Tarragon Chicken Salad with Sliced Almonds

A creamy, crunchy, elevated take on classic chicken salad, featuring fresh tarragon and crisp sliced almonds.

Prep: 10

Cook: 0

Total: 10

Yield:10 servings

Add 6-7 cups diced or shredded chicken breasts, 1 ½-2 cups mayonnaise, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, 1 cup sliced almonds, 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder, 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder, and 6 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon leaves to large mixing bowl.
Gently stir ingredients together until mixture is fully incorporated and chicken is well coated in mayonnaise and spices.
Serve immediately, or cover bowl with lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes or until ready to serve.

Chicken: Use a store-bought rotisserie chicken, leftover chicken from another recipe, or cook chicken specifically for this chicken salad. To get 6-7 cups of cooked & diced (or shredded) chicken, you'll want to use 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, weighing approximately 3-3 ½ pounds total.
Almonds: I prefer sliced almonds over slivered. Sliced almonds are thinner a blend with the other textures of the salad a little better.
Tarragon: To use dried tarragon instead of fresh, start with 1 tablespoon. Taste the chicken salad and add more tarragon in 1 teaspoon increments, incorporating the tarragon fully and tasting the salad before adding more. Note: the flavor of the dried tarragon will intensify as the chicken salad sits, so keep that in mind.
Make it Whole30/Paleo: Use a compliant store-bought or homemade mayonnaise. My one-minute mayo works really well here.