A classic chicken salad recipe with grapes, mandarin oranges, almonds, and just the right touch of mayonnaise. This is good in a sandwich, in a tortilla wrap, or on tender lettuce leaves for a healthier option! 

Mom's Chicken Salad with Mandarin Oranges from The Food Charlatan

Charlotte and I couldn’t find Truman yesterday. Our house isn’t that big, so I was just on the edge of starting to worry that he wasn’t answering our calls, when I remembered to check the laundry room.

Mom's Chicken Salad with Mandarin Oranges from The Food Charlatan

And there he was, fast asleep. I had sent him to a timeout for eating frosting off the kitchen floor, and he decided to say forget you mom, I’m taking a nap. (I know he intended to take a nap because the lights were off. Although he may have just been checking to see if something was glowing up. Truman is obsessed with going in the dark laundry room to see if his toys/any random object “glows up.” (Glows in the dark.)

By the way, if you make any comments about the state of my floor I will pull my newborn baby card on you. Don’t make me get serious here people.

Mom's Chicken Salad with Mandarin Oranges from The Food Charlatan

Just look at the stress I have to deal with every day. (Isn’t she the best??)

Chicken Salad time!

Mom's Chicken Salad with Mandarin Oranges from The Food Charlatan
Mom's Chicken Salad with Mandarin Oranges from The Food Charlatan

On the left: how to not chop your celery. On the right: how to chop your celery. I love the flavor of celery but hate huge chunks in my chicken salad. Solution? Chop it up real good.

Garlic Roasted Artichokes with Pesto Dipping Sauce from The Food Charlatan

Mom's Chicken Salad with Mandarin Oranges from The Food Charlatan

Mom's Chicken Salad with Mandarin Oranges from The Food Charlatan

I loooove chicken salad. This is my favorite version. A quick little soak in some lemon juice and spices makes the rotisserie chicken super flavorful. The crunch comes from delicious slivered almonds and not chunks of celery. (Well, I mean. A little celery crunch. But nothing crazy.) This is a super easy salad and such a crowd pleaser for baby showers and potlucks!

Mom's Chicken Salad with Mandarin Oranges from The Food Charlatan

If you would like some Easter ideas for this weekend, check out all my Easter-ish recipes here on the blog. I also have an Easter Pinterest board you could take a look at!

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One year ago: Cheesy Ham and Broccoli Frittata
Two years ago: Almond Crusted Honey Dijon Tilapia
Three years ago: No Bake Cheesecake Parfait Bar

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Mom’s Chicken Salad with Mandarin Oranges

5 from 6 votes
Prep: 5 minutes
Chill Time: 2 hours
Total: 2 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 6
A classic chicken salad recipe with grapes, mandarin oranges, almonds, and just the right touch of mayonnaise. This is good in a sandwich, in a tortilla wrap, or on tender lettuce leaves for a healthier option! 
 

Ingredients

  • 3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
  • 1 cup celery, diced small
  • 1/2 lemon Lemon Juice, about 2 tablespoons
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning
  • 1 & 1/2 cups red grapes, halved
  • 1 (15-oz) can mandarin oranges, drained
  • 1/2 cup slivered almonds
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 6 large croissants, or 8-10 of the mini kind

Instructions

  • Shred the chicken and dice the celery. Do a good job dicing the celery! Boo on big celery chunks!
  • Add the chicken, celery, lemon juice, onion powder, salt, and steak seasoning to a large bowl. Combine well, cover, and chill in the fridge for a few hours. At least 2. Overnight works great too.
  • Add grapes, mandarin oranges, almonds, and mayonnaise. Stir well. At this point you can serve it or chill overnight.
  • Divide between the split croissants and serve!

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 570kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 10g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 135mg | Sodium: 950mg | Potassium: 343mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 811IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 77mg | Iron: 1mg
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Calories: 570
Keyword: Chicken Salad, mandarin orange
Did you make this? I'd love to see it!Mention @thefoodcharlatan or tag #thefoodcharlatan!

More great recipes!

Chicken Shawarma << this one is super popular!

Chicken Shawarma from TheFoodCharlatan.com

 

Curried Chicken Salad Sandwiches with Naan

Curried Chicken Salad Sandwiches with Naan from TheFoodCharlatan.com

Lemon Tarragon Pasta Salad << this is a huge favorite of mine!

