Craig Claiborne’s Chicken Salad Sandwich
Updated Sept. 1, 2022

- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1poached chicken, 3½ pounds
- 1cup finely chopped celery
- ½cup finely chopped onion
- ½cup drained capers
- ½cup yogurt
- ¾cup mayonnaise, preferably homemade
- 1tablespoon red wine vinegar, or to taste
- salt to taste, if desired
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1tablespoon finely chopped parsley
- 2tablespoons finely chopped scallions
- 8 to 12slices rye bread, either freshly toasted or left untoasted
- Pickle strips, radishes or cherry tomatoes, for garnish
Preparation
- Step 1
Strip the cooked chicken meat from the bones and cut it into bitesize pieces. There should be about 3½ cups. Put the meat into a mixing bowl. Add the celery, onion and capers.
- Step 2
Blend together the yogurt, mayonnaise and vinegar and add to the chicken mixture. Add salt, pepper, parsley and scallions and toss to blend.
- Step 3
Use the bread to make sandwiches, garnished, if desired, with pickle strips, radishes, cherry tomatoes or any garnish of your choice.
- To poach a chicken, put it in a pot breast-side down. Add 1 cup each coarsely chopped celery and onion, ¾ cup coarsely chopped or sliced carrots, 1 clove garlic, 1 bay leaf, ½ teaspoon dried thyme, salt to taste, 12 whole peppercorns and 3 sprigs parsley. Add cold water to just barely cover the chicken (about 10 cups). Cover and bring to a boil. Let simmer very slowly for about 45 minutes. Let chicken stand in the cooking liquid until ready to serve. (Leftover broth can be reduced further until desired strength.)
Private Notes
Comments
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.
I LOVEthis recipe! I subbed Costco chicken salad but otherwise recipe was spot on! (It's joke, people!)
This is my favorite chicken salad! I make it weekly!
Love this recipe! I add crisp red grapes cut in half and it work so well with the creamy original recipe.
I have always wanted to make this recipe and finally got around to it. I doubled the recipe to have extra, and used 2 rotisserie chickens from Costco (then boiled down the carcasses and bones to make stock!) Personally I like capers but have never used them before in chicken salad. They add a nice, briny taste. I always make the "slur" in advance with the herbs and Fage 5% Greek yogurt, which has a creamy texture and compliments the mayo without the dressing getting watery.