When I've made this in the past, I believe I boiled the chicken as per my mom's instructions. I was making chicken salad to stuff into tomatoes. As I recall, it came out well.

If they were not skinless and boneless, I would roast or bake them. Since they are fillets, I would poach them in my pressure cooker or steam them. They can easily dry out if roasted and become jerky. They are not going to have a whole lot of flavor no matter what unless you season them heavily with herbs and spices before cooking. You can add flavor to the salad.

I do save the liquid from the pressure cooker to use as stock.

I poached a whole chicken in the pressure cooker yesterday and then made a rice dish with the thigh and leg meat. I generally make enchiladas with the breast meat and add an intense chili sauce to the meat for flavor. I tend to make chicken salad with leftover roasted chicken but only used whole chickens for roasting.

I prefer a mix of dark and white meat with bone. Cooked in the oven. Cool and deboned, save the fat/juice for soup. I love my chicken salad. Onion, celery, mayo and salt and pepper. Sometimes I add walnuts or cranberries, but not needed.

Poach chicken breast with skin on, add a bay leaf, just cause, until fork tender and shred. I like shredded chicken for chicken salad.

I do mine in the electric pressure cooker. I put a cup of water, stir in about 1/2 tsp. Better Than Bouillon chicken flavor, put the chicken on a trivet up out of the water, use the chicken setting, do a natural release and I get great tasting chicken.

I know a lot of people like to remove skin from chicken to reduce fat consumption and calories. I get that.

The problem is, buying chicken without skin and bones as a starting point for cooking removes significant sources of flavor and heat protection. Skin is best removed after cooking if desired, not before.

I'm not sure why boneless/skinless chicken has gotten as popular as it is but other than for a preparation like pounding, breading, and sauteing, it makes preparing flavorful chicken a difficult challenge.

this recipe is from an old kter Kathy-Lee. I visited with her and other kters on a road trip to California. It was the VERY BEST chicken salad I had ever eaten.

The recipe prints out on 8x10 paper.

That looks delish, AAA. Nice to see you popping in.

I don't get anywhere much lol.

I have been watching this thread . In all of my years have never mastered chicken salad. Mother made the best ever, she would host “circle meeting” for church. Would present a beautiful chicken salad on lettuce leaf. I have tried many times to duplicate with complete failure. On my last try, hubs and I both agreed , might as well give up. Aunt Audrey, recipe you posted does sound amazing. Going to try one more time. Something that seems so simple , has not been successful for me. Mother used few ingredients, one difference, chickens had been in yard until day before.

haliigarden, having a real fresh yard chicken makes all the difference in the world. I have gotten to where I won't even buy regular grocery store chicken. I will buy some of the more carefully raised chicken from the co op, but not the grocery store.

My mom got like that to where she disliked store bought chicken and she would only cook it for her dog who loved chicken. She grew up where the chickens were little meal sized critters that were rendered when needed. There was no refrigeration needed to keep a live chicken.

As to that chicken salad, I share the advise to cook the pieces with some type of oil, instead of water. I would put the pieces into an iron skillet with some butter and/or olive oil and salt. It will cook quite quickly and get a bit of browning on it.

I can think of no more tasteless piece of meat than a boiled chicken breast. Most grocery chicken is already so lacking in any nice flavor at all. And the size of some of these breasts looks as if the chickens are freaks. What chicken can even function with breasts that large? The poor things must not be able to stand up on their own! That is unsettling, for sure I see breasts in the meat section that look as big as whole chickens! What they must do to these critters to make them grow as freakishly as that!

I season mine with kosher salt and a little pepper plus poultry seasoning. Sometimes instead of poultry seasoning I use something else like lemon pepper or whatever spice I feel like. Then I brown them and finish cooking in the oven. Just do not overcook. The flavors from cooking will really come out in your chicken salad.

I've made breast meat palatable by using skin on breasts wrapped in bacon, and using the sous vide method, at 150 - 155 F for 1.5 to 2 hours. The length of time is enough to make the chicken sterilized, No it won't be rubbery. Save the juices from the bag. The skin and bacon at this point won't be crispy (but you can remove, pat dry, and cook further in the oven or in a skillet. Or, discard).

Otherwise, for a salad, I'd certainly stick with dark meat. Chilled chicken always tastes drier than it does when cooked. The other option is drowning it in mayo.

Depends on what kind of salad I'm making as to how I prep the chicken. I have roasted, broiled, braised, papillote, grilled, pan cooked whole and cut up, stir fried, and poached it. Sometimes I use "leftover" chicken, sometimes make chicken just to make the salad.

I buy whole chickens when on sale, roast, cut up and freeze on cookie sheet. and put in zip-lock bags. When I need chicken for chicken salad, I just measure out what I need.

Just don’t cook the chicken in a geyser. https://www.today.com/food/3-men-banned-yellowstone-cooking-chicken-geyser-t198135

I don't cook chicken specifically for chicken salad. It's just one of the things I habitually make with leftover roast chicken, using both white and dark meat.

Dedtired, I hadn't planned on that, lol!! Fooling with those geysers can get people killed.

P.S. Love, love Yellowstone.

I prefer to cook chicken breasts on the Weber with a little bit of pecan or apple wood smoke. We have a rotisseri, too, that cooks up a moist flavorful chicken. We always leave the skins on when cooking, for the reasons mentioned by Elmer.

I would roast bone-in/skin-on breasts for something like chicken salad. I often buy rotisserie chickens for things like chicken salad, other salads with chicken, and certain baked chicken dishes. Like rhizo mentioned, grilling is another good choice. I make a salad we like with grilled chicken and marinate the chicken before grilling.

AAA's recipe is different with the addition of sour cream. I think I'll do it in the oven. Thanks everyone for the thoughts about chicken. Interesting, helpful and amusing.

Late to this. but I have a baked chicken breast recipe specifically for chicken salad that I use often - from a Martha Stewart cookbook. The meat comes out very moist and tender. I usually bake 2 skin-on, bone-in breasts in a pyrex casserole with a lid. I don't always make chicken salad with it tho, I more often use the meat in chef's salads or for sandwiches.

Butter a baking dish and place the chicken in a single layer, then squeeze half a lemon or lime over both sides and salt and pepper generously. Sometimes I add some ground coriander, sometimes I use Old Bay seasoning instead of S&P. Season both sides of the meat, bake covered @ 350F oven for 35-40 minutes. Let cool in pan and use accordingly.

I'll agree skin on, bone in makes a tastier piece of chicken. Thanks, Carol.