Panera Napa Almond Chicken Salad
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This Copycat Panera Napa Almond Chicken Salad is so light and refreshing! It’s the perfect lunch! What makes this Chicken Salad different? First of all, there are grapes and almonds in it, plus the dressing is a little fancier than just mayo! I loved it!
What you will Love about Panera Bread Napa Chicken Salad
- Light Chicken Salad – the dressing is so light – there is mayo but it’s not much
- Crunchy Fresh – the combo of grapes, celery & almonds make for a nice crunch
- Quick to Make – mixes together in minutes for a quick lunch that has the same taste as the restaurant version!
Panera’s Napa Almond Chicken Salad Ingredients
The napa almond chicken salad has chicken, grapes, almonds and celery along with a really light dressing. I really love the seasonings in the restaurant version and how light the dressing was! Here’s what you need for this delicious sandwich:
- chicken breasts – you can use rotisserie chicken but if making your own – marinate it first! – I like to use a mojo criollo marinade (or any citrus-based marinade). You can also just season with salt, black pepper, onion powder and lemon zest.
- Duke’s mayonnaise – Trying to eat a little healthier, feel free to swap nonfat plain greek yogurt or light sour cream for the mayo
- honey – you could use maple syrup if you’re out of honey
- cider vinegar – you could swap with regular white vinegar in a pinch
- Seasonings: salt, white sugar, dry mustard, fresh rosemary
- seedless red grapes – feel free to use green grapes if that’s what you have
- diced celery – this adds the crunch – if you’re out of celery sub with 1/2 tsp celery salt
- sliced almonds – again – more crunch – you could use slivered almonds as well
- rustic country bread – I’m a fan of croissants for chicken salad but the traditional “rustic” bread from Panera is great. You can buy it at Panera or get something comparable at the grocery store.
- thinly sliced tomatoes
- green leaf lettuce
How to make Napa Almond Chicken Salad Sandwich
Chicken salad is always super easy to make – you can skip a few steps if you’re using a rotisserie chicken – but making them is also so easy!!!! Here’s how to make it!
- Marinate chicken breasts overnight in mojo criollo marinade in refrigerator
- Bake or air fry chicken breasts (bake at 350 for 30 min, air fry at 375 for 15 min) – temp check to 165 degrees
- Remove and let cool for 30 minutes
- In a large bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients (mayo, honey, vinegar, salt, sugar, dry mustard & rosemary)
- Refrigerate dressing until chicken is cooled
- With two forks, shred and chop chicken breasts into bite sized pieces
- Remove dressing from fridge and into the large mixing bowl, fold chicken, grapes and celery into dressing mixture with spatula
- Refrigerate until ready to serve
- When ready, heat small skillet to medium high
- Add almonds and shake in pan for 1-2 minutes until lightly toasted and golden brown, set aside
- Build your sandwich with rustic country bread (or whatever you like), leaf lettuce, thinly sliced tomato, chicken salad and sprinkle the top of the chicken mixture with toasted almonds
How long is chicken salad good for?
This delicious chicken salad is best when you refrigerate in an airtight container and I really like these glass ones with snap-on lids I got on Amazon. Chicken salad will stay fresh and safe in a container like this for 3-5 days.
If you get tired of having it on bread – you can always top some romaine lettuce with your chicken salad and add a few more grapes and maybe some cheese to make a salad out of it like I did!
One of my favorite things to do with leftover chicken salad is to grab some butter lettuce leaves and make lettuce wraps!
Other Panera Copycat Recipes
- Panera Pasta Primavera
- Panera Mediterranean Warm Grain Bowl
- Panera Spicy Thai Salad with Chicken
- MORE Panera Recipes!
More Recipes with Pulled Chicken
Panera Napa Almond Chicken Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2-3 chicken breasts
- 1/3 bottle mojo criollo marinade (or any citrus-based marinade)
- 1/2 cup Duke's mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp dry mustard
- 1 tsp diced fresh rosemary
- 1/2 cup red grapes sliced
- 1/3 cup celery finely diced
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
- 8 slices rustic country bread
- 1-2 tomatoes thinly sliced
- 8 lettuce leaves
Instructions
- Marinate chicken breasts overnight in mojo criollo marinade in refrigerator2-3 chicken breasts, 1/3 bottle mojo criollo marinade
- Bake or air fry chicken breasts (bake at 350 for 30 min, air fry at 375 for 15 min) – temp check to 165 degrees
- Remove and let cool for 30 minutes
- In separate bowl, mix together dressing ingredients (mayo thru rosemary) and whisk together1/2 cup Duke's mayonnaise, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp cider vinegar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp dry mustard, 1 tsp diced fresh 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 and celery into dressing mixture with spatula1/2 cup red grapes, 1/3 cup celery
- Refrigerate until ready to serve
- When ready, heat small skillet to medium high
- Add almonds and shake in pan for 1-2 minutes until lightly toasted, set aside1/4 cup sliced almonds
- Build your sandwich with rustic country bread (or whatever you like), leaf lettuce, thinly sliced tomato, chicken salad and top with toasted almonds8 slices rustic country bread, 8 lettuce leaves, 1-2 tomatoes
Made this just now, AMAZING! I’ve been craving a good, sweet, chicken salad (along with those Carlos O’Kelly’s enchiladas;) Well not together, but! Hahaha ) This was PERFECT and will be my go to recipe, I had to omit the almonds because of an allergy, but it was lacking NOTHING in taste! Love the creamy dressing combined with the chicken, grapes, and celery, SO GOOD! Thank you again and again!
That’s awesome – I’m so glad you tried it and loved it!!!!
We have some major Panera fans in our family and I made your copycat version for them and they absolutely loved it! Said it was better than the original!
This indeed tastes just like the one from Panera, except now I can make it at home, so cheaper and as often as I like. 🙂
This is such a delicious chicken sandwich. Definitely making this again!
I moved and no longer have a Panera nearby and this is one of my favorite salads! This Almond Chicken Salad tastes just like it and can’t wait to make it again. Thanks so much for the recipe!!
Superb! One of the most delicious fillings for a sandwich ever! Highly recommended! 🙂
I made this last night and let it sit overnight. I questioned the use of marinating in the mojo. To anyone reading this. Don’t question just do! This is the closest I’ve gotten to making a copy cat to Panera! So fresh and light! I followed her recipe exactly except that I used whatever mayo I had in the fridge. This recipe is now my go to for chicken salad!!! Ty
Hahaha – that makes me so happy!!! And trust me – you’ll use that Mojo marinade all the time now! It’s my ab fab!!! This made my day!
This is fine but there is no rosemary in Paneras chicken salad. I worked there for 18 years and made this numerous amount of times. All the ingredients are fine, they have a dressing that is already made when it comes in so the exact ingredients are unknown.
The ingredients are (or were for this discontinued recipe) listed on the panera website – including the dressing that comes in premade. Not sure why you gave it two stars – because I had rosemary?