Best-Ever Chicken Salad

You could easily add crumbled bacon, or raisins, or cashews, or even mix in a little curry powder to the mayo. Of course, homemade mayo puts this salad over the top. But again, a good quality store-bought mayonnaise works perfectly well, too. After cooking the chicken, the salad comes together in only about 15 minutes!

Best-Ever Chicken Salad

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 1 hours 10 minutes

Servings: 10

Ingredients

4 lbs chicken parts (bone-in, skin-on thighs and breasts work well) (You'll need about 4 cups)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup seedless grapes, halved (red and green varieties are great)
1 cup almonds, thinly sliced
2 celery ribs, chopped
3 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)
2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Kosher salt (start with 1/2 teaspoon, then add more, to taste)
Freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350°F
Rub the olive oil all over the chicken pieces and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until internal temp reaches 165°F using an instant-read thermometer.
Remove the chicken from the oven and let cool. Remove the skin then pull the meat from the bones and roughly chop.
In a large bowl, mix together the chicken, grapes, almonds, celery, scallions, dll, & parsley.
In a small-medium bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, lemon, mustard, salt and pepper.
Add the mayo/mustard mixture to the chicken mixture and gently stir until well mixed.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Serve on a bed of greens with sliced tomatoes and avocado. Or, serve on bread with green leaf lettuce. Add more toppings to your taste!