Craig Claiborne’s Chicken Salad Sandwich Recipe (2024)

Seriously cool to make something from the Master. I used organic rotisserie chicken from my local market using both the breast and thigh meat. I switched out romaine lettuce cups for the bread - it added crunch and saved carb calories.

Leave out capers and one type of onion. No bread. Add grapes and walnuts on some occasions.

Made this as the recipe directed - poached the chicken and all. Only variation was sour cream in place of yogurt - it was what I had on hand. Put the chicken salad on toasted croissants - everyone liked it!

I LOVEthis recipe! I subbed Costco chicken salad but otherwise recipe was spot on! (It's joke, people!)

Made this sans capers and scallions but added one peeled Granny Smith Apple to bring it some sweetness. Wonderful recipe all around.

The first day we ate this, we ate it as sandwich filling and it worked great. I had about half leftover so a day or so later, I boiled eggs and a potato. I chopped up the potato and added it with a little mayo to the chicken salad. I put some lettuce in individual serving bowls and put the chicken/potato salad on top. I peeled and sliced the eggs and placed them on top of the salad and sprinkled paprika on it. Worked perfectly to transform the original salad into a different, tasty meal.

Another reason to buy a rotisserie chicken: throw the already-roasted bones into that bag of bones in your freezer. When you have enough bones, make stock or bone broth.

A fresh chicken salad made with a well seasoned poached or roasted chicken is so perfect. I like the yogurt and vinegar addition for tang and to offset the mayo. Not a huge fan of capers, I usually leave them out. There are so many additions you can make to this recipe, fine diced apple, dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, and a pinch of ground sage are my favorites for fall.

Third time I have made this. I added 1/4 c. Lo fat sour cream (instead of yogurt) and 1/2 c. Mayonnaise. Added 1 Fuji apple, chopped, and chopped walnuts to the basic recipe. This was my ideal chicken salad.

Great sandwich, especially on hot days. I left out the capers and added 1 cup shredded carrots and 1/2 cup grated parmesan - delicious!

Made this with rotisserie turkey and used shallots instead of the onion, since I had them on hand. Made the homemade mayo too, very simple! The yogurt (I used Greek) is so nice and tangy and I love the flavor of the capers & fresh herbs. Delicious!

Best Chicken Salad I've Ever Had, this is awesome. Capers, Red Wine Vinegar, Scallions, and the beat goes on........

I would blend the mayo, vinegar and yogurt, refrigerate for 15 mins. or more then add to the rest of ingredients.

Omit onion and capers and add tarragon! Also use rice wine vinegar to bring out the sweetness in the tarragon.

Try a slice of s sweet and crunchy apple, Fuji or other, layered over the chicken with or without iceberg lettuce.
Mm mm, crunchy and tasty.

Great chic salad. Toasted rye. Slice of Swiss cheese. Hot sauce. Perfect.

I would advise adding the capers a little at a time and tasting as you go. I love the yogurt/mayo combo for the extra tangy flavor.

Great recipe. Also works well with canned tuna

I made this about 4 years ago and followed the recipe perfectly and loved it, but found I do not care for capers. I made it yesterday and used creme fraiche in place of the yogurt and omitted the capers. I also used the new wine salt from Trader Joe's for seasoning (and pepper of course) and it is still the best chicken salad and the perfect way to make sure my Costco rotisserie chicken doesn't go to waste. lol It has 5 stars for a reason!

Poached skinless chicken breasts in milk; omitted capers and yogurt, added chopped red grapes and walnuts in addition to the celery and red onion, substituted rice vinegar for wine vinegar. Added tarragon also - letting all meld overnight, but cook’s samples were delicious! Holding off on scallions for the minute. Using only 2 chicken breasts, this made a very large quantity; appreciate the clever suggestions on how to incorporate multiple ways so I don’t need to waste any of it.

This was good.

Have made the past two Sundays, exactly as written, as lunch for the week. This recipe is fabulous and wouldn’t change a thing.

For a smokey twist, I like to use chicken thighs that i season and cook on a smokey weber kettle. I remove the skins first and make them crispy in the oven. Sometimes I add bacon crumbs plus the bacon and hot paprika, with Spanish olives instead of capers.

I used reduced fat mayo and Greek yogurt and a store bought natural rotisserie chicken. Otherwise I kept to the recipe and it was delicious. This is going into my summer rotation

6-23 made again with no avail yogurt. Predictably tasty regardless but it really doesn’t hold together as a sandwich filling. Easier to keep bread separate and eat chicken with a fork. Maybe I need to cut chicken much smaller? More chopped than cut.

This gets much better on day 2 or even 3.

Does anyone have suggestions for what to replace the yogurt with if one has to avoid milk? Just additional vinegar?

I’ve made this twice. This first time was according to the instructions. It was tasty. The second time, added lemon juice in place of vinegar and added in fresh dill, parsley and tarragon. Definitely made it pop with flavor.

I understand the urging toward adding traditional sweet ingredients (grapes, apple, etc.) but I have to say, I love this savory recipe without the sweet. I didn’t have celery, chopped a fresh jalapeño instead and that added pow plus crunch. The red wine vinegar is a game changer and the briny goodness of the capers take this to the next level. I also added a tiny bit of bacon for crunch and some dill with the parsley because the flavors called for it. This is a real treat.

I'm planning to make this over the weekend, it's easy to see this recipe is from the early 80s. If written today, the yogurt would specify flavor and texture (Greek vs regular). I'm absolutely using whatever is in the fridge.