Chicken Salad with Dill Pickles
This chicken salad with dill pickles is delightful and SO scrumptious. Cooked with pickle juice for extra flavor, loaded with chopped dill pickles and crunchy celery, and coated in a creamy dill-mayo dressing, this chicken salad is fresh, bright, and savory. Serve on a croissant, wrap, or pretzel bun for a tasty lunch.
Servings: 8 servings
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts*
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp pickle juice split for cooking chicken and adding to shredded chicken
- 2 cups dill pickles** drained (reserve pickle juice)
- 2 celery ribs
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp mustard
- 1 tsp dill weed
- 1 tsp sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
Two options for cooking the chicken:
- Option 1: Pressure cooker method (Instant Pot/Ninja Foodi)Add the chicken breasts to the pressure cooker pot. Heat the chicken broth and 1/2 cup of pickle juice together in the microwave for about two minutes, then add to pressure cooker pot to cover chicken (this speeds up the process). Cover with the pressure cooker lid and set the steam valve to "seal". Program to pressure cook on high for 10 minutes. Once the chicken is done cooking, manually (and carefully) switch the steam valve to "vent". Remove the lid once the steam has escaped.Option 2: Slow cooker methodAdd the chicken breasts and chicken broth to a slow cooker and let cook on low heat for 6 hours.
- When the chicken is done cooking, remove it from the broth and place it into a medium to large sized bowl. Shred it with two forks or a handheld mixer (or a stand mixer if preferred).
- Add enough of the broth mixture to the shredded chicken to cover it. Let this cool while prepping the other ingredients. This helps to prevent the chicken from drying out.
Making the chicken salad:
- Finely dice the dill pickle chips. Chop the celery into thin slices.
- Drain the shredded chicken well by tipping the bowl into the sink while keeping a clean hand firmly on the chicken or with a colander.
- Add the pickle juice (2 tbsp), mayo, mustard, chopped pickles, and chopped celery. Stir well.
- Sprinkle the dill, sugar, and salt evenly over the mixture, then stir well until all ingredients are evenly incorporated. If the chicken salad seems a little dry, simply add another 2 tbsp mayo and mix again.
- Cover the bowl and set in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours. Serve on a croissant, pretzel bun, toasted sourdough, or tortilla wrap with cream cheese, cheddar, or havarti.
Notes
*Notes about the chicken:
- I like to use my kitchen shears to cut each chicken breast in half, lengthwise so that the shredded pieces are not super long (see instruction photos).
- Having a kitchen scale is really helpful for recipes, like this one. Using the right amount of chicken will result in the perfect proportion of chicken and mix-ins to dressing so you don't end up with dry chicken salad.
- You can also use shredded rotisserie chicken or pre-cooked shredded chicken you may have on hand. If using, measure 3 cups cooked, shredded chicken and omit the chicken broth and 1/2 cup pickle juice. Skip to "making the chicken salad" section in the instructions.