Southern Chicken Salad is baked chicken breast seasoned with Old Bay, diced small and stirred with celery, onion, five chopped hard-boiled eggs, sweet relish, dill and creamy mayonnaise. It chills for about an hour and goes on crackers or buttered croissants. The recipe makes 6 servings with 20 minutes of prep and 25 minutes in the oven.
How to make it: Brush the chicken with a little olive oil, season it with Old Bay, garlic powder, onion powder and celery salt, and bake at 350°F until it reaches 165°F. Let it cool, dice it, then stir in the celery, onion, eggs, relish and dill. Add the mayonnaise a little at a time, season, and chill before serving.
Why You’ll Love It
- Seasoned chicken: Old Bay, garlic, onion and celery salt go on before baking, so the meat has flavor all the way through.
- Classic Southern mix-ins: eggs, sweet relish, celery and onion.
- Creamy your way: the mayonnaise goes in a little at a time until it’s just right.
- Easy to serve: crackers, croissants, a sandwich or a lettuce leaf.
Ingredient Notes
Chicken breast: 1 1/2 pounds, baked, cooled and diced into small chunks.
Seasoning for the chicken: 1 to 2 teaspoons of olive oil to brush it, then 1 tablespoon Old Bay seafood seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon each of garlic powder and onion powder, and 1/4 teaspoon celery salt.
Celery and onion: 1/2 cup of each, finely diced, for crunch.
Hard-boiled eggs: 5, fully cooked and chopped.
Sweet relish and dill weed: 2 tablespoons of relish and 1/4 teaspoon of dill.
Duke’s mayonnaise: about 3/4 cup. Duke’s has no added sugar and a tangier flavor than most store mayonnaise; any mayonnaise works. You may need a little more or less.
Finishing: 1 tablespoon dried parsley, fresh cracked black pepper, and salt only if it needs it.
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast (baked, cooled and diced)
- 1 to 2 teaspoons olive oil, for brushing the chicken
- 1 tablespoon Old Bay seafood seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
For the salad
- 1/2 cup celery, finely diced
- 1/2 cup onions, finely diced
- 5 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
- 2 tablespoons sweet relish
- 1/4 teaspoon dill weed
- 3/4 cup Duke’s mayonnaise (stirred in a little at a time; you may need more or less)
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- Black pepper, fresh cracked (a sprinkling)
- Salt, if desired, to taste
How to Make Southern Chicken Salad
1. Heat the oven. Heat the oven to 350°F. Line a pan with aluminum foil and set it aside.
2. Season the chicken. Brush the chicken very lightly with the olive oil. Mix the Old Bay seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder and celery salt, then sprinkle the chicken generously with the mix on the top and the bottom.
3. Bake the chicken. Place the chicken on the prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until it reaches 165°F on a food thermometer. Thicker or thinner chicken may need more or less time.
4. Cool and dice. Let the chicken cool, then dice it into small chunks and put it in a large bowl.
5. Add the mix-ins. Add the celery, onions, chopped hard-boiled eggs, sweet relish and dill weed. Stir to combine.
6. Stir in the mayonnaise. Stir in the mayonnaise a little at a time, until the salad is as creamy as you like.
7. Season and taste. Stir in the parsley and black pepper. Taste, and adjust the seasonings, adding salt if you like.
8. Chill and serve. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour. Stir before serving, with crackers or on buttered croissants.
What Makes Chicken Salad Southern Style?
It comes down to what goes in the bowl. A Southern chicken salad is diced chicken bound with mayonnaise and built on a few mix-ins that show up again and again: sweet pickle relish, celery, onion and chopped hard-boiled eggs. Onion is in almost every version, and relish and celery in most of them. The mayonnaise is often Duke’s, a tangy, unsweetened brand long sold mainly in Southern states.
There are two styles:
- Everyday: mixed smooth with pickle relish, for crackers or a sandwich. This recipe leans this way, with the chicken diced small.
- Luncheon: chunkier and fancier, with add-ins like slivered almonds, minced pineapple, mango chutney or scallions.
The Old Bay, garlic and onion powder and celery salt on the baked chicken are what set this one apart: the seasoning is on the meat before it ever meets the mayonnaise.
