A Longtime Item Removed Too Soon
The Chick fil a Chicken Salad Sandwich was introduced in 1986 and gave customers a classic homestyle sandwich. Unfortunately, the company decided to remove the sandwich from the menu on September 30, 2017 to streamline the menu and start to rotate new offerings.
If something had to go, it would make sense they would choose the Chicken Salad Sandwich because it’s just not possible to remove any of the other fried chicken options.
Chickfila’s loss, our gain because we’re giving you the recipe! But let’s not get too mad at Chickfila because they gave us the recipe when they stopped selling it!
The Chicken Salad Sandwich Has Simple Ingredients
The sandwich is one of those meals perfect for a hot day when you don’t want the oven or burners on. Or you can make chicken salad in bulk and meal prep for the kids’ school lunches every day, saving you a lot of money.
The Chicken Salad is very similar to a tuna salad as well. One of the key factors to that Chickfila feel is to use a food processor for the consistency.
Tips For a Better Chicken Salad Sandwich
I’ve made this recipe a handful of times. I go back and forth with the Starbucks BLT Chicken Sandwich Recipe which is another huge favorite of mine. In fact, if you really want to step up the taste profile of this Chickfila sandwich, keep the tomatoes and lettuce on there, throw on some bacon, a slice of cheese and thin layer of mayo on some toasted sourdough and you’ll have the best of both worlds.
- Feel free to use Kosher salt or Sea salt. I’ve used both and couldn’t really tell the difference. I’m a big fan of sea salt and here’s what i’m currently using.
- Use a rotisserie chicken and it will give you a much larger portion and it will have a lot of flavor. We did a chicken hack here where you can learn how to remove the bones pretty easily.
Chickfila Chicken Salad Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Food Processor For chopping ingredients
- 1 Knife For optional hand chopping
- 1 Cutting Board To chop eggs and celery
- 1 Toaster For toasting bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped cooked chicken cooled
- 1/3 cup chopped celery
- 1/4 – 1/3 cup sweet pickle relish
- 2/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1-2 entire hard-boiled eggs chopped
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 pinch garlic powder optional
- 8 slices whole wheat bread for serving
- 1-2 leafs green leaf lettuce for serving
Instructions
Preparation
- Gather all your ingredients: cooked chicken, celery, sweet pickle relish, mayonnaise, hard-boiled eggs, salt, pepper, and garlic powder (if using).
- Chop 2 cups of cooked chicken into small pieces and place in a bowl. Cool the chicken if it is not already at room temperature.2 cups chopped cooked chicken
- Finely chop about 1/3 cup of celery and 1-2 hard-boiled eggs depending upon your preference.1/3 cup chopped celery, 1-2 entire hard-boiled eggs
Cooking / Creating
- In a food processor, add the chopped chicken, celery, sweet pickle relish, mayonnaise, chopped eggs, kosher salt, black pepper, and a pinch of garlic powder (optional).1/4 – 1/3 cup sweet pickle relish, 2/3 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1 pinch garlic powder
- Pulse the ingredients lightly several times until everything is combined but not pureed. For a less processed texture, add and pulse each ingredient separately, starting with the celery, then chicken, followed by the other ingredients.
Serving / Presentation
- Toast slices of whole wheat bread until they are golden and crispy to prevent your sandwich from becoming soggy.8 slices whole wheat bread
- Lay out the toasted bread slices and place a leaf of green lettuce on one slice.
- Scoop a generous amount of the chicken salad mixture onto the lettuce.
- Top with another slice of toasted bread, cut diagonally if desired, and serve immediately.
- Alternatively, for a low-carb option, serve the chicken salad in lettuce cups or with a side of mixed greens.1-2 leafs green leaf lettuce