Poached Chicken Salad with Grapes and Tarragon
Cold poached chicken folded into a mayo-Dijon dressing with grapes, celery, and tarragon — no stove needed once it's in the fridge.
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Written
Method
-
Cover the chicken with cold water in a pot, add the onion, bay leaves, and a big pinch of salt, and bring to a bare simmer.
-
Poach until the chicken is no longer pink at the center, 12-15 minutes, then let it cool in the liquid for 10 minutes.
-
Lift out the chicken and shred or dice it into bite-size pieces.
-
Whisk the mayonnaise, Dijon, lemon juice, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl.
-
Fold in the chicken, celery, grapes, pecans, and tarragon until every piece is coated.
-
Chill at least 1 hour before serving so the flavors settle.
Notes
Poaching the chicken whole in barely-simmering water, then letting it cool in that liquid, is what keeps it from turning stringy — a hard boil pushes moisture out exactly where a cold salad needs it most. Do this step a day ahead and the rest is five minutes of folding.
Tarragon is the one flavor here that isn’t optional; its faint anise note is what separates this from a plain deli scoop. Swap the grapes for diced apple in fall, or pile the whole thing onto a croissant instead of bread.