chicken salad chick copycat recipe: fancy nancy chicken salad;
I was recently introduced to the deliciousness that is the Chicken Salad Chick, and I’m in love! My Mother-in-Law brings it sometimes as a quick meal to help us in the toddler years, and it’s so, so appreciated—and delicious! This fancy Nancy chicken salad is just that—fancy! Chicken makes up the base, but it’s got all sorts of goodies. Add toasted pecans, celery, grapes, and apples for a sweet and crunchy chicken salad that goes great on crackers, in a sandwich, or on its own!
I admit, we didn’t actually eat much chicken salad growing up. So fancy Nancy chicken salad was a complete surprise to me. It’s fresh and has enough little gems of flavor throughout to keep you going back for more.
The base of the recipe is, of course, chicken. I make plain shredded chicken in my crockpot because it’s easy peasy, set and forget. All you need are chicken, chicken broth, salt, and pepper. And while this is my go-to recipe, you can get away with just chicken breasts and water if you want the simplest recipe ever. Add some chicken, add some liquid, and cook 7-8 hours on low. I do highly recommend the seasonings, because flavoring your dish as you go builds delicious flavor. Then again, for a recipe like the fancy Nancy chicken salad, you can do a lot of seasoning on the finished product as well.
When picking an apple, I recommend Honeycrisp or Fuji. These have a sweet-tart profile and add a bit of acid to the chicken salad. You won’t know what you’re missing if you leave it out! Make sure to dice the apple up into small chunks; I usually do a 1/4” or even smaller. I personally don’t bother to remove the skin, I just make sure it’s washed thoroughly. I like the extra pop of red color, but if you’re not a fan, grab a peeler and remove it! I promise your fancy Nancy chicken salad will be just as fancy!
Honeycrisp or Fuji make great picks for apples.
Secret to success
When it comes to the pecans, I highly recommend you roast them. If you’re crunched for time or lazy, the step is optional. But in my honest opinion, there’s not much else on the planet better than a toasted nut, and pecans especially. They have such a perfect snap, the toasted oils rise to the surface, and they’re so flavorful given one tiny little nut. Be warned, though, some of that perfect snap will reduce over time. Stored with the relative moisture in the rest of the fancy Nancy chicken salad, they won’t retain that snap. Fresh is extra delectable, though.
Toasting your nuts is highly recommended—you’ll get so much more flavor out of them.
Secret to success
No, we’re roasting for the flavor here. Roasting really brings out the flavors so the pecans stand up to the myriad of other ingredients.
When it comes to the grapes, chicken salad chick adds them whole to their fancy Nancy chicken salad. I prefer them quartered to a more reasonable size given the small dice of the other ingredients. If you love the rare but delicious burst of grape juice, feel free to leave them whole! But since I got one of those tools to cut grapes for my toddler, it’s a) fast, b) easy, and c) my toddler loves to help cut them into quarters!
Add the grapes whole if you want to be authentic, but personally I prefer to halve or quarter them for better sized bites.
Secret to success
secrets to success;
Want all the best tips and tricks to make this recipe a success? Check out the blog post above to find out more!
more recipes;
Looking for other copycat recipes or the perfect easy lunch? Look no further!
- Panera’s broccoli cheddar soup is great and all, but I love my homemade version of broccoli cheddar soup. Extra broccoli, extra chunky is my favorite! Bonus points if you serve it with sour cream and chive biscuits.
- Portillo’s chopped salad is one I make time and time again. I do not know what it is, there’s no crazy ingredients, but it’s so flavorful, healthful, and the perfect combination. To make it extra hearty, add some grilled chicken, or honestly my favorite is some chicken nuggets! (Thanks to a toddler, I always have them around.)
- Looking to set and forget dinner? Try these 6 weeknight slow cooker meals. My favorite is a pesto chicken salad sandwich, with pesto and sundried tomatoes. Fresh bread makes the sandwich to die for!
fancy nancy chicken salad; (chicken salad chick copycat)
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts (roughly 3 cups shredded chicken)
- 1 honey crisp or fuji apple diced into small chunks
- ½ cup red seedless grapes cut into ¼ths
- ½ cup chopped celery
- 2 Tbsp chopped pecans
- ½ cup mayonnaise reduced fat is fine
- ⅓ cup greek yogurt (optional)
- 1 Tbsp ranch season hidden valley powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Using a medium/large bowl, add the chicken, apples, grapes, celery, pecans, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and ranch seasoning. Stir gently to combine everything and mix well.
- Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors meld together.
- Serve and refrigerate when not serving. Will keep in fridge for up to 1 week.
