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This Tarragon Chicken Salad is simple, flavorful, and (dare I say) my favorite chicken salad ever!
What makes this chicken salad standout from others that I’ve shared on the blog before is the use of fresh tarragon, which is a leafy green herb widely used in French cooking. It has a strong, anise-like that immediately elevates any dish. For example, this otherwise ordinary chicken salad is truly restaurant-worthy — and I give all the credit to the tarragon! Even if you find yourself turned off by the flavor of licorice, I’m right there with you so trust me when I say that the herb works so well here.
For this recipe, I was inspired by the chicken salad from Bird Bakery (if you’re Dallas or San Antonio, then you know exactly what I’m talking about). It’s savory, but the touch of dried cranberries gives it a bit of sweetness and tartness that leaves you wanting more!
The other trick that I do here, which makes this salad extra creamy and delicious, is using my stand mixer. While you can use a good old-fashioned spatula and mixing bowl to combine all of the ingredients together, I love throwing everything in my KitchenAid mixer and letting that do the work. It shreds the chicken ultra-fine, which means you get the perfect bite of chicken, celery, onions, herbs, and cranberries in every bite.
ingredients:
- Cooked Rotisserie Chicken
- Celery
- Sweet Onion
- Fresh Tarragon
- Unsweetened Dried Cranberries
- Garlic Powder
- Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
- Mayonnaise
- Dijon Mustard
- Kosher Salt
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper
step-by-step:
step one: mix the chicken salad
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the chicken, celery, onions, tarragon, cranberries, garlic powder, lemon juice, mayonnaise, and mustard. Beat on medium speed until the chicken is finely shredded and everything is very well combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
step two: chill and serve
Transfer to an airtight container and chill in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve.
recipe faqs:
Yes! Just be sure to shred the chicken really fine using your hands, then add it to a large bowl with all of the other ingredients and stir to combine until everything is very well incorporated.
I love to eat this chicken salad as is, tucked into romaine lettuce cups, with crackers for dipping, or sandwiched between toasted whole wheat bread.
If you want to change up your usual chicken salad routine, you need to try this herbaceous Tarragon Chicken Salad! Let me know what you think of this riff in the comments below.
want More Chicken Salad Recipes? try these!
Clayton’s Favorite Chicken Salad
Tarragon Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked rotisserie chicken
- 1/2 cup finely diced celery
- 1/2 cup finely diced sweet onion
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon leaves
- 1/2 cup unsweetened dried cranberries
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- kosher salt, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the chicken, celery, onions, tarragon, cranberries, garlic powder, lemon juice, mayonnaise, and mustard. Beat on medium speed until the chicken is finely shredded and everything is very well combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Transfer to an airtight container and chill in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
SO GOOD! This is my first time making chicken salad and I was surprised at how easy it was. I do not have a mixer so I used my vitamix which shredded it perfectly. I also subbed halved grapes for the cranberries!
Such a delicious chicken salad! I’ve been making one like this for years from an old recipe I found in Southern Lady magazine, it’s a favorite! I added sliced almonds to your recipe, so good! Thank you Alex 🙂
My faith in humanity is restored.
Can you sub yogurt vs Mayo? Thanks!!
Yes!! Yogurt works well here.
Amazing! Ive already made it twice. Great with crackers, in a wrap or on a bed of greens. Don’t skip the fresh tarragon. Sooo good!
Yes!!! so glad, and NEVER skip that delightful tarragon. it’s just so good.
I made this (along with the homemade mayo) and it is amazing! So so good. And it feels very light and healthy. Thank you!
DANG SO GOOD. I did 2 chicken breasts in the oven and shredded them with my mixer before making! I ate it wrapped in lettuce and with carrot sticks. I also used Primal Kitchen Garlic Mayo (they were out of the regular at my store) and surprisingly loved it! 10/10 will make this dish again! Super easy to meal prep too- I made it Monday and kept it in the fridge until it was gone on Friday!
Wonderful! My little family loved it, even my picky 8 year old! Thank you Alex! Also, cranberries with no sugar added are REALLY hard to find!
I had to specialty order them from Thrive Market!! So tough to find no sugar added. I did recently find them at Trader Joes however!
it is so tough to find dried cranberries without added sugar! I also find them at Natural Grocers in their bulk section.
How many calories would you say one serving of this is?
I am not sure but someone may have calculated already and can share!
I’m not normally one to comment on recipes, but HOLY $#!&$^ this is good! Can’t wait to add it to my normal meal prep rotation.
super delicious and actually really light amount of mayo for how much it makes which is awesome