Church Lady Chicken Salad

There are typically two types of chicken salad lovers in this world, those who love sweet and those who love savory. I am in the sweet chicken salad club. My very favorite chicken salad is from Jason’s Deli. They have a unique mix of pineapple and chicken that is most deliciously served on a toasted croissant. However, amazing chicken salad can be made at home as well.

Each year, a local church invites our faculty to a luncheon on the last day of school. At this year’s luncheon, a spectacular chicken salad was served. In typical Brandi fashion, I went seeking out the lady who made the chicken salad so that I could ask her some important questions. Since I had already deconstructed the chicken salad while eating because I wanted to reconstruct that deliciousness at home, I had a pretty good idea of the ingredients. However, I had to find the secret in the sauce.

You can have the best ingredients for chicken salad, and one wrong move with the binding sauce and your chicken salad is on its way to the trash can. I knew that I needed to know what kind of mayonnaise this chicken salad was made from. When I found the lady who made the chicken salad, she told me that the sauce was made from a 1:1 ratio of Dukes Mayonnaise and sour cream. I thanked the lady and while very perplexed, returned to my seat.

I do not like Dukes Mayonnaise or sour cream…. or celery, and somehow I still love chicken salad??? Anyway, the Dukes Mayonnaise and sour cream together make the magic sauce. I have asked several people, and at least here in the south, mixing sour cream into chicken salad is not common. However, when a church lady tells you to add Dukes and sour cream to receive the delicious taste, you say yes ma’am and you add the Dukes and sour cream.  

The lady who made the chicken salad was elderly and she had to sit in a chair during the luncheon. I was not about to ask her for the full-blown recipe, especially since my friends and I deconstructed the salad while at our seats. Another woman accompanying her told me that the chicken salad is a hit at all the church functions. I love thinking that I can now recreate and eat at home someone’s cherished and prized chicken salad recipe… with her secret sauce.

I have tried my best to create a balanced ingredient list based on the taste of the chicken salad that day. I hope my reconstruction of her prized dish will make the church lady proud. I will note that the church lady’s chicken salad was chilled, and I do recommend making the chicken salad the night before or at least giving the salad several hours to chill in the refrigerator.

Church Lady Chicken Salad

4 medium chicken breasts, fresh or frozen

1/2-1 cup of diced celery

1/2 cup of cranberries

1/2 cup of almond slivers

1 cup of grapes, halved

3 tablespoons of Dukes Mayonnaise

3 tablespoons of sour cream

Croissants, bread, or crackers for serving

Please, make sure that when handling raw chicken, you sanitize your cooking area well and wash your hands frequently. No chicken salad is worth salmonella poisoning. Boil the chicken breasts until they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

While the chicken is boiling, wash your celery and grapes. Dice your celery and cut your grapes into halves. I always prefer to cut too many grapes and dice too much celery so that I can regulate the amount that I am adding into the chicken salad mixture. Also, I dice my celery very fine because it is not my favorite vegetable, although it tastes so good in the chicken salad. Measure out your cranberries and almonds and set the mix-ins to the side.

After the chicken is boiled, let it cool slightly and pull off any skin. Shred the chicken using a claw or two forks. How thin or thick you shred your chicken and slice your grapes will determine how chunky your chicken salad turns out.

Place your shredded chicken into a bowl.

Mix in your celery, almonds, grapes, and cranberries. With a spoon or spatula, mix the ingredients.

Add in the sour cream and mayonnaise. Stir the ingredients very well. Add in a little more sour cream and mayonnaise if you like a wetter chicken salad or withhold the two ingredients if you like your chicken salad a little dryer. You can add in more of any ingredient, so if you are unsure about one of the mix-ins, just use a little in the beginning and add more after the initial ingredients are combined.

Refrigerate, preferably overnight. Serve with your favorite croissants, bread, or crackers.

As you can see, this not only tastes delicious, but it looks fantastic as well! I hope I have done right by the church lady because her chicken salad is something to write home about!

What are your favorite chicken salad mix-ins? We would love to hear from you. Please drop us a line in the comment section below!