PINEAPPLE CHICKEN SALAD RECIPE
This pineapple chicken salad is one of my very favorite summer recipes to make for dinner. It's so easy to make in the morning and then it's ready for dinner that night or take it with you to the park. And the leftovers are just fabulous!
I first posted this recipe for pineapple chicken salad sandwiches back in 2015 when I started this blog of mine. It continues to be made all the time still. I recently just made it the other day and took it camping for an easy, no cook dinner.Â
HOW TO MAKE PINEAPPLE CHICKEN SALAD SANDWICHES
Rotisserie Chicken - I always use a rotisserie chicken for chicken salad because it's flavored really well and it's easy. I get mine at Costco but you can also just pick up one at the grocery store. The ones in the grocery stores are smaller so you may need 2-3 of them. If you would rather use some chunked chicken breasts then you will need about 4 cups of it.Â
Crushed Pineapple - Kind of weird but trust me, it's amazing in chicken salad! Be sure and drain it really well before adding it into the salad. I suggest taking the back of a spoon and pressing down on the pineapple in the colander to really squeeze out any excess juice. You will also save about 1-2 tablespoons of the pineapple juice for the dressing.Â
Slivered Almonds
Diced Celery
Green Onion
Red Grapes
Mayonnaise, Cream Cheese, Worcestershire Sauce, Garlic Powder, Pineapple Juice, Salt & Pepper - This is what you need for the dressing. Make sure that the cream cheese is very softened so you don't end up with lumps in the dressing. I use regular, full-fat mayonnaise because I think it tastes better but feel free to use light if wanted. You can also use light cream cheese if wanted.Â
HELPFUL TIPS FOR PINEAPPLE CHICKEN SALAD
- Our absolute favorite way to eat this is on croissants. The flaky, buttery croissant pairs so nicely with this chicken salad. You can also serve it with rolls as well.Â
- Drain the pineapple really well. I like to press the back of a spoon into the pineapple (while it's draining in the colander) to really press out all the juice. Be sure and save about 2 tablespoons of the pineapple juice for the dressing.Â
- Soften cream cheese well before using. I place the unwrapped bar on a microwave safe plate and microwave it for about 25 seconds. This way it's nice and soft (without being too warm) and it will mix nicely in with the dressing ingredients with no lumps.Â
- For best flavor make sure and refrigerate this chicken salad for at least 3-4 hours before serving. It needs time for the flavors to deepen and for the chicken salad to thicken up slightly. The leftovers are so delicious and will last for about 3-4 days after you make it.
TRY THESE OTHER CHICKEN SALAD RECIPES
- dill pickle chicken salad
- cashew chicken salad
- parmesan chicken salad
- curry chicken salad
- best chicken salad recipe
- healthy chicken salad
- buffalo ranch chicken salad
- avocado chicken salad
- instant pot honey mustard chicken salad
- hot chicken salad french bread sandwiches
Pineapple Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Ingredients
Pineapple Chicken Salad
- 1 rotisserie chicken 4 cups chunked chicken
- 1 cup thinly sliced celery
- 1½ cups halved red grapes
- 1 cup slivered almonds
- 1 small bunch green onions thinly sliced
- 1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple drained well (reserve 2 tablespoons of juice)
Creamy Dressing
- 1 bar (8 oz) cream cheese softened
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1-2 tablespoons reserved pineapple juice from when you drained the pineapple
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Combine all the chicken salad ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir together to combine.
- In a separate smaller mixing bowl combine all the creamy dressing ingredients. Stir together with a whisk or you you can use a handheld blender to beat it. Pour the dressing into the chicken salad mixture and stir together until combined and mixed well.
- Cover and let sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours before serving. This chicken salad does really well in the fridge without drying out at all, so it can even be made ahead of time too. Serve in croissants, rolls, or other bread of choice.
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Nutrition
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I hope you love these Marilyn! I actually just made up a batch for busy nights when my son has baseball games this week. We love them served on croissant rolls, but they'd be delicious on pretty much anything. Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Your Recipes are Great, And I love The Title of your website about a family, that is Beautiful.
