Rotisserie Chicken Salad
Simple steps and ingredients make this rotisserie chicken salad a fresh and easy addition to your rotation. If you are looking for classic chicken salad flavors: lemon; celery; garlic; and dill, look no further!
An added bonus? With the price of rotisserie chicken about the only thing that hasn’t exponentially increased in the last 5 years, making chicken salad from rotisserie chicken is a great way to make your dollar go further without compromising on taste and quality.
And what I mean by “further” is not just the inital purchase of the chicken and making this recipe. I use the following strategy to make the whole bird count. Eat the dark meat same day (lunch or dinner), use the chicken breasts for this chicken salad (lunch the next day or two), and make chicken stock with the leftovers (frozen for up to 2 months). Now, nothing goes to waste!
Get the Recipe: Rotisserie Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb rotisserie chicken breast
- 2 celery stalks
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon dillweed
- ¼ teaspoon celery seed
- ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon white pepper, ground
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Equipment
- 1 chef knife
- 1 cutting board
- 1 food processor
- 1 citrus reamer or juicer
Instructions
- First, remove the chicken breasts from the rotisserie chicken by slicing down and underneath the breast bone. Make sure to also remove any skin stuck to the breasts. It’s great flavor, but the texture isn’t pleasant in a chicken salad. (See notes for an optional flavor boost.) Roughly chop the chicken breasts on a cutting board and add them to a food processor. If the pieces are too big, they will get caught in the blades and the processor won’t work. Pulse until you are happy with the size of the pieces. (Of note: The chopped chicken will break down a bit more as you mix the chicken into the other ingredients, so consider the ending texture as you work.) Put the processor bowl with the chopped chicken into the refrigerator to store until it’s time to mix everythign together.
- Next, use your knife to slice down the celery stalks, and create 3-4 long pieces of celery per rib, depending on how wide they are. Once the thin pieces of stalk are cut, small dice the celery to your preferred size. I like thing slivers for a tiny bit of crunch in each bite, but no need to chew for an extended period of time. When cut, set the chopped celery aside.
- In a small bowl, measure and mix the mayonnaise, garlic and onion powders, kosher salt, white pepper, celery seed, and dill weed.
- Next, zest the lemon and add it to the bowl. Then squeeze out the lemon juice with a reamer or juicer. Measure out the lemon juice and mix it into the other ingredients very well.
- Take the chopped rotisserie chicken breasts out of the refrigerator and add them to the bowl. Pour in the sliced celery as well. Mix everything to uniformity and give the chicken salad a taste. Add a touch of lemon juice or salt to taste, if necessary. Serve with crackers, cucumber, lettuce cups, or just enjoy right out of the bowl!
Notes
- If you want to use fresh herbs, substitute the dill weed for 1/2tbsp (1.3g) chopped fresh dill.
- If you do not have a food processor or don’t want to use one, feel free to hand chop the chicken on a cutting board. it will provide more control over the texture of the resulting chicken salad, but it will also take longer. Anywhere between 10-20 minutes, depending on your knife skills and the size of your chicken pieces.
- Quick Tip: I typically add any drippings in the rotisserie chicken bag to my chicken stock. But adding a bit of it to the chicken salad will boost the savory flavor quite a bit. If you add drippings, half the salt and then salt to taste. Just in case. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Fresh rotisserie chicken lasts 2-3 days in a refrigerator.
Pre-chopped and frozen chicken is good up to 1 month before the texture changes too much to use in this chicken salad. Bonus! Splitting the ingredient prep up makes this recipe come together even faster.
Of Note: These recommendations are just for the rotisserie chicken. I do not recommend freezing the finished chicken salad once it’s made. Mayonnaise and celery do not defrost well.
I know I just made a bold and odd claim with the frozen chicken comment in the above FAQ. Hear me out. If you know you won’t have time to eat or make this chicken salad before it goes bad, pre-chop the rotisserie chicken in a food processor, as written in the instructions.
Then, put the prepped chicken into a vacuum sealed bag. Make sure to pack the chicken in a thin layer to promote more even freezing and defrosting. From there, you have about a month to defrost and make chicken salad. If you chop the chicken up right away, you’ll even have the aforementioned 2-3 days to eat the salad after it’s made.
Freezing chicken does change the texture a bit. However, over mixing the chopped chicken into the other ingredients creates a tuna salad type texture, which is absolutely fine in my book. Especially with the crunchy bits of celery studded throughout.
The best way to defrost pre-chopped, frozen chicken is to place it in the refrigerator and let it come to temperature over several hours. If you are strapped for time, fill your kitchen sink with cool water and submerge the vacuum packed chicken to defrost it in about 20-30 minutes.
Make a delicious and rich chicken stock at home and never by boxed chicken stock again! I’ll provide a recipe below. Chicken stock is all passive cooking and it has an incredible return on investment. Technically all you need is the leftover chicken parts and water, but you know me and flavor. Pick and choose what you’d like to use.
10 cups (2.4L) water
1 cut up rotisserie or roasted chicken carcass, with as much skin as you can keep
3 (215g) carrots
4 (215g) celery stalks
½ (215g) onion
½ a lemon
1 bay leaf
2 cloves (4g) of crushed garlic
½ tablespoon (3.8g) whole peppercorns
½ teaspoon (2.5g) coriander seeds
For chicken stock, break down the chicken with a boning knife. Separate the thighs, wings, and drums from the main part of the bird. Then twist off the spine to separate it. Remove the chicken breasts for the rotisserie chicken salad recipe. Then, pick through and save or eat any dark meat from the thighs, wings, and drums.
Add the remaining bones, skin, and meat to a stock pot and cover with the water. Add in the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaf, spices, and lemon half. It’s up to you if you want to use a sachet for the spices and herbs. Bring everything to a gentle boil, uncovered, for at least 6 hours. Strain the stock when it’s finished and store for future meals.
Of Note: My favorite part of chicken stock is standing over the pot and eating the stewed veggies as I strain. If you liked cooked carrots, celery, and onion, this is such a yummy lil bonus snack. OR… you can add some cooked veggies, previously separated dark meat, and chicken stock to a bowl. Make a quick handful of egg noodles and enjoy a perfect bowl of chicken noodle soup! This soup (sans noodles) also freezes very well.
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