Do you have some leftover cooked chicken and are thinking of whipping up a quick and easy chicken salad for lunch? Does every recipe you find for it include ingredients you either don’t have or don’t want to put in your salad like celery, grapes or eggs? Well, you’re in luck because I’ve developed an extremely easy chicken salad recipe without celery, eggs or any kind of fruit!
Chicken salad is an easy way to use up leftover chicken and it is quick to throw together and makes for an excellent lunch. Piled upon toast or in a sandwich, there is nothing better than digging into a delicious and flavourful chicken salad that requires absolutely minimal effort.
So if you’re on the hunt for a perfect chicken salad without celery or any other odd add-ins, then look no further. This chicken salad recipe is simple and easy and really lets the chicken sing without piling on too many extras like grapes, celery, eggs or lettuce.
How to Make Chicken Salad Without Celery
Making this chicken salad without celery recipe couldn’t be easier. In total it will take you about five minutes and you will be all set for lunches for a couple of days, at least, much like my tuna salad recipe (that also doesn’t call for celery!)
First off, you need to start with shredding your chicken. If you have some cooked chicken leftover, that works great, if not, I recommend poaching some chicken breasts (you can see how I recommend doing that in my satsivi recipe).
Many recipes will recommend shredding chicken with two forks but I actually find it much easier and quicker simply to do it by hand. Once I’ve finished shredding the chicken, I run my knife through it a few times to get the pieces nice and small. Transfer the chicken to a large bowl.
Now, you need to finely dice half of a red onion. I recommend using red onion here because it’s sweeter and milder than a yellow onion and, therefore, a bit more pleasant to eat raw.
If you don’t have a red onion, go ahead and use a yellow onion, you chicken salad will still be good. If you want, you can even use some green onions instead, if that’s what you have on hand. This chicken salad recipe without celery is meant to be more of a guideline rather than something you need to follow to the absolute letter.
Next, finely dice a small red pepper. If you’re not going to be using celery in this chicken salad, you probably do want something with a bit more texture and flavour and a red pepper works wonderfully in this. Next, chop a bit of parsley to add a vegetal and herbal note to the chicken salad — dill is also a great alternative if you have it on hand! Add all of these to the bowl with the chicken!
Now, all you have to do is add a few tablespoons of mayonnaise to the bowl. Add this along with a teaspoon or two of apple cider vinegar for a bit of brightness and acidity. A mild apple flavour works well in this dish even if you’re keen on making a chicken salad without fruit. I also say to add a bit of whole grain mustard to the mix, but if you don’t have it, dijon mustard will do fine in a pinch. I would avoid yellow mustard or English mustard as the flavours aren’t quite right.
And finally, add a few dashes of tabasco hot sauce for a bit of heat. All that you need to do now is add a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper to taste and mix it all to combine.
Make sure to taste everything to see how it works together and more of any of the mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, tabasco salt or pepper if you need to. It’s always best to be conservative when you start and taste to adjust to get your chicken salad just right.
All that’s left now is to eat! This traditional chicken salad without celery is great on a piece of toast or as a sandwich. It will also keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to three days so it’s perfect if you’re meal-prepping your lunches for the week!
Chicken Salad Without Celery
This is one of the easiest and most delicious lunches to throw together and is super delicious. If you're not a fan of celery, then you're sure to love this.
Ingredients
- 500g (1 pound) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
- 1/2 medium red onion, finely diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 25g (1 ounce) parsley, chopped
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon whole grain mustard
- 2-3 dashes tabasco sauce
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Serve immediately or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to three days.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 293Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 111mgSodium: 255mgCarbohydrates: 4gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 40g
Nutritional information is automatically generated and provided as guidance only. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Making a delicious chicken salad without grapes or eggs or celery is not at all a hard thing. In fact, you can make a fantastic chicken salad with ingredients you likely have knocking about in your fridge even if they’re not in most chicken salad recipes you’ve found!
Are you looking for the perfect easy chicken salad recipe? Have any questions? Let me know in the comments!
