New York Deli Chicken Salad combines chunks of white meat chicken, celery, and onion, in a creamy cohesive mixture. It’s great on sandwiches, on top of green salads, or eaten by itself straight out of a deli container!
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Having worked in several New York delis I’ve tasted lots of chicken salad over the years, some with additions like dried cranberries and nuts, honey mustard chicken salad, and Waldorf chicken salad with grapes.
And while they’re all great, I think the classic is the best!
This version is the chicken salad you’d find if you walked into any deli in the New York metro area.
It’s great on a toasted bread or a deli roll with lettuce, but also great for chicken salad melts with American or Swiss, and tomato. An addition of bacon isn’t too bad either (I also add bacon to my egg salad sandwiches)!
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Chicken breasts. Use whole boneless chicken breasts.
- Mayonnaise. New York delis use a thicker Hellman’s or generic restaurant suppy store mayo. These thicker mayos (decorator mayo) is what’s typically used, but you can 100% get away with using supermarket Hellmans instead. If you want the full NY deli experience and taste, use these over Miracle Whip, Duke’s, or any other mayo.
- White pepper. Delis often use white pepper for their salads for appearance. You can also use black pepper.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make it
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Finely dice 1/4 cup worth of onion and place in a bowl with cold water and set aside. Dice 1/2 cup of celery and set aside. Fill a large sauce pan or pot with enough water to completely submerge your chicken by at least 3 inches, and 2 tablespoons of low-sodium chicken base and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add 3 large chicken breasts and bring the water back up to boil and cover. Once boiling, remove the pot from the heat and set aside, covered, for at least 20 minutes. (Photo #1)
- Once the chicken breasts have poached in the hot water for 20+ minutes, remove them from the pan and place on a cutting board and chop into chunks. (Photo #2)
- Spread the chicken chunks out onto the cutting board and pat excess water away with paper towels if necessary. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of granulated garlic, 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper. Do this while the chicken is warm for maximum flavor absorbtion. Allow the chicken to cool before moving on to the next step. (Photo #3)
- Drain the onions and place in a large bowl along with the celery, the cooled chicken, 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard, and 1 cup of mayonnaise and mix to combine. Taste test and adjust salt and pepper as needed. It’s highly recommend to cover the chicken salad and place in the refrigerator overnight, then drain any excess liquid the following day. Add a bit more mayo (up to about a 1/2 cup) on day 2 as needed. Serve on sandwiches, on top of salads, or by itself and enjoy! (Photo #4)
Top tips
- Sugar. You may be surprised, but delis do add sugar to their salads. It contributes to the classic New York deli salad flavor and you’ll find it in all my deli-style salad recipes, such as NY deli potato salad. If you want to skip the sugar, you can, but you may be missing out on that deli flavor.
- Seasoning the chicken. Once the chicken has been poached and chopped, it’s important to season it while it is still warm. This helps with flavor absorption.
- Let it sit. I highly recommend letting your chicken salad sit overnight before eating. Not only will the flavor be better, but you’ll be able to drain excess water which will yield a drier, deli-style chicken salad. I use the same method for my New York deli style tuna salad recipe. Feel free to use your clean hands (or wear kitchen gloves), to mash the chicken salad further and break up the chunks, if desired. You will most likely need to add more mayo on day 2.
More New York deli recipes
If you can’t get enough of that quintessential deli taste, try these awesome recipes!
- Deli macaroni salad – classic briny mac salad.
- Cole slaw – shredded cabbage and carrots in deli brine.
- Cucumber salad – with dill and onion.
If you’ve enjoyed this New York Deli Style Chicken Salad Recipe or any recipe on this site, give it a 5-star rating and let us know in the comments below.
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New York Deli Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 3 large chicken breasts about 1 1/2-2 pounds
- 2 tablespoons Better than Bouillon chicken base
- 1/2 cup finely diced celery
- 1/4 cup finely diced onion
- 1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar plus more to taste
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 cup mayonnaise
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Instructions
- Soak the diced onion in water. Drain the onions before mixing the chicken salad in step 5 below.
