Chicken Salad Recipe with Cranberries, Apples, and Pecans

A chicken salad recipe made with chicken, crisp fall apples, dried cranberries, celery, pecans, green onions, and mayonnaise. Serve this delicious chicken salad for brunch or a luncheon on a croissant along with fresh fruit and a mimosa.

Everyone loves chicken salad, right? This is one of those recipes that became popular some time in the 50’s. I envision a lady’s bridge club where you served sandwiches after playing cards or something where you needed to impress your friends with your neat, pristine sandwiches that were cut into triangles. (Feel free to leave a comment if that was the case as I did not grow up in the 50’s.)

I will say this is one of the most interesting recipes for chicken salad I have come across. I was surprised by the variety and quantity of ingredients but after tasting it myself, I found it a nice combination of flavors and crunch.

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Apples and Onions?

You may wonder if apples and onions are meant to go together in a recipe, but they do balance each other. You get the crisp, tart taste of an apple and the savory spice of an onion. When combined with the rest of the flavors they all play well together.

As an added note, the flavors meld better after it has been refrigerated for an hour or more, so I would recommend making this a few hours ahead of time. This is a nice recipe to use up any leftover cooked chicken you may have in the refrigerator.

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Serve this as an alternative to traditional meat and cheese sandwiches for an afternoon tea, ladies luncheon, bridal shower, or party. Even the guys will like it (well…most guys).

If you are having a brunch buffet, try serving it on mini-croissants. They will be an easier to eat finger food and you can make up a whole platter of them with the amounts below.

Cranberry Chicken Salad Recipe

Chicken Salad Recipe

A chicken salad recipe made with chicken, crisp fall apples, dried cranberries, celery, pecans, green onions, and mayonnaise.
Prep Time20 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: apples, chicken, cranberries
Servings: 8
Author: Laura Warnke

Ingredients

  • 2-15 ounce cans cooked chicken or about 2 cups cooked chicken cut into small cubes
  • 3/4 cup dried cranberries
  • 1 medium unpeeled red apple finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
  • 1/4 cup chopped pecans or almonds
  • 2 Tablespoons sliced green onions
  • 3/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 Tablespoons lime juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
  • 12 slices of bread or croissants

Instructions

  • Open the cans of chicken, drain well and place in a large mixing bowl. Or, if using cooked chicken, dice into small cubes. Add the dried cranberries.
  • Finely chop the apple, celery, pecans, and slice the green onions.
  • Add the mayonnaise, lime juice, and curry powder.
  • Stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate for one hour or until ready to serve.
  • Place equal amounts of the chicken salad on half of the slices of bread and top with the remaining slices of bread. Cut into quarters diagonally. You can also serve this chicken salad on full size croissants or mini-croissants.

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