This Costco-Inspired Chicken Salad Is a Perfect Lunch Recipe
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People are obsessed with just about everything that comes out of Costco’s kitchens — especially their famous chicken salad, which is made with shredded chicken meat instead of big chunks of chopped chicken breast. And guess what? It turns out you can easily make a dupe of the salad at home for meal prep or summer picnics.
You can shred the chicken by using a pair of forks to pull all the meat apart. If you cook the chicken breasts in an Instant Pot, shredding them afterwards is very quick and easy. If you cook the chicken in the oven or start with a cooked rotisserie chicken, shredding with a fork can take a bit longer, but it’s still the simplest, most low-tech way to shred a chicken.
If you want to shred the chicken more quickly, though, the author of this recipe suggests using a stand mixer to shred the chicken. Just pull the chicken apart into chunks and toss them in the bowl of a stand mixer, then mix them on medium-low speed with a paddle attachment until they’re shredded into pieces. A hand mixer also works the same way.
The author’s favorite chicken-shredding method is to use a food processor with the dough blade attached. Just pulse the chicken until it’s uniformly shredded. As long as you use a dough blade, the chicken won’t turn to pulp and you’ll have a nice pile of uniformly shredded chicken that gives the salad a great texture.
Once the chicken is shredded, mix it with mayonnaise, chopped celery, sweet onion, salt, and some freshly ground black pepper. To make it extra creamy, add chicken broth to the salad one tablespoon at a time until the texture looks good and it’s as creamy as you want it.
The base chicken salad also offers plenty of opportunity for a cook to get creative with extra ingredients. You could add sliced green apples or red grapes. Walnuts are always a great option. Personally, I like to stir in some water chestnuts to give it a bit of crunch. You can always add some tarragon, or even a handful of crispy bacon. The author even suggests using chipotle mayonnaise instead of the regular kind for a spicy take on classic chicken salad. There are so many potential variations you could experiment with this picnic staple all summer long.
Get the recipe: Shredded Chicken Salad (Costco Style) from 40 Aprons
