Arizona Chicken Salad

I used to go to a little Bar and Grill with my girlfriends that had the best chicken salad ever!  When I first ordered it there (about 20 years ago) I wasn’t familiar with grapes and pecans being in a chicken salad recipe, so when it arrived at the table I turned my nose up at it a bit.  But once I tried it…wow!  I can’t believe what I’d been missing.  I had to try it at home so I tinkered with different ingredients and came up with my own recipe.  It quickly became a family favorite and I make it for all kinds of occasions.  So here’s my recipe for Arizona Chicken Salad .

This post may contain affiliate links.  See our disclosure here.

I tried different chickens when coming up with my recipe.  I tried canned, skinless chicken breasts, rotisserie…but I found that a grocery store rotisserie chicken made the best chicken salad by far.  It’s just a richer flavor when you combine the dark and light meat.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 16 oz rotisserie chicken, skin removed
• 1 cup seedless grapes (red, green or purple)
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 8 oz chopped pecans
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• salt and pepper

Here’s what you’ll do:

• Cut the chicken into bite size pieces
• Slice your grapes in quarters (or half or whole if you prefer)
• Chop the celery and pecans
• Add the chicken, grapes, celery and pecans into a medium size bowl
• Add the onion powder and garlic powder
• Give the dry ingredients a stir
• Add the mayonnaise
• Add salt and pepper to taste
• Stir and refrigerate

Chopping:

My family teases me about being a “micro-chopper”.  I like my veggies chopped pretty small.  I like that you taste everything in every bite.  Plus there is something about chopping vegetables that is kind of zen for me.  Weird?  My chopping and bench scrape go hand in hand.  I can’t live without it.  It’s just an effortless way to get everything from the cutting board to the bowl.  I even use it to cut my Maple Nut Fudge  

I hope you enjoy this recipe.  For a change of pace, try the chicken salad inside a romaine lettuce leaf…or celery.  Delicious!

Happy Tinkering,

Susan

Print

Arizona Chicken Salad

Servings: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 16 oz rotisserie chicken, skin removed
• 1 cup celery
• 1 cup seedless grapes
• 8 oz chopped pecans
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces

2. Slice your grapes in quarters (or half or whole if you prefer)

3. Chop the celery and pecans

4. Add the chicken, grapes, celery and pecans into a medium size bowl

5. Add the onion powder and garlic powder

6. Give the dry ingredients a stir

7. Add the mayonnaise

8. Add salt and pepper to taste

9. Stir and refrigerate