Cranberry chicken salad is a great way to enhance a classic dish with roasted walnuts and sweet, dried cranberries that everyone will love!

It’s so simple making a chicken salad recipe and most times you don’t even have to cook the chicken.

A cranberry chicken salad is a nice twist to a classic chicken salad by adding walnuts and dried cranberries. These little changes enhance the salad more than I can explain.

The roasted walnuts bring in a crunchy texture and that’s something we never get out of chicken salad.

But, the gems are the dried cranberries. They bring a sweet, chewy flavor and texture that not only screams delicious but cranberries make you feel the warmth of fall.

This cranberry walnut chicken salad will be a nice recipe for a potluck or any family get together. If you live solo this is also great to make ahead and eat throughout the week.

Let me show you how easy it is to make.

How To Make Cranberry Chicken Salad

Quickly grab these ingredients to start

Chicken
Celery
Dried cranberries
Walnuts
Mayonnaise
Mustard
Honey
Apple cider vinegar
Salt & black pepper

Make it faster & easier with these tips

Buy a rotisserie chicken instead of cooking your own. Making shredded chicken at home is fine but the chicken is what will take the longest to prepare if you want to cook it yourself. Rotisserie chicken is already cooked and seasoned. Take what you need and save the dark meat for later.
Make the cranberry walnut chicken salad ahead of time or at least make the dressing a day before. This gives time for the flavors in the dressing to really work together and taste their best.

Making the cranberry chicken salad recipe

First, you want to chop up the chicken. You can leave in chunks but the recipe works the best when the chicken is chopped finely.
Then, you want to mince a rib of celery.
Now, to make the dressing. In a small bowl, add the mayo, mustard, honey and apple cider vinegar. Mix well.
In a large bowl, add in the chopped chicken, minced celery, dried cranberries and the walnuts. Pour the dressing over and give everything an even mix.
Lastly, salt and black pepper to taste and serve.

Should you store & keep the leftovers

Cranberry chicken salad is an excellent recipe for leftovers. You can enjoy with crackers, as a sandwich or simply enjoy it by itself. In the refrigerator, in an airtight or sealed container the chicken salad will keep about 4 day. Maybe 5 depending on how fresh the celery was, but celery tends to hold up well with time.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Can you freeze chicken salad with mayo?

This is now a recipe to be frozen. There are stabilizers in the mayo that if frozen will break. This will cause the mayo to separate when thawed.

How long is chicken salad good for?

Chicken salad is a great meal prep recipe because the ingredients last a long time in the refrigerator. For example, celery can last more than a week if you buy it fresh. The other ingredients in this cranberry walnut chicken salad are very shelf stable from the dried cranberries to the walnuts as well.

Is chicken salad healthy?

Chicken salad does contain a lot of fat due to the mayo dressing. Which can add up the calories quickly. However, when making a recipe like this that I want to eat throughout the week, I will sub half the mayo for sour cream. Sour cream is very low calorie and the flavor is not stronger than mayo which allows the mayo to still come through. And I can’t tell a difference.

Overall, cranberry chicken salad is a great source of lean protein*.

Do you eat the cranberry chicken salad cold?

Yes, it’s best served cold and stored in a cold environment. Now, when you first make it the chicken will probably be warm. But, it’s still safe to consume.

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