Junior's White Meat Chicken Salad

Alan in SW Florida's Note:

Whenever in NYC, I always try to cross the bridge to Brooklyn and eat at Junior's on the corner of Flatbush and Dekalb. I was fortunate to come across this recipe for their chicken salad. It's great for making sandwiches on thick slices of white or Challah bread, or simply serve as a salad on curly lettuce leaves. P.S. You haven't lived until you've tried Junior's cheesecake, the best in the world.

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 6-8

Yield: 6.0 cups

For the Salad

• celery leaves (optional)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2 large whole breasts or 4 large halves)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup celery, diced
• 1 tablespoon snipped fresh dill

For the Mustard Cream Dressing

• 3/4 cup mayonnaise (use Hellman's Real Mayonnaise and NOT the light variety)
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

1. To cook the chicken: Fill a large saucepan half full with water. Add a few celery leaves, if you wish, plus the salt and white pepper, and bring to a boil over high heat. Slide in the chicken breasts, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the chicken turns opaque and the juices are no longer pink, about 8 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a colander with a slotted spoon, and rinse with cold water. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and cut into 3/4-inch chunks (please don't shred the chicken).
2. Place the chicken chunks into a medium-sized bowl and sprinkle with the lemon juice and toss well. Add the diced celery and dill and toss again.
3. Mix all the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl. Spoon the dressing over the chicken mixture and stir until all of the chicken and celery are coated.

Reviews

[Queen Roachie]

I forgot the dill, left out the celery so I wouldn't be the only one eating it, and this was still the best chicken salad ever! I love the dressing for this, and I'm already trying to think of things to put it on. I did make some elbow macaroni and make this into a noodle salad. I put some of the extra dressing on some fried green tomatoes and it was heavenly. I love the touch of dijon in this, and I might just start keeping this dressing in the fridge to have with veggies. Thanks for sharing!

[katindallas]

The sauce alone is wonderful, but the dill provides a nice counter and the celery a great texture! Thanks for the great recipe. I will be using it again!!UPDATE: I've made this several times and have even made the sauce to use on a red potato salad and a shrimp salad (that I served over cold penne). I love it and always get rave reviews!!! Thank you again!!

[Redox]

I've been trying different recipes for Chicken Salad and this one is my current favorite. It has a wonderful flavor and I'll be making this often. I made it as written save for using 1 tsp of dried dill instead of 1 Tbl of fresh dill. For those who may not know, the rule of thumb is use 1/3 the amount of the fresh herb if using dried. The dried herb is more concentrated so less is needed. Thanks for providing this recipe, Alan, it's delicious.