Love Jannie burkeen
Jannie, thank you so much. Your comment means a lot to me. I love sharing recipes and bringing people together with food. I also fully believe in the power of family dinner. I am so glad you are enjoying the recipes and thank you so much for visiting my blog 🙂 It means the world to me.
Thank you for these amazing recipes. Can hardly wait to try the pineapple almond chicken salad.
You're welcome ? This pineapple chicken salad is by far one of my favorite recipes on my blog. I hope you love it.
I made this today for a crowd of hungry people who had just helped me move. Everybody loved it...this will be my regular chicken salad recipe from now on!
So glad it was well received. I always get asked to make this chicken salad. It's so good! Thank you for coming back to let me know 🙂 I love hearing stuff like this.
So you think this would work/be good as a wrap?
Of course! I think that's a great idea.
I was wanting to make it as a wrap so am curious how it turned out for you. Thanks!
Just to chime in here 🙂 I've never done a wrap before but I think It would be really delicious to wrap up some of the chicken salad into a large wrap tortilla. Really you can use anything; rolls, croissant, tortillas, ciabatta bread, hard rolls, anything you like.
is this enough for 11 people (chicken ,pineapple almonds ect on cresent rolls
Yes it is. I normally buy a box of croissants from Costco for these sandwiches and there are 12 croissants in the box. We seem to always have enough to use up all 12 croissants.
My husband loved this chicken salad. Thanks for the great recipe.
Have you ever tried replacing the Worcestershire sauce with teriyaki sauce.?
I have not. It's worth a try! I am sure it would be delicious cause teriyaki sauce is yummy.
Excellent! Substituted chopped pecans for the almonds but followed the rest of the recipe as written. Will certainly be making this again.
How many servings would this make? This looks amazing!!
I always serve this on croissant rolls and get about 8-10 sandwiches. I would say it safely feeds 8 adults but it also depends on what size rolls or croissants you use.
Is this good in the fridge for a few days for lunches?
Yes. Leftovers keep well in the fridge. Just remember to drain the pineapple really well so you don't get the liquid pooled up in the bottom of the bowl.
I made today delicious really best chicken salad ever. One ? Can I freeze the leftovers?
So happy to hear you love this recipe! I have never tried freezing it so I can't say for sure but it's worth a try. Not sure the mayo/cream cheese base would freeze well.
Made this yesterday for just myself, and it's almost gone! Love the green onions, worcestershire sauce, cream cheese and of course the grapes. Didn't have crushed pineapple so substituted with a sweet/hot pineapple sauce. Think I'll enjoy your crushed pineapple better and will do that next time. Thanks for your WONDERFUL recipe!
So glad you loved this. I could easily eat the entire thing myself 🙂
Loving everything in this recipe. It makes a bunch and I live alone so I offen feed the neighbors. I'm very excited to make it. But I must say the music on your site is very loud and overwhelming. It almost ran me off before I mad it to recipe. Thank you for all you worked on and shared.
This sounds wonderful! The only thing I want to point out is that on the mobile version the screen jumps around so much from the ads popping up (I’m assuming) that it took several minutes to read the recipe.
I've actually already been in contact with my ad company about this same problem! Thank you so much for letting me know. When I went on my site myself, I noticed that the ads were all over and making the screen jump. Hopefully we can get it figured out soon because it annoys me too. I hope you enjoy this chicken salad and thanks for being here.
This is our favorite chicken salad recipe. My whole family loves it. I’ve made this about 10 times now. Friends always ask for the recipe. Thank you for sharing it!!
This is the chicken salad recipe I've been looking for since my sister and I used to share an order of checken salad with pinapple and grapes at a restaurant 30 yeras ago. It's even good without the bread or croissants. I only wish there were a way to freeze it!
This is chicken salad at it’s best! Put it in a wrap …. Delicious! Can’t wait to spread the love with my son and daughter-in-law.
This is delicious served on lettuce with a bread basket with different breads
Oh I love the idea of different breads!