Keep It Cold and Safe
Chicken salad is a cold perishable food, so treat it like one:
- Bake the chicken to 165°F. If it waits before you dice it, refrigerate it within 2 hours of cooking.
- Use fully cooked eggs. Hard-boiled eggs should be cooked through before they’re chopped.
- Keep it at 40°F or below. Store it covered in the refrigerator until you serve it.
- 2 hours out, at most. Don’t leave it at room temperature longer than 2 hours, or 1 hour when it’s above 90°F, like a summer picnic. Throw it away if it has been out longer.
- Serving a crowd? Nest the bowl in a larger bowl of ice, or set out small trays and swap them often.
Variations
- Pecans and grapes: use a little Dijon mustard and a pinch of sugar in the dressing, add chopped pecans and red onion, and fold in quartered grapes at the end.
- Without eggs: leave out the eggs and season with garlic powder and onion powder, relish, celery and onion. Add eggs back if you like.
- Deviled egg style: mash the yolks of 3 hard-boiled eggs with mayonnaise, 1 to 2 teaspoons Dijon and a dash of Worcestershire, then fold in the chicken, the chopped whites and green onions.
- Green onions: use scallions in place of the onion.
- Tarragon: not traditional, but it goes well with chicken.
- Fluffier dressing: swap some of the mayonnaise for sour cream.
- Shredded chicken: shred the baked chicken by hand instead of dicing it.
Storage
Refrigerator: Keep it covered at 40°F or below. Leftovers keep 3 to 4 days.
Freezer: Don’t freeze it. Mayonnaise doesn’t freeze well; it separates and looks curdled after thawing.
What to Serve With It
Serve it with crackers, pile it onto buttered croissants or butter biscuits, or make a sandwich. For a lighter plate, scoop it into a lettuce leaf on a chilled plate with sliced tomatoes and radishes.
For a shared lunch, add a cold side: deviled egg pasta salad, pasta salad or layered pasta salad. For another spread, try ham salad, and for a greens version with chicken, Asian chicken cranberry salad.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes chicken salad Southern style?
Mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish, celery, onion and chopped hard-boiled eggs mixed into diced chicken, usually served on crackers, croissants or bread.
What can I add to chicken salad for more flavor?
Season the chicken before it bakes, as here with Old Bay. Dill weed, Dijon mustard, grapes, pecans, sour cream and tarragon are other good add-ins.
How long does chicken salad keep?
3 to 4 days in the refrigerator at 40°F or below.
Can I freeze chicken salad?
No. The mayonnaise separates and looks curdled after freezing.
Can I use cooked chicken?
Yes. Start with about the same amount of cooked, diced chicken breast and skip the baking.
Final Notes
Season the chicken, dice it small, and add the mayonnaise slowly until it’s just creamy enough. If you try the pecan and grape version, tell me in the comments how you liked it.
Southern Chicken Salad
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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast baked, cooled and diced
- 1 to 2 teaspoons olive oil for brushing the chicken
- 1 tablespoon Old Bay seafood seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
- 1/2 cup celery finely diced
- 1/2 cup onions finely diced
- 5 hard-boiled eggs chopped
- 2 tablespoons sweet relish
- 1/4 teaspoon dill weed
- 3/4 cup Duke's mayonnaise stirred in a little at a time; you may need more or less
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- black pepper fresh cracked, a sprinkling
- salt if desired, to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Line a pan with aluminum foil and set it aside.
- Brush the chicken very lightly with the olive oil. Mix the Old Bay seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder and celery salt, then sprinkle the chicken generously with the mix on the top and the bottom.
- Place the chicken on the prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until it reaches 165°F on a food thermometer. Thicker or thinner chicken may need more or less time.
- Let the chicken cool, then dice it into small chunks and put it in a large bowl.
- Add the celery, onions, chopped hard-boiled eggs, sweet relish and dill weed. Stir to combine.
- Stir in the mayonnaise a little at a time, until the salad is as creamy as you like.
- Stir in the parsley and black pepper. Taste, and adjust the seasonings, adding salt if you like.
- Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour. Stir before serving, with crackers or on buttered croissants.
