Chicken salad can be a refreshing meal or snack.  It’s good for brunch, lunch, or even a family cookout. It’s versatile, inexpensive, and can be made from leftovers. You can literally make a chicken salad with most veggies hanging around in your fridge. Got celery? Throw it in! Got bell pepper? Go ahead, add it! Pecans? Dried fruit? As long as you have chicken, you can make a chicken salad!

But what side dishes go with chicken salad? When it comes to accompaniments for chicken salad, my philosophy is to keep it simple. I usually make chicken salad as a Round 2 or leftover recipe. In those times, I want something delicious on the table fast…hello, I have 6 kids! I usually serve my chicken salad on bread with potato chips. However, chicken salad can be dressed up too. We served chicken salad on croissants at one of my daughters’ birthday tea parties. It was ‘fancy’ and delicious!

There are many other delicious ways to serve up chicken salad, in this post I’ll share what side dishes go with it and how to serve it up!

What goes with chicken salad? Crunchy, and/or acidic side dishes pair well with the creaminess and richness of chicken salad.

Side Dishes for Chicken Salad

Below is a list of side dish ideas that you can serve with chicken salad. There are many possibilities depending on the flavors you’ve added to your chicken salad. If you opted for a sweet chicken salad with sweet relish or fruit, you could balance with flavors with side dishes that have a salty bite. What about a spicy chicken salad? Consider sides that are cooling like a gazpacho or crisp salad.

Chips

Chips are hands down my favorite side dish for chicken salad. Maybe it’s nostalgia from how chicken salad was served to me growing up or maybe you just can be a crispy fried potato! Either way, the salty crispiness of chips makes it a perfect accompaniment for chicken salad. But you don’t have to only serve this with potato chips. Try other veggie chips like sweet potato, zucchini, and kale chips as well. The concept of this pairing will still be the same, salty and crunchy.

Raw Veggies

Think vegetable crudites such as celery, cucumbers, carrots. Again, a simple pairing that adds crunch alongside the richness of chicken salad. You can create boats or bowls out of your vegetables and spoon chicken salad inside. You could also just serve vegetable sticks or slices. Easy, healthy, and delicious!

Dill Pickles

Salty, tangy, and crunchy, dill pickles are a great side dish to serve with chicken salad. Serve in pickle spears alongside your chicken salad sandwich for a simple, quick side dish.

Salad

Another family favorite is just a simple salad. You can serve chicken salad with your favorite side salad, or even pile a spoonful of chicken salad on top for a complete meal. As far as dressings go, I suggest opting for a vinaigrette over a creamy type of dressing.

Soup

There are few meal pairings to beat a delicious soup and sandwich combo. Try a bowl of soup along with a chicken salad sandwich. A tangy tomato soup is a great option.

Baked Beans

Great for cookouts and potlucks. Chicken salad sliders can be served right alongside barbecue baked beans.

Roasted Veggies

Roasted veggies and chicken just “go together” IMO! This is also a good time to make use of last night’s leftover roast chicken and vegetables. Roasted potatoes, broccoli, asparagus, any roast vegetable could pair nicely.

Corn on the Cob

Here’s another cookout pairing. Chicken salad sandwiches, baked beans, and buttery corn on the cob. Yum!

How to cook chicken for Chicken Salad?

A chicken salad can be prepared with chicken that has been cooked in ANY way. However, one of the most popular ways to cook chicken for chicken salad is to poach it. Many will use already-cooked, leftover chicken as well (this can be a great time to pick up an already-cooked rotisserie chicken from the supermarket). In this case, you can make chicken salad with leftover fried chicken, barbecue chicken, or baked chicken. You can either shred or chop the chicken to make chicken salad.

How to serve Chicken Salad

Again, this is where the versatility of chicken salad really shines. It can be dressed up on a bed of lettuce or served in between two slices of bread.  You can serve chicken salad as an appetizer scooped with crackers or veggie sticks/slices. Chicken salad can also be served as a main course salad or sandwich.

As far as what temperature to serve chicken salad at, it can be served cold, room temperature, or warm depending on the binder used in your salad. Mayonnaise based salads should be served cool or at room temperature.

What to eat with chicken salad instead of bread

When looking for alternatives to bread when eating chicken salad, consider something with structure to hold on to the richness of most creamy based chicken salads. Crisp vegetables can also serve as a sturdy base for chicken salad, and you can even cut up vegetables to dip and scoop.

• Crackers

• Celery Sticks/Boats

• Crisp Lettuce Leaves

• Endive Leaves

• Tomatoes

• Cucumbers

• Rice Cakes

• Tortillas

• Pita

What bread goes well with chicken salad?

It is suggested to opt for softer breads when serving chicken salad as a sandwich. In our soul food kitchen, we prefer a soft white sandwich bread.  Other soft breads that go well with chicken salad are croissants, challah, and brioche.  For family potlucks and barbecues, we like to serve chicken salad on Hawaiian sweet rolls. Everyone gets a small bite of the chicken salad in a handheld, pillowy roll.

Best crackers to serve with chicken salad

The best crackers to serve with chicken salad are sturdy crackers that won’t easily break and can stand up to the heartiness of a chicken salad. Wheat crackers are delicious with chicken salad, but a good ole saltine cracker can be used as well.

Chicken Salad Recipes

I personally make chicken salad several different ways. Sometimes I opt for a sweeter salad with dried cranberries and pecans. Other times I keep the flavors classic with celery and onion. My favorite way to enjoy chicken salad, however, is exactly how Mama used to make it. This soul food chicken salad is flavorful yet refreshing and it just gets better as it sits. What makes it a soul food chicken salad? Well the fried chicken of course. Not only is the chicken meat used, but the crispy fried chicken skin as well.

Chicken Salad Add-ins

• Dried Cranberries

• Diced Apples

• Grapes

• Pecans

• Slivered Almonds

• Celery

• Red Onion

• Cucumber

• Fresh Tomato

• Celery

• Jalapeño

• Relish

• Diced Pickles

• Scallions

Now that you’ve got all you need to pair up your chicken salad, please share below! Tell me, what’s your favorite way to serve chicken salad.