Leftover Roast Chicken Salad

Chicken Salad on Toast

Simple, textured and ideal served open-faced on toasted seeded bread.

A classic chicken salad made with leftover roast chicken, crisp celery, green grapes, yellow onion and fresh herbs, brought together with Dijon mustard and just enough mayonnaise.

Watch my video to follow along step-by-step.

Leftover Roast Chicken Salad

Yield: 3-4 servings

Ingredients

• About 3 cups (400–450 g) leftover roasted chicken breast

• 2 celery stalks

• ¾ cup (115 g) seedless green grapes

• ¼ medium yellow onion

• 1 tablespoon fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped

• ¼ teaspoon celery seed

• 1–2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

• Sea salt, to taste

• Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

• ½–¾ cup (120–180 g) mayonnaise, added as needed

• Toasted seeded bread, for serving

Optional: ½ cup (55–60 g) toasted pecans, roughly chopped

Method

1. Prepare the celery.
   Fit the Hamilton Beach food processor with the slicing disc and slice the celery. Transfer it to a large mixing bowl.

2. Roughly chop the grapes.
   Change to the chopping blade. Add the grapes and pulse only a few times. You want them broken up and irregular rather than minced. Transfer them to the bowl with the celery.

3. Chop the onion.
   Add the yellow onion to the processor and pulse until chopped but still visibly textured. Do not take it too fine. Add it to the mixing bowl.

4. Process the chicken last.
   Add the chunks of leftover roast chicken and use short pulses to produce a coarse, irregular chop. Stop well before it becomes shredded or paste-like. Transfer the chicken to the bowl.

5. Finish by hand.
   Chop the parsley and thyme by hand and add them to the chicken mixture along with the celery seed, sea salt and cracked black pepper. Add the Dijon, if using.

6. Add the mayonnaise gradually.
   Start with about ½ cup and fold everything together gently by hand. Add additional mayonnaise a spoonful at a time until the salad reaches the consistency you want. The objective is enough mayonnaise to bind everything together without drowning the chicken.

7. Taste and adjust.
   Check the seasoning and add more salt, pepper or celery seed if required. Fold in toasted pecans at this stage if using them.

8. Serve.
   Toast a good slice of seeded bread until crisp. Spoon the chicken salad generously over the top and serve open-faced.

Larder Notes

• The celery should remain distinctly sliced; the grapes should give you occasional sweet, juicy pieces;

• the onion should be present without dominating;

• and the chicken should retain enough irregularity that there is no question that this started as roast chicken rather than processed chicken spread.

© 2026 Gary R. Rice. All rights reserved.
This work, including all original recipes, text, images, and related media, is the intellectual property of Gary R. Rice. No part of this content may be reproduced, published, distributed, or adapted in any form without prior written consent from the author.

Personal, non-commercial use is permitted with clear attribution. Commercial use, including publication, broadcast, or syndication, is strictly prohibited without express permission.

All rights to this content are retained personally by Gary R. Rice, regardless of any business or channel name under which the material is published.