This sweeter twist on chicken salad with grapes, pecans, celery, poppy seeds, and hints of lemon and honey is perfect as a side dish or on a sandwich!

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Side view of a bowl of chicken salad with grapes, pictured with a bowl of bread in the background.

About Chicken Salad with Grapes

The only thing better than a classic recipe is a classic recipe with some extra flavor.

And that, my friends, is exactly what this recipe is: it’s a classic chicken salad… with grapes.

And honestly, that’s what I love most about it.

Because, this recipe, it’s not just savory… it’s sweet and savory.

And there are pecans. And poppy seeds.

Oh, and the grapes. The grapes make this salad as good as it is.

It’s the sweet and savory combination laced with crunchy goodness that is guaranteed to make this your new go-to recipe for delicious chicken salad.

What’s in chicken salad?

  • Mayonnaise – To create the creamy base of this recipe. You could potentially use miracle whip, too, but I’ve personally never tried it with this recipe.
  • Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice – For adding tartness and zing.
  • Honey – Helps soften the flavors and compliments the sweetness of the grapes. Feel free to adjust the honey to your liking.
  • Salt and pepper – Classic spices for any dish.
  • Poppy seeds – Adds a delicious crunch and kicks the flavor up a notch. Plus, black poppy seeds help make salads like this look interesting and pretty.
  • Chicken – The namesake of this recipe.
  • Grapes – The other key ingredient to this recipe. Grapes are not a traditional addition to chicken salad but they provide great texture and bursts of sweet flavor. However, you can skip the grapes if you’d like.
  • Celery and pecans – For more crunch, texture, and complimenting fillers.
Top down view of a bowl of chicken salad with grapes.

What type of chicken should you use?

This recipe can be made with freshly cooked chicken (grilled, boiled, baked, etc), leftover rotisserie chicken, or canned chicken. I’ve tried all three and it’s been delicious every time.

How long can chicken salad be left out?

No matter the situation or circumstance, you never want to leave chicken sitting out for too long. This is especially important for multiple-serving dishes like a salad, as they are a popular party food and are easily forgotten on counters.

For most foods, the general rule of thumb is that a perishable item should not be in the “danger zone” for more than two hours. And by “danger zone”, this is usually at or just above room temperature. This time may vary depending on the temperature of the room.

Since this salad will be served cold, you “should” have a solid one hour (and up to two hours) before you need to pack it up (depending on other factors, such as the temperature of the room, etc). However, be sure to still check on the salad every now and then and use your best judgment. When it comes to chicken, most guests will appreciate the peace of mind it gives them if you refrigerate the salad after one hour.

Top down close up view of a bowl of chicken salad with grapes, showing off the white dressing dotted with black poppy seeds and the mixture of grapes, chicken, and celery.

How long is chicken salad good for?

When stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator, this salad should last up to three to five days.

Can you freeze chicken salad?

Bad news here, guys. Due to the mayonnaise in this salad, I can’t recommend freezing it. Mayonnaise is an emulsion, and the consistency of an emulsion will completely break down during the freezing process. The flavor will remain the same but the texture will change in a way that many may feel is off-putting.

For best results, try to enjoy this salad when it’s freshly made.

notes & tips for this chicken salad with grapes

  • Many classic chicken salad recipes include chopped onions, but this recipe doesn’t. In the place of onions is a double serving of celery, so there’s still plenty of vegetable crunch to be had. Also, omitting onions just means there’s one less flavor competing with the grapes and chicken. However, if you feel you can’t call it chicken salad without onions, feel free to reduce the amount of celery to 1/2 cup so that you can add 1/2 cup of chopped onions.
A flaky roll that's been cut in half and stuffed with chicken salad with grapes, pictured on a plate with potato chips.

More great chicken recipes

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How to make chicken salad

This next part is only a photo tutorial of the recipe steps. If you’re looking for the full recipe measurements and instructions, scroll down to Recipe Details.

Step 1 – Add mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, honey, poppy seeds, plus salt and pepper to taste to a large bowl. Stir until smooth.

Step 2 – Add chicken, grapes, celery, and peans, then toss to coat.

Step 3 – Serve and enjoy!

Recipe Details

Side view of a bowl of chicken salad with grapes, pictured with a bowl of bread in the background.
4.88 from 16 votes

Chicken Salad with Grapes

10 mins prep
344 kcal
Yields: 8 servings
This sweeter twist on chicken salad with grapes, pecans, celery, poppy seeds, and hints of lemon and honey is perfect as a side dish or on a sandwich!

Ingredients 

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, add mayonnaise, lemon juice, honey, poppy seeds, worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. Whisk until smooth.
    1 cup mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 pinch salt, 1 pinch black pepper, 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
  • Add chicken, red grapes, celery, and pecans to bowl with sauce, then stir to coat.
    1 1/2 cups cooked chicken cut into cubes, 1 cup red grapes, 1 cup chopped celery, 1 cup chopped pecans
  • Serve chicken salad immediately on its own or with a bread of your choice.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 344kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 16g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 30mg | Sodium: 236mg | Potassium: 249mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 104IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 1mg

I do my best to provide nutrition information, but please keep in mind that I’m not a certified nutritionist. Any nutritional information discussed or disclosed in this post should only be seen as my best amateur estimates of the correct values.

Author: Chrisy

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Recipe Rating




14 comments

    • Gladys
    • 5 stars

    Just made this today and it is delicious! Will make it again! Thank you so much for the recipe!

    • Melissa Weiss
    • 5 stars

    Delicious. Made it for a family dinner one hot spring night. I added 3 cups of chicken and found it had the perfect amount of sauce. Might add one and a half cups of grapes with the extra chicken. Perfect! Thank you for the recipe!

    • Francis B Turner

    If you don’t have grapes, try craisins instead.

    • Julie Mott

    Truly delicious recipe, my entire family requests it often. Thank you for sharing.

    • Kim Ellis

    This is seriously delicious! I toasted the pecans to intensify the flavor. It’s a home run.

    • Julie

    Great salad. The dressing is awesome. I used cashews.

    • Pam

    Made it today- absolutely delicious

    • Terasita
    • 5 stars

    Made this for our Neighborhood Night Out potluck tonight. Only change I had to make was to substitute walnuts for the pecans because that’s what I had. I put the poppy seeds in the dressing. It is delicious. I am going to love the compliments I’m going to get!

    • Lois Kingery
    • 5 stars

    Loved it I added some sweet onion and no nuts also added dried cranberries.

    • Camille matthews

    Looks delish

    • Becky

    I made a few changes to this just because. I added chopped green onions, and 1/2 C sour cream. I left out the pecans as I was making a large amount for a bridal shower and didn’t want anyone be with nut allergies to be affected. Love the addition of the Worcester sauce. My favorite!

    • Pamela
    • 5 stars

    Made this today and it was so good. Thanks for the recipe.

    • jane @ littlesugarsnaps
    • 5 stars

    This would work great in a lunchbox – it would pep up the chicken sandwich no end with that delicious dressing. Oh and I’m all for poppyseeds – they are a visual treat.

    • Sara
    • 5 stars

    This looks seriously delicious, I’m a huge chicken salad fan and this is going on my lunch menu soon!