Easy Chicken Salad Recipe: French Chicken Salad

Poulet (chicken in French) is an important part of French cuisine, and the Sunday chicken is sacred. Depending on the size of the family eating it, that means leftovers. In the Misadventures with Andi maison, we love this recipe for leftover rotisserie chicken that transforms the chicken into a classic French salade (French for salad).

When Mr. Misadventures and I lived in France every Sunday we did 2 things. We crossed the street to our award-winning boulangerie and got croissants, pain aux escargots (raisins), and the newspaper. We would sit and enjoy the morning with several cups of coffee.

Then just before lunchtime, we would head to the farmer's market in the next village over and grab seasonal fruits and vegetables, cheeses, and other specialty items for the week ahead.

Right before we headed home, we would stop by the rotisserie and pick up a whole roasted chicken and golden potatoes that had been roasting in juices for several hours. It made for a lovely lunch or easy dinner.

As we were only 2, that usually meant leftover chicken, and one of our favorite chicken recipes was to use it to make a traditional chicken salad that we would eat in a crunchy baguette with a glass of white wine (or a Beaujolais) for dinner. I have teamed up with Heather Englund of Fit Mama Real Food to recreate this classic chicken salad recipe.

Now that we follow a low-carb lifestyle, instead of a chicken salad sandwich we do lettuce wraps. This French salad recipe accommodates both. This recipe is easy, has simple ingredients, and takes less than 20 minutes!

Jump directly to the recipe!

A Chicken in Every Pot

A symbol of wealth and prosperity, during Herbert Hoover's presidential campaign in 1928, he promised voters a chicken in every pot and 2 cars in every garage. But Mr. Hoover swiped the statement from King Henry IV of France who said, “I want there to be no peasant in my realm so poor that he will not have a chicken in his pot every Sunday.” in 1598!

Sundays are very leisurely in France, spent with families or lounging around and chicken remains a classic French Sunday meal. Roasted (rotisserie) chicken with potatoes is the traditional Sunday lunch in France, whether you buy it already roasted at the local farmers market or you make it at home.

If you are visiting Paris or anywhere really in France, be sure to get to the marché in your arrondissement or village or the local butcher or traiteur for a delicious meal à la française.

To make this French chicken salad, you need shredded rotisserie chicken. Begin by removing the skin from the rotisserie chicken and then removing the meat from the roast. You can use the chicken breast and the chicken thighs, they work nicely together in this recipe. Shred the chicken using your hands, or dice the chicken meat with a knife.

Add to a large bowl.

Into the bowl with the shredded chicken, add the celery, green onion, almonds, rosemary, mayonnaise, dijon, sea salt, pepper, and orange juice.

Mix to fully combine. Taste and add more sea salt, or orange juice, depending on your preference.

Serve the French chicken salad in a fresh baguette!

Or if you are following a low-carb diet, in lettuce cups.

• You can change out the fresh herbs as you please. Another herb often used in French chicken salad is tarragon. But you can try dill too!
• I often add turmeric and chia seeds. Turmeric has fantastic health benefits like fighting inflammation and keeping blood sugar levels steady. Chia seeds are high in fiber and a great antioxidant.
• I have played around with adding curry powder as well.
• If you are following a low-carb lifestyle then skip the baguette for lettuce wraps.
• If you aren't worried about carbs, for a bit of sweetness you can add dried cranberries, red grapes, or tart apples.

French Chicken Salad: It's affordable and you don't have to cook!

I am sure it hasn't escaped anyone that inflation is on the rise and pocketbooks are shrinking. Cooking a whole chicken or buying a whole rotisserie chicken and using it over several meals is an affordable way to extend your food budget. Mr. Misadventures and I also use the carcass to make broth or soup too.

And I don't know about you all, but summer in North Carolina is hot, hot, hot! Nobody wants to turn on that oven. Instead, we barbeque in the morning and we barbeque a big batch! That way over the next few days we don't have to cook.

Chicken Salad is great for picnics and camping too!

We also cook chicken and prepare this ahead of a camping trip because chicken salad is a great no-cook meal that cuts down on food prep and gives us time to enjoy the outdoors more.

It is an easy picnic meal as well. If you are visiting Paris and get a rotisserie chicken at the market, make this dish, grab a tote bag, and check out one of these great picnic spots!

There are so many wonderful French chicken recipes and French salad recipes, this is a combo of the best of both worlds! Don't hunt around for recipes for leftover rotisserie chicken, use this one!

Bon appétit !

How about you? Do you make chicken salad? How do you like to do it? Do tell!

Photography and recipe development by Heather Englund of Fit Mama Real Food

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