Hello, hello! I have an easy chicken recipe to share today, which is rather odd because normally we would be in the middle of a ham fest right now, in an attempt to use up some Easter leftovers. But I made some lemon chicken last week, and I had to do something creative with those leftovers first. And since I had done a ton of cooking and baking on the weekend, I took the easy way out and made this tasty Lemon Chicken Apple Salad for dinner.
Chicken salad has been around for years and years, but it’s also extremely versatile, and it’s one of those recipes that is so easy to customize. When I was a teen, I was invited to a ladies’ lunch hosted by one of my aunts, and she served individual portions of chicken salad inside hollowed-out tomatoes, which I thought was pretty cool!
Anyway, since I was starting out with leftover lemon chicken, I thought it would be fun to give the chicken salad a lemony twist. I have just the tiniest lemon addiction lately, and I love to incorporate the flavor in as many dishes as possible.
I also added a few drops of lemon juice over the salad for a little bit of extra flavor. And whenever I make this salad, I also like to add a green apple or two for some extra crunch.
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked lemon chicken, diced
- 1 celery stalk, diced
- 2 green apples, diced
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup ranch dressing
- 1/2 teaspoon Penzeys Sandwich Sprinkle (love this stuff, but you can use any seasoning)
- A few drops of lemon juice
Just mix everything together in a large bowl, and refrigerate until ready to serve. Easy peasy! You can also add more or less mayo, depending on how creamy you like your salad.
In the summer, I like to add cut grapes to the salad too. The kids and I enjoy it this way, but my husband — not so much. I also serve raisins on the side, and the kids will sometimes mix them right in. It’s a little chewy, but they seem to like that.
I usually just serve lemon chicken apple salad over mixed greens, although this makes a great filling for sandwiches too. Or maybe even tomatoes? I’ll have to try that sometime.
Do any of you like chicken salad? What’s your favorite way to serve it? I’d love to know.
Thanks so much for visiting today!
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I love the flavors in this chicken salad!!
I love a cold salad for dinner when it's hot, so this is going right on my list of Summer meals. Thank you, Dee 🙂
Yum! Yum! Yum! This sounds so good, Dee! I've been kind of in to lemons lately as well, probably because we have "producing" lemon trees this year for the first time!
This salad looks so delicious. I don't like mayo…do you think salad dressing will work? The combination of the lemon and the apples sounds awesome.
I love your twist on chicken salad…I have to try this!! It looks so delicious!
That's exciting, Carol — I wish we had a lemon tree! 🙂
There's some ranch dressing in this, but sometimes I add more, since the kids aren't fans of mayo either, so I think whatever you prefer would be fine. 🙂
What a great salad we will just love this combination. Thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and have a great week.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
Thanks so much for visiting, Miz Helen. 🙂
Thanks, Michelle — everybody loved it! 🙂
We eat so many meals like this in the summer. Thanks, Rue! 🙂
There's a lot going on, but it really does taste good! 🙂
Ooh what a wonderful summertime lunch salad!
Sounds yummy! Thanks for linking up with Best of the Weekend!
Thanks for hosting the party, Amy. 🙂
Thanks, Jennifer. We practically live on salads during the summer! 🙂
Dee, this looks delicious. I love all of those flavors and I'm looking forward to trying this! Pinned. Also, I wanted to let you know I've included you in the Very Inspiring Bloggers Award. The post is up on my blog today.
Aww, thank you SO much, Bevelry. You totally made my weekend! 🙂
This sounds absolutely lovely! Visiting you from Metamorphosis Monday
We LUV chicken salad…my favorite way is with grapes and pecans…ummm
we also like it the "regular" way with pickles, onions and etc.
NOW, I have your recipe, too. Am going to make this soon.
Thanks! It's one of our favorite warm-weather meals. 🙂
If it were just me, I would go for grapes and pecans, but the kids aren't fans of nuts. I love the idea of adding pickles and onions too! 🙂
I love this twist on a classic! I will definitely try this!!
I'll be adding this version to my summer meals. I love adding pecans and grapes, too. I'm headed off to see the potato salad next. 😉
Love your blog title! That is too cute. Thanks for posting this recipe…I love chicken salad so much, but I am always looking for different variations!
I found you on Miz Helen's link party and wanted to invite you to my link party as well. It's called Food & Fitness Friday and happens every Friday! I hope you will stop by and share one of these yummy food posts!
Hi Dee, I do hope you'll come over to Food on Friday: Lemons & Limes to bring this to the party! Cheers from Carole's Chatter
Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you like it as much as we did. 🙂
Thanks, Tina. The potato salad is one of my husband's faves. 🙂
Thanks for the invite, Jebbica. I'll be sure to check it out! 🙂
Hi Carol. I would love to stop by for a visit! 🙂
Dee, so glad you stopped by to add to the collection. If you would like me to send you a reminder about each new Food on Friday, just drop me a line on ca4ole@gmail.com . Cheers from Carole's Chatter
PS this is on my shortlist for a feature too!
Congratulations!
Your recipe is featured on Full Plate Thursday this week. Hope you have a great weekend and enjoy your new Red Plate!
Miz Helen