Light and tasty, full of vegetable goodness and meat. Is there any dish as versatile or pleasing than a good chicken salad?
Ina Garten has been around for years and is known for her chicken salad recipes. Read on for some of Ina’s most popular chicken salad recipes and their variants.
Whether it’s for just a light lunch, or a staple of a wider dieting plan, chicken salad is the go-to meal option for many people across the world.
Here, we will show you some of the best recipes that have been inspired by Ina Garten’s chicken salad, whether it’s a carbon copy, or drawing a little inspiration for something new and fresh!
If you’re after something more substantial than a salad, try one of Ina’s lemon chicken recipes
So, where exactly should we start this little chicken salad odyssey?
Well, if we’re going to be taking a look at all of these different chicken salad recipes, we’ll first probably want to establish what they’re being inspired by and compared to.
So, it’s with great pleasure that we get to discuss Ina Garten’s chicken salad contessa dish!
So, what exactly makes this salad recipe such a treat to eat? Well, for one thing, the creamy texture of the chicken here is very appetizing.
Coated in a beautiful combination of mayo and sour cream, that has just a little heat to it, thanks to the pepper that you’ll be using.
You’ll also find a ton of bite to the chicken once you add the roasted pecans and walnuts to this mix, giving you a dish that is both varied in its palette, while also offering plenty of nutrients like proteins and vitamins (Also check out Best Ina Garten Lemon Chicken Recipes).
And that’s not even mentioning the crunchy bed of greens that you’ll be serving this mix on!
Overall, it’s a recipe that is very easy to learn and make for yourself and offers the perfect benchmark to compare all other chicken salads to.
So, with the original under our belt, let’s take another look and see just how well some of these copycat recipes hold up to it!
This particular dish does pretty much everything that we love about Garten’s recipe, so it’s also going to rank pretty well in our books, too.
It has that same creamy texture that is a little sour and plenty savory, that you can find in Garten’s recipe.
And, of course, the veggies that this chicken dish is served with add a great shot of color, flavor, and texture to any meal, so it’s also covering you in the healthy eating department, while we’re discussing the nutritional part of things.
Enjoy your high-vitamin meal!
Plus, with just 30 minutes needed to make this dish, this is something that can be prepared in next to no time too. So, there’s no excuse to not try and enjoy this meal for yourself!
With the inclusion of chutney, scallions, and wine, this curry salad will have your guests begging for your recipe.
This is one of Ina Garten’s most versatile chick salad recipes. Its great on its own or as a side, goes well as a sandwich and can be eaten cold or warmed up.
Now, if we’re looking for something that takes the core ideas of Garten’s chicken salad, and does something pretty different with them, then we have to take a look at this salad that also includes a mean granch dressing with this dish.
When it comes to this dish, it’s the dressing and the sauce of this meal that makes it something special.
The classic ranch dressing is much with some freshly ripened avocado pulp, turning something that everyone will have used into something that no one will have experienced.
This turns salads that have otherwise been a chore to eat and, most importantly, make, into something that you could see yourself enjoying over and over.
Plus, the chicken here still gets that creamy texture that we love to see in Garten’s recipes, so everyone wins!
This particular version of a chicken salad has plenty in common with Ina Garten’s dish.
However, you may find that some of the ingredients that you have gotten used to having been switched out for something a little different here!
While sour cream and mayonnaise are the most common ingredients used to make the chicken salad sauce that we know and love, it’s not the only way.
This recipe instead uses Greek yogurt, as an example. So you get the slightly sour flavor, and the smooth texture, while also cutting down on excessive fats.
The same goes for the ingredients that make up the chicken and other fillings too. You still have your chicken (or turkey), alongside your pecans and walnuts.
But the apple, here, helps add not just vitamin C, but also a little extra sweetness to your dish, without, again, resorting to heavier, or more carb-rich ingredients.
This is a dish for folks who are looking to get on the healthy eating bandwagon but don’t have a recipe that is both healthy and also delicious for them to fall back on.
Well, this is the perfect dish to fall back on, whether it is dinner, lunch, or, heck, even breakfast!
Many of the recipes that we’ve covered so far are primarily aimed toward feeding one or two people, perfect for light lunches to share or dinner plans for one.
However, sometimes, we’re also looking for salads that can feed more than just a few people. Sometimes, they need to be feeding three or even four hungry mouths.
If that’s the case for you this evening, then this is the recipe that you need to check out.
The salad Veronique here is a very simple dish that has just two steps to it: Cook your chicken, debone and de-skin it, add in your sauce, and you’re good to go!
If you have the chicken pre-prepared, this can be done in 45 to 50 minutes.
Now, is this a little deviation from the chicken salad dishes that we’ve been covering so far? Perhaps. There are not quite as many leafy greens, and everything is being mixed here.
However, if you’re looking for a tasty way to enjoy both your chicken and your vegetables, this is a dish that you need to try.
You might prefer the more small-scale meals made as a side for 1, but we think that this dish still sticks to the core aspects that made this kind of chicken salad so appealing to Ina Garten (and us) in the first place(see also: 7 Best Ina Garten Parmesan Chicken Recipes To Try Today)!
This recipe has pretty much everything that we’ve already covered so far, from fresh greens to good, freshly cooked chicken. However, there’s a lot more to this recipe than just that.
With some lemon juice, here, and plenty of fresh herbs, you’ll have a main meal-worthy dish that perfectly builds on the building blocks that Ina Garten has set out for us, while also trying something a little different
And, of course, you can just absorb all that excess creamy goodness with a slice of good bread.
We’ve talked about how chicken salads are the perfect meal to prepare for when you’re trying to keep your dinners and lunches healthier and more substantial, especially when compared to something like, say, a sandwich.
But why can’t we have both? Why not have our cake (or in this case, bread), and eat it?
Well, that’s exactly what this recipe tries to do, by combining your boring old lunch sandwich with the fresh and vibrant flavors of a chicken salad, courtesy of Ina Garten’s recipe herself!
So, how exactly does this sandwich fare when compared to both?
Well, with the fresh slices of any loaf of your choice that you can use, and the classic chicken salad sauce that you’ll be making (as well as some crunchy greens underneath for good measure), we say that this recipe does pretty darn amazingly!
Okay, we may be straying a little far away from Garten’s original style of chicken salad, we get that.
But if you’re here for a Contessa chicken salad unlike any other that we’ve shown on this list, you owe it to yourself to try this recipe!
With such a complete shift in the kind of vegetable ingredients used, like broccoli instead of lettuce, fresh cherry tomatoes, and tons of cream to just soak and marinate your favorite chicken with, this is a dish that you should try out if you’re looking for something way different in your chicken salad recipes.
Final Notes
So, there you have it. A sea of salads and chicken for you to try out and enjoy.
Ina Garten is known for her amazing recipes, and chicken salad is an old favorite of Garten’s. However, it’s the sheer variety that this recipe has encouraged in other prospective cooks that we love about this dish.
I'm Barbara Hunt, the founder of WomenChefs.org. Being a mom of two, I understand the challenges of meal planning and the monotony it can bring.
That's why I created WomenChefs.org, a platform dedicated to showcasing the skills and delicious dishes crafted by amazing women. My goal is to provide a space where women can find delectable recipes that tantalize their taste buds and ignite their senses.
I hope you'll join me in exploring WomenChefs.org and discovering your next favorite recipe. Let's embrace culinary diversity and try something new together!
