjust the amount to your taste.
Jennifer says
I have the same problem. I used 1/3 the amount because I used dried drill, and it is still overwhelming. Any ideas for how to salvage it?
Jocelyn says
I think dill is one of those flavors that some people are more sensitive to. There are a couple of options that you can do to salvage the recipe though. Dill actually loses it’s flavor the longer it sits, so it may taste better to you after refrigerating it overnight. The other options would be to add more of the other ingredients (chicken, grapes, pecans, mayo, sour cream) to tone down the dill flavor. Or the acid in vinegar can actually mask and neutralize the dill flavor, so you could stir in 1-2 Tablespoons of vinegar into the chicken salad now and see how it tastes to you. I hope one of those tips helps. Please keep me posted on what you do.
Sarah says
Hello, Can you leave out the pecans? My husband can’t eat nuts and is there anything else to use in there place?
Jocelyn says
You can totally leave out the nuts. You could always use a little extra celery and grapes if you wanted to sub something for the nuts.
lorena says
I have made this before with a slight variation. If you like curry, add about 1 tablespoon spoon yellow curry powder to mayonnaise mixture and instead of red grapes, use green and make chicken curry wraps. so delicious.
Teresa says
I figured you’d add chopped onion. Anyone tried it that way?
Karen says
I’m make mine with green onions instead of celery. We love it that way.
Patricia Noble says
Hi, how many does this recipe serve please, thanks
Jocelyn says
It really depends on how you serve it. The recipe yields about 12 cups of chicken salad.
Nina Hamilton says
I have to take a dish to a “Keto Only” birthday celebration at work. Does this qualify?
Jocelyn says
If you leave the grapes out of this salad it would be keto friendly.
Paula Brumley says
Calories per serving??
Jocelyn says
It’s about 220 calories for 1/2 cup serving. I just updated the recipe to show that! I hope you enjoy it!
Dave says
Made this last night, chilled, then had a sandwich for lunch. I’m 71 years old, male retired, and I like experimenting. I did cut the recipe in half, as It would take too long to eat. I will make it again, but thought I would add a little green onion tops.