Lemon Tarragon Pasta Salad

More chicken salad from friends!

Mango Chicken Salad from Taste and Tell
Avocado Chicken Salad Crostini from Wishes and Dishes
Fennel Walnut Chicken Salad from All Day I Dream About Food

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Made the Chicken Salad with Mandarine Oranges. Wonderful! My very slight changes: used fresh mandarin orange sections (great!), a bit of minced red onion instead of the powder, and only a half teaspoon of the steak seasoning and about 3/4 cup of light mayonnaise, since we like it a little “wetter”. I will make this again, but will reduce the salt maybe to 1/4 teaspoon, since the steak seasoning also contains salt and it was a bit too salty for our taste. But a wonderful treat with our leftover roasted chicken.

    1. I love your tweaks Susan! Thanks so much for sharing. I haven’t made this in way too long, I need to do it! Love the idea of fresh red onion.

  2. This is the BEST chicken salad I’ve ever had. Thank you for the recipe (I omitted the steak seasoning and lemon juice though). YUMMERS!

    1. I’m so glad you loved it Carol! Hard to beat a good chicken salad some days, right? :) Thanks for reviewing!

  3. I haven’t made this… YET. My mom was a chef for some of the fanciest restaurants in our town & she cooked for some of the dinkiest places in town, my mama just COOKED. You name it & she could throw down in the kitchen, make it & knock your socks off. We live in a tiny off the map town in Kentucky & while my mom cooked for the “fanciest” cafe we had, she had people come in from Texas, Ohio, Florida, Indiana & a few other places near & far to buy tubs of her chicken salad & her chocolate pies. My mama passed away when I was 3 months pregnant, that was a little over 10 years ago, & I’m just getting into cooking & following in her footsteps. Just to put it bluntly, we’re poor & struggling & it’s hard not having the right ingredients or tools to cook with. But I do want to follow in my mother’s footsteps & cook. This chicken salad recipe is the closest I’ve seen to what she made 20 years ago. Just seeing the recipe made me nostalgic of my childhood & brought a tear to my eye, as soon as I’m able to buy some groceries I want to make this! Thank you for sharing the recipe!!!

    1. This is the sweetest story about your mom Courtney! Thank you so much for sharing! She sounds like one heck of a cook and an amazing mom. That is so cool that people came from all over for her food. Way to go getting in the kitchen to keep the memories alive! You will have to let me know if the chicken salad is anything like hers! Thanks for sharing your memories!

  4. My whole family loved this recipe. I love that I can make it up ahead of time so it’s ready to go on our busy days.

    1. Make ahead recipes are the best, right? It’s hard to go wrong with chicken salad. Thanks Nadine!

  5. Chicken Surprise is my favorite- it’s a recipe that my Grandmother made for my Bridal Shower. She uses french dressing for the sauce and cooked long grain rice that has been browned then cooked in chicken broth- So yummy!! I am going to try the grapes in the recipe as an added extra flavor…. Thank you, Happy cooking!

  6. I once couldn’t find my son when he was a few months under a year. I was searching everywhere and I finally found him hiding behind a huge watermelon I had on top of our chest freezer. It didn’t even cross my mind to look up above ground level, lol! Parenting is so hard! I love chicken salad too and I am even more in love with your version!! Love the fruit!!

  7. i’m 33 and i still love to check and see if something “glows up”! (totally stealing that phrasing btw. hope truman doesn’t mind.) i keep all my little things that glow on my desk in my bedroom so i can see them when i go to bed. :) i also may have bought my partner a tshirt that glows up for his birthday this year in february.

    speaking of, how is that little baby so big already?! time is really flying.

    anyway, totally gonna add this to my brand new lunch bookmarks folder. (i decided it’s finally time i stop eating cold pizza and whatever other leftover bits are in the fridge throughout the day as “lunch” while standing in front of it. …that’s my plan, anyhow, haha.)

    1. Haha! I love that you have stuff on your desk that glows up to keep you company at night. (and yes, I have stolen this phrase from Truman as well.) And glow up t shirts are legit.

      Cold pizza for fridge is my mantra. Said pre-3rd-kid-Karen. These days…..oh man.

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