Many local churches sell their homemade chicken salad certain times throughout the year. Old-Fashioned Chicken Salad Dressing‘s distinct sweet and tangy flavor delights the taste buds with a smile that sends you back into time to your grandmother’s kitchen. I was given this recipe by a friend’s mother, Mrs. Weaver, along with a small cast iron pan to use to make it. Hidden within an old collection of locally submitted recipes to create a cookbook, this gem was marked as a favorite of hers. She was adamant about sharing it with me, so it must be tried and true, right?
When I was asking about this dressing from my Facebook family, Miss Ann, from my children’s Tint Tot nursery school days, said this dressing was often used by her family for macaroni salad, potato salad, coleslaw and Waldorf salad. She referred to this as a “boiled” dressing which came from her husband’s grandmother. In my research, I’ve found variations similar to this. I’m going to have to try some of those options since I had dressing remaining after making the chicken salad. As always, don’t forget to refrigerate salads made with this and any leftover dressing promptly.
Simple to create, the base can be completed in about 10 minutes on the stove. Melt the butter over low heat. Beat the remaining ingredients together, then whisk it into the butter. Whisk continuously until thickened and has a consistency of pudding. Remove from the heat and refrigerate.
After cooling, blend in the mayonnaise.
This picture shows shredded chicken breast. But wait….. I think I’ll save this chicken for some Chicken Enchiladas because I just remembered something….
Chicken breasts shred easily to use for this, but I remember it being made with both white and dark meat. I have also heard recently that using roasted bone-in chicken creates the best flavor for chicken salad, so I’m going to try it both ways. Because it’s so hot, I’m refusing to use my oven, so I think I’ll go buy a rotisserie chicken from the store.
Whether you choose to use all white meat or the roasted, bone-in (rotisserie chicken) ,mix the diced celery and dressing with the shredded or chopped chicken. The amount of dressing you use, I’m told, is a personal preference. Some like a little, some like a lot. Based upon my brother’s recommendation, I used 3/4 cup of the Old-Fashioned Chicken Salad Dressing to about a pound of chopped rotisserie chicken or shredded chicken breasts, along with 1/2 cup of diced celery.
You must try this! Serve it on a bed of salad greens.
Serve it on toasted rolls, preferably brioche. A little sweet taste pairs well. Slice
Or, you could serve smaller portions on smaller rolls like sliders or Hawaiian sweet rolls. if you need a tray of “finger food” for guests. Even small croissants would well. Perhaps my brother’s Perfect Dinner Rolls would be….perfect for this!
Don’t forget to refrigerate salads made with this and any leftover dressing promptly.
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1¾ cups
- Dressing:
- 2 T. butter
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- ¼ c. sugar
- ¼ c. apple cider vinegar
- ¼ t. salt
- ¼ t. dry mustard
- After chilling, add:
- 1 c Mayonnaise
- Chicken Salad:
- 1 pound of rotisserie chicken, chopped
- ¾ c. dressing
- ½ c. celery, diced
- Melt butter in small skillet on low heat.
- Beat together the next 5 ingredients. Stir into the melted butter and whisk while cooking until it's the consistency of pudding.(8 mins).
- Chill in the refrigerator.
- Stir in 1 c. of Hellman's mayonnaise into cold dressing.
- Stir desired amount of dressing with chopped chicken and diced celery.
- Store any remaining dressing in the refrigerator.
