Easy Deli-Style Chicken Salad with Mayo & Grapes
This creamy deli-style canned chicken salad is made with a creamy ginger-lime mayonnaise and has bursts of sweetness from fresh red grapes. Garnish with additional thinly sliced scallions and toasted slivered almonds for extra crunch before serving. The secret to the deli flavor is letting it chill in the fridge before serving.
Ingredients
- 12.5 ounce canned chicken breast (1 cup, drained)
- ¼ cup mayonnaise (54 grams)
- 1 tablespoon lime juice (juice from half a lime)
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾ teaspoon diamond crystal kosher salt (use half as much of any other brand)
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 10 red grapes (halved or quartered)
- ⅛ cup thinly sliced scallions
- ⅛ cup slivered almonds (toasted)
Instructions
- Whisk together mayonnaise, lime juice, ginger, sugar, salt, and pepper. Add chicken breast and use a fork to mix everything together, shredding the chicken cubes in the process.
- Stir in sliced grapes and scallion greens.
- Toast slivered almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat until they are lightly browned, about 4-5 minutes. Stir frequently and do not wander away — they go from pale to toasted very quickly!
- Stir slivered almonds into the chicken salad, then transfer chicken salad to an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight before serving. For crunchier almonds, wait to stir them in right before serving.
You can also toast the almonds before you start the recipe if you'd rather have them ready to go. Remove them from the pan once they're toasted or the residual heat will keep toasting them while they sit.
RECIPE NOTES
- Instead of grapes, diced nectarines or peaches will also work. Dried sour cherries are also a good swap!
- 1 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger or 1 teaspoon of ginger paste can be used in place of the ground ginger.
- To really amp up the lime flavor, zest a quarter of the lime into the mayo before you cut it open to juice it.
- If you're using a fresh lime, roll it back and forth on the counter pressing down hard with the heel of your hand as you do OR microwave it whole for 10-20 seconds before you cut it open. Either of these tricks will help get the lime juice flowing and it easier to squeeze.
- If you're using rotisserie chicken or a piece of chicken you cooked yourself, cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes and then use two forks for the shredding.
- Store this deli-style chicken salad in an airtight container in the fridge (41°F or lower) for up to four days. (Source: FoodSafety.gov Cold Food Storage Chart). On days 3 and 4 the "deli-style" flavor will be more intense as the flavors continue melding into each other.
- Chicken salad should be served cold, and should not sit out at room temperature for longer than 2 hours. If you're serving it somewhere where it needs to be out of the fridge, make sure you are at least serving it over an ice bath or bowl of ice to keep it cool.