- Heat a large saucepan or pot of water with the chicken base so that the chicken breasts will be submerged by at least 3 inches of water.
- Once boiling, add the chicken breasts and cover. Bring back to a boil and once boiling, remove the pot from the heat and set aside for at least 20 minutes.
- Chop the chicken breasts into chunks and spread out on a cutting board to cool. Sprinkle the pepper, salt, granulated garlic, and sugar on top of the chicken pieces so that it absorbs all of the flavor.
- Once the chicken is cool, add it to a large bowl along with the celery, drained onion, mustard, and mayonnaise. Taste test and season with more salt and pepper if required.
- It is highly recommended to cover and refrigerate the chicken salad overnight. The next day, any excess liquid should be drained, and a bit more mayo can be mixed in before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- It is highly recommended to refrigerate overnight. The flavor will be far better and the chicken salad can be thoroughly drained to remove excess water.
- Leftovers can be saved in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hello James and family,
I follow your content, and I especially enjoy your New York deli series. For my money, nothing beats cold deli salads, be it chicken, potato, pasta, or slaw. Thanks the recipes and tips. I will be bringing my own to my next cookout or picnic. Keep up the great content, and thanks.
We appreciate the comment, Chris!
I used a shortcut with trader joe’s grilled cooked chicken. This is the best chicken salad I have ever made to date. To skip bread I ate on a bed of bibb lettuce with tomatoes. I did refrigerate to allow flavors to blend.
So happy you enjoyed, Aj!
Thanks for the information!!! My tuna is so much better now!!! Chicken is today!!!
You have to be kin to Jeremy Piver. I am sure you have heard that many times!!! I feel like you are Jeremy!!!
Cheers,
faye
We’re so happy you enjoyed the recipe, Faye!
What a great sandwich! We loved it. I followed the directions but after 20 minutes off the heat the chicken was still too pink in places. I just put it back in the broth with no heat for another few minutes. I shredded the chicken by hand into small pieces . Used large Sara Lee buns 8 pack. Had the missionaries over for dinner and they ate two sandwiches each. With what’s left over I think this recipe serves 9. Served it with potato chips, pickles and carrots and banana pudding.
Going back to your recipes to find something else great to make! You are 2 for 2 !
We’re so happy you enjoyed it, Claudia!
just like I make it, but I’ve never added chicken bouillon while cooking the breasts. what a great idea!!
most of your recipes are the same as ours. I really enjoy watching your videos.♡
Gail anne
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Gail!
Holy cow (or holy chicken!), using your recipe raised my chick salad to a whole new level (even if I tweaked it by omitting the Dijon and using Penzeys dehydrated minced onions). My grandparents ran a deli in NJ but you’ve knocked Grandma’s recipe to the back seat.
We’re so happy to hear that, Lori!
Why soak onions in water?
Hi Elaine, soaking them removes some of the acidic bite in the onions. It mellows them out.
This is the best chicken salad I’ve ever made. I used green onion because that’s all I had, but it was so good!
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Anna!
Your content is great. I made this recipe last week and I think boiling the chicken is a bad idea. I left my chicken in the boiling water for ~30 minutes until the internal temp of the chicken was 155°F. My chicken is very rubbery and therefore the texture of the chicken salad isn’t the best. Flavor is still lovely, but I would advice people to do something like oven baking or pan frying your chicken. Or possibly even utting your chicken up into smaller pieces before cooking it.
Hi Eric, the chicken is not supposed to remain in the boiling water for 30 minutes. Once the water boils, the chicken ins placed in the water and brough back up to a boil. As soon as it’s boiling, the pot gets removed from the heat and the chicken poaches slowly in the water for at least 20 minutes. Please re-read the instructions for more details, but yes, if you straight boiled the chicken for 30 minutes it would definitely be rubbery. We’ve tested this recipe numerous times with the poaching method and it yields a perfect texture every time.
I made this with a yellow onion, but im curious if white or red onion may be more authentic
Hi Tony, white and yellow onion will be most authentic, at least by NY deli standards.