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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You can take the kid out of the deli…
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. I recommend this in all my chicken salad recipes, like my creamy chicken cucumber salad.
- 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!
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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.
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We absolutely love this recipe
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Melissa!
This is Matilda. I love the way you cook. I’m 90 years old and I cook every night I’m Italian. I love your son way he tastes food. I love the expression on his face and I love the combo your wife also I’m certainly into the way you lay out the ingredients you take your time and consider everyone’s feelings about food. The food that you’re making you have a wonderful presents and besides your good looking.
Hi Matilda, I so appreciate your comment and kind words. We’re happy to have you following along with us and so glad you are enjoying our recipes and videos!
This is the tastiest chicken salad I’ve ever had in my life. Leaving it overnight is absolutely key to this recipe. Accidentally left out the sugar though, and it was excellent without. Also added some dill which gave the dish a nice pop.
We’re happy you enjoyed it, Brian. Thanks for the comment.
I’ve never had success making CS to my trastes. Until now. This was perfect and can be customized easily. I used Duke’s Mayoi and didn’t have any water after 2r hours.
Great recipe, site and YT channel!
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Andrew, and appreciate the comment!
Tastes as good as my favorite local bagel place’s chicken salad.
We’re so happy you liked it, Glen!
Thank you for sharing.
I made this recipe last night for dinner tonight. It’s absolutely delicious.
One of my three brothers is named James. P
Peace.
—A Foodie from NYC
We’re so happy you enjoyed this, Louise!
This chicken salad is excellent, the granulated garlic is subtle yet moorish. Made it with a rotisserie chicken. A scoop next to a salad makes a light yet satisfying meal.
Outstanding!! I fudged this to use what I had on hand. I smoked a chicken on my grill and used the leftover for this. Unfortunately I don’t think I soaked the onion enough. Be The smoked chicken added another layer of flavor. Next time I will stick with the original . Can’t wait to try this again.
My favorite chicken salad recipe, I’ve made it a couple times! I did cut the salt down to 1/2 teaspoon.
We’re so happy you enjoyed it!
Best chicken salad. I love this method of cooking the chicken. It was as moist and tender as rotisserie chicken.
We’re so happy you enjoyed it, Kathy!
PFG! I made it exact to recipe x 2 for a family event. It was awesome on its own, however I added sliced red grapes and pecans ala Waldorf style. It was a hit.
My wife and I recently discovered you youtube channel and enjoy the family vibe. Keep it up!
P.S. tuna salad is next
We’re so happy you enjoyed this one and really appreciate the comment, John!
So funny. I was doing a search for NY Deli recipes and found your site. I just made this and it’s an absolute flavor bomb. I substituted Kewpie Japanese mayo and it it almost goes too far in richness and flavor. Thanks for the recipe! Wonderful!
We’re so happy you loved this one, John!
Thanks for sharing, James! This is the best Chicken salad I’ve ever made. It’s now apart of my summer weekly meal prep. Very delicious
We’re so happy to hear that, Terica! Thanks for the comment!
The best chicken salad I ever had was this
For more flavor, I use roasted red and yellow peppers chopped up, add to chicken, and some of the oil in the jar to the recipe. Flavor profile totally delicious.
Delicious!
Come to brazil
I tried it and is delicious and easy to make
This is so good! I love everything about this simple and tasty chicken salad. I find myself craving another sandwich even if I am not really hungry and I just had one yesterday! Definitely a new part of our summer favorites.
Very good, but I used half sour cream and mayo. Also added some lemon pepper.
Hi, Yet another tasty winner. I was too chicken to add a full tablespoon of sugar tho….maybe next time.