Who is Joann you ask? Well, that’s my momma! Joann’s been making this chicken salad recipe for years. Some say thousands of years! She started to add cut-up grapes to her recipe when I was in high school and that’s when I started to crave this. Now you may be saying, oh how cute another Waldorf chicken salad..NO! There will be NO NUTS in a Joann recipe! The juicy refreshing bite from the grapes really jumps out at you here. Now I know, there are sooo many chicken salad recipes in the world that you think of when you hear of this classic deli salad. Not many are very good though and can’t be trusted. Trust me on this one, Joann knows what’s up.

Chicken salad has always been a summer dish for me. Eating some mayo-y chicken out of a bowl with a roll of Ritz crackers brings me so much comfort. It’s my favorite deli salad to bring up to my uncle’s lake house for a weekend away or at the park on a sunny day for a picnic. The smartest chefs keep these types of quick recipes on our utility belt for an easy meal. Hot chef tip, life is all about finding your utility belt recipes. What’s yours?

I know you want to eat this deli salad the minute you make it but trust the refrigerating process. It would be too mayo-y. The grapes, the apple, the celery, and the cran raisins need time to get friendly with the mayo. Love mayo or not, it’s the entire flavor profile of this recipe. It’s just like pasta salad, you need to let the flavors get to know each other for just, like, a sec.

Please do this recipe justice and spread the word. More people to know to add some dice apples and grapes and cranberries, oh my! You don’t need nuts and fresh herbs to make this salad taste any better. This is your base. I can’t think of a better Mother’s day gift than to write my mom into a recipe that I will immortalize on 12 Tomatoes forever. Love you, Mom!

This recipe is featured in our online cooking class, Deli Salad Party.

Click the link above to watch the step-by-step video of how to make this recipe!

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