Ingredients

  • 3/4 lb (2-3 cups) of cooked chicken meat, skin on, coarsely chopped
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 4-6 green olives, pitted and minced
  • 1/4 cup of chopped red onion
  • 1/2 to a whole apple, cored and chopped
  • 1/3 head of iceberg head lettuce, sliced and chopped
  • 5 Tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1 Tbsp plum preserves, or any sweet berry preserve (or a lesser amount of honey)
  • 2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • Salt and pepper to taste

My mother and father make the best chicken salad. It’s a joint effort; dad assembles all of the ingredients, mom makes the dressing. There are a few things that distinguish this chicken salad recipe from a standard version. First, we use plum preserves in the dressing. You can use any berry preserve, but as we have gallons of homemade plum preserves in the freezer waiting to be used, we use the plum. Second, the recipe includes green olives. Like capers, chopped green olives give the salad an interesting bite. Finally, we use chicken that has been roasted or broiled with the skin on, and we use the skin. This makes a huge difference in flavor.

Do you have a favorite chicken salad recipe? Please let us know about it in the comments.

Method

1 Prepare all of the salad ingredients and combine them in a large bowl.

2 Prepare the dressing separately. Combine the mayonnaise, preserves, and lemon juice. Taste for proper balance. The dressing should not be too sweet nor too sour. Adjust the ingredients until you have achieved the balance you want. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3 Mix the dressing in with the salad ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste.