Sonoma Chicken Salad
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This Sonoma Chicken Salad tastes just like the Chicken Salad at Whole Foods! It’s creamy and crunchy all at the same time with diced celery, red grapes and chopped pecans!
What You Will ❤️ About Sonoma Chicken Salad
- Crunchy – I love the crunch from the celery and the pecans in this salad!
- Sweetness – The red grapes add just a touch of sweetness that make this the perfect chicken salad to pair with a buttery croissant!
- Easy – You can have this chicken salad together in just 10 minutes – mix it all together and refrigerate!
Sonoma Chicken Salad Recipe Ingredients
This chicken salad is creamy with a tangy flavor and is great served on sandwich bread, over lettuce or even a croissant! Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- Shredded Chicken Breast – in the recipe I shared my favorite ways to cook chicken breasts but if you have leftover cooked chicken or rotisserie chicken – that will work great!
- Poppy Seed Dressing: Mayonnaise, honey, apple cider vinegar, salt, white pepper, poppy seeds, dried rosemary
- If you don’t have cider vinegar, you can use white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar
- Some folks like to add dijon mustard as well
- Add-ins: red grapes, celery, pecans
How to Make Sonoma Chicken Salad
Chicken salad is simple to make and can be done ahead of time with just 15 minutes of prep time! I made the chicken breasts one day and then put the salad together the next morning. Here’s what you’ll do:
- If starting with raw chicken breasts, sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder and rosemary. Bake or air fry chicken breasts (bake at 350 for 30 min, air fry at 375 for 12-15 min).
- Use an instant read meat thermometer and check temperature in thickest part of chicken breast and make sure it reads 160º
- Remove and let cool for 30 minutes
- In a large bowl, mix together dressing ingredients (mayo thru rosemary) and whisk together
- Refrigerate dressing until chicken is cooled
- With two forks, shred chicken breasts into bite sized pieces
- Remove dressing from refrigerator and fold chicken, grapes, celery and pecans into dressing mixture with spatula
- Refrigerate until ready to serve
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Tips, Tricks & FAQs
My favorite way is to season or marinate chicken breasts and air fry at 350º for 11-13 minutes. You can also bake them for 20 minutes or poach chicken breasts in boiling water for 8-10 minutes.
I tend to just wait until the chicken is cooled and do it by hand and then chop up the shredded pieces. You can also put the chicken in a mixer on medium speed and it will shred the chicken for you!
Yes – if you have time – refrigerate the chicken salad overnight before serving.
Store leftovers in an airtight container (I like these glass storage ones) in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Recipe Variations & Substitutions
- Nuts – you can swap the pecans for almonds, pistachios or walnuts
- Fruits – not a fan of grapes? You can add apples, dried cranberries, strawberries or mandarin oranges
- Veggies – you can add diced red onion and avocado and garnish with green onion
- Healthier – swap out the mayo with non-fat Greek yogurt
- Versatile – you can serve this over a bed of lettuce, on sourdough bread, in lettuce wraps, in a pita, on toast or – my favorite – chicken salad sandwiches in a croissant!
What to serve with Sonoma Chicken Salad
More Chicken Recipes for Lunch
Sonoma Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 3 cups shredded chicken breasts 10-12 oz chicken breasts
Dressing
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp poppy seeds
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
Add-Ins
- 1 cup red grapes sliced
- 1/3 cup celery finely diced, 1 stalk
- 1/4 cup pecan chopped
Instructions
- If starting with raw chicken breasts, sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder and rosemary. Bake or air fry chicken breasts (bake at 350 for 30 min, air fry at 375 for 12-15 min).Use an instant read meat thermometer and check temperature in thickest part of chicken breast and make sure it reads 160º3 cups shredded chicken breasts
- Remove chicken and let cool for 30 minutes
- In a large bowl, mix together dressing ingredients (mayo thru rosemary) and whisk together1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1 tbsp honey, 2 tsp apple cider vinegar, 1/8 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp white pepper, 1 tsp poppy seeds, 1 tsp dried rosemary
- Refrigerate dressing until chicken is cooled
- With two forks, shred chicken breasts into bite sized pieces
- Remove dressing from refrigerator and fold chicken, grapes, celery and pecans into dressing mixture with spatula1 cup red grapes, 1/3 cup celery, 1/4 cup pecan, 3 cups shredded chicken breasts
- Refrigerate until ready to serve
