Chicken Salad with Macaroni and Grapes

Delicious Chicken Salad made with chicken breast meat, elbow macaroni, grapes, and toasted almonds. This salad had all the pleasant textures and flavors all at once with the pop of fruity sweetness and an almond crunch. Bring it with you to picnics and potlucks or serve it at your next barbecue party.

CHICKEN SALAD

For any potluck, picnic, or any other summer party, my absolute favorite salad to prepare is this chicken and macaroni salad. I’ve been making it for nearly fifteen years now.

I first tried this recipe back when my family owned a restaurant, it was often our lunch special because it was so popular. That was my first experience with having sweet fruit in savory dishes and it blew my mind. If you haven’t tried chicken salad with fruit in it, can’t wait any longer. Try it now. A pop of fruity sweetness in a savory dish is an amazing food experience.

Over the years, I’ve improved this recipe and it’s about time I share my improved version of this salad.

CLICK HERE TO PIN IT!

HOW TO MAKE MACARONI CHICKEN SALAD

Cook pasta according to box instructions, drain, and set aside in a large mixing bowl.

Bring a medium pot of water to boil and season it with salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Add chicken and cook chicken over medium heat until fully done. Take chicken out and set side to cool until it can be handled.

Once chicken is cooled enough, dice it into small cubes and add it to pasta. Add chopped grapes and almonds to the bowl as well. Season with some salt and pepper and mix well.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together mayo, sour cream, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, and grated garlic. Mix mayo mixture into the salad, making sure it’s all evenly distributed.

Refrigerate in an air-tight container for a couple of hours before serving.

HOW TO SERVE CHICKEN AND MACARONI SALAD

You can serve this chicken and macaroni salad on the bed of lettuce, as a salad. Add some fresh vegetables like cucumbers, bell peppers, and tomatoes and cheddar cheese cubes would go great with this chicken salad. 

Use large tortillas to wrap some spinach, chicken salad, slices of cheese, and fresh veggies to make this delicious chicken salad into a wrap.

You can wrap this chicken salad in lettuce to make low-carb lettuce wraps.

Serve this chicken salad with crackers at parties or as an appetizer. Slices of cheese and crackers will work very well with this salad.

SOME MORE RECIPES TO TRY

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Greek Chicken Salad

Cucumber Broccoli Salad

Antipasto Pasta Salad

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5 from 3 votes

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Macaroni Chicken Salad

Delicious Chicken Salad made with chicken breast meat, elbow macaroni, grapes, and toasted almonds.

Course lunch, Salad, sandwich, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword chicken salad, macaroni salad, wrap

Servings 6 (Makes about 6 cups)

Calories 519 kcal

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts
• salt and pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 cups dry elbow macaroni
• 1 1/2 cups red grapes cut in half
• 1/2 cup toasted almonds chopped
• 2 garlic cloves pressed
• salt and fresh cracked pepper
• 2/3 cup mayo
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp lemon juice

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

1. Bring a medium pot of water to boil and season it with salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Add chicken and cook chicken over medium heat until fully done. Take chicken out and set side to cool until it can be handled.

2. Cook pasta according to box instructions, drain and set aside in a large mixing bowl.
3. Once chicken is cooled enough, dice it into small cubes and add it to pasta.
4. Add chopped grapes and almonds. Season with some salt and pepper and mix well.

5. In a small mixing bowl, combine mayo, sour cream, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and pressed garlic. Mix well.

6. Mix mayo mixture into the salad, making sure it's all evenly distributed.
7. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Recipe Notes

All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have a slight variation.

Nutrition Facts

Macaroni Chicken Salad

Amount Per Serving

Calories 519 Calories from Fat 279

% Daily Value*

Fat 31g48%

Saturated Fat 6g38%

Cholesterol 69mg23%

Sodium 274mg12%

Potassium 548mg16%

Carbohydrates 37g12%

Fiber 3g13%

Sugar 8g9%

Protein 24g48%

Vitamin A 185IU4%

Vitamin C 2.9mg4%

Calcium 71mg7%

Iron 1.5mg8%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles on September 19, 2014. Updated June 17, 2019.