Instant Pot/Slow Cooker Chicken Salad–chicken is pressure cooked or slow cooked and then tossed with the best chicken salad dressing to make a fantastic topping for a bed of lettuce, a bun or croissant.
Instant Pot/Slow Cooker Chicken Salad
In the past I don’t think I have really appreciated chicken salad. I guess mostly because what I have tried has been drowned in mayonnaise and it didn’t have a lot of seasonings or flavor. My mind has officially been changed today! This is the best chicken salad! It has a lot of flavor and I have been sneaking bites of it all day. My kids both give it a thumbs up!
I served mine on whole wheat hamburger buns but if you want to get fancy you can serve it on croissants. If you’re trying to watch your carb intake you can serve it over a bed of lettuce.
I like the idea of this chicken salad because it’s something that can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated until you’re ready to serve it. You can serve it with chips and raw veggies. I do believe that the grapes are not optional, even though I wrote optional in the recipe. The reason? The savory and sweet play well off of each other. Without the grapes it just seemed like something was missing.
Try out this easy instant pot/slow cooker chicken salad sandwich recipe this week! You won’t be disappointed.
More recipes you’ll love…
Slow Cooker or Instant Pot Lemon Chicken Meatball Wraps
Slow Cooker or Instant Pot Creamy Greek Chicken Pitas
Slow Cooker or Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip
What Pressure Cooker/Slow Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot/Slow Cooker Chicken Salad I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly. It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top. For the slow cooker version, I used my 6 quart oval Kitchenaid slow cooker.* I love this slow cooker. It cooks low and evenly. I love the medium heat choice because most slow cookers that I’ve seen only have the option of cooking on low or high. If you’re going to buy just one slow cooker, this is the one that I recommend.
Print
Instant Pot Chicken Salad Sandwich
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
Description
Chicken is pressure cooked quickly or slow cooked and then tossed with the best chicken salad dressing to make a fantastic topping for a bed of lettuce, a bun or croissant.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp dried dill
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- 1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 3 green onions, diced
- 2 celery ribs, chopped
- Optional: 1 cup halved grapes (green or purple)
- Optional: 1/2 cup slivered almonds
Instructions
- Cook the chicken
- For the Instant Pot. Place chicken in Instant Pot and pour in the water. Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 10 minutes (or 12 minutes for frozen chicken). Let the pressure release naturally for at least 10 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid. Place the chicken on a cutting board and roughly chop it. (I used this chopper* and it worked great.) Put the chicken in an airtight container and set in the fridge to cool. Discard the water in the pot.
- For the Slow Cooker. Place chicken in the slow cooker and pour in the water. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Remove the lid. Place the chicken on a cutting board and roughly chop it. (I used this chopper* and it worked great.) Put the chicken in an airtight container and set in the fridge to cool. Discard the water in the slow cooker.
- Prepare the dressing. In a small bowl stir together the mayo, sour cream, lemon juice, dill, parsley, mustard, salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Chop. Chop and prepare the green onions, celery, grapes and almonds.
- Stir it all together. Once chicken is cooled stir everything all together until chicken is well coated. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve. Serve the chicken on a bed of lettuce, on buns or on croissants.
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
I used my 6 quart oval Kitchenaid slow cooker.*
This recipe can be gluten free. Frozen buns can be found in the freezer section at most grocery stores. Also, Chick-fil-A has delicious, moist, gluten-free buns that they will sell for around $1 if you want to go that route.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6 of recipe (just chicken salad)
- Calories: 419
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 335 mg
- Fat: 26 g
- Carbohydrates: 9 g
- Protein: 38 g
Keywords: sandwich
Send Me Free Recipes
Like this recipe for Instant Pot/Slow Cooker Chicken Salad? Get all my new recipes delivered to your email inbox by signing up below.
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Delicious recipe.
★★★★★
Made this to take to work for lunch. Its amazing, love the dressing.
★★★★★
Thanks Lynn! So glad you liked it!
Any other nuts good in this salad or maybe no nuts? I want to try. I have one picky eater.
★★★★★
No nuts would be fine! I also think this would be good with pomegranate seeds!
Why do you discard the water. Wouldn’t it be good as chicken broth/flavoring for other uses?
Like soup base or for anything else?
Yes you could do that! 😊
Made this today and couldn’t be easier or more delicious! Will definitely be making again!
★★★★★
Hi Kris, I’m so glad you made it and liked it. I love this one too!
Can I make up sandwiches on slider buns an he before serving without the bin getting soggy? I want to take them to my bible study.
I would just put a spoon in the chicken salad and a tray of buns on the side and let everyone serve themselves as the buns will get soggy unfortunately.
This sounds delicious and I’m looking forward to making it. I’m always on the look out for good economical dishes.
Being that I live alone and will be eating this for several days how long will it keep in the fridge? Thanks!
★★★★★
I would keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Do you put the chicken on the metal insert that comes with the Instant Pot? Or does the chicken actually sit in the water in the pot? Thanks!
I have done it both ways and it works either way.
Do you think you could substitute plain, non-fat greek yogurt for the sour cream?
Thanks for publishing these recipes and sharing your notes.
Yes you could do that!
The chicken salad is really good if you add a little curry powder to it.
yes! that sounds great!
Hi Karen
Love “365 Days”! Thanks for all the great information, recipes, and photos you share with us!
Can I use a whole, cut up chicken instead of the skinless, boneless chicken breasts?
If so, what changes in cooking time needs to be made for the instant pot?
Thank you!
yes that would taste amazing. I’d cook the chicken pieces for 20 minutes instead of 10.
I used about 3 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts and doubled all remaining ingredients. Turned out perfect!
Couldn’t the liquid from the alow cooked chicken be frozen and used for a veggie soup? Or throw the pre cut veggies right in? Seems like such a waste.
yep you could do that.
Hi! Really enjoy 365!!!! My favorite recipe is Creamy Basil Chicken and Tortellini! QQ: What’s the best way to double this chix salad recipe up? Obviously chicken and ingredients etc. Water doubled ? Time?
Thanks!!
Stew Thiel
Richmond Virginia
you wouldn’t need to double the water…but yes double everything else 🙂
Could I use all sour cream? I dislike mayonnaise.
Yep totally. It’ll taste a little different but I bet it would still be good.
I love your recipes but you don’t offer for email sharing therefore I have no way to get them to my computer. It would be so nice if you included email as well.
TIA.
I’ll have to look into that. Thanks for the idea.
Google Chrome has a Share icon on the top of the screen and it gives you several options including email. Hope this helps.
★★★★
Ann, use cut and paste
Can you download the paprika app? Or copy me that? I’m not sure about paprika but the copy me that app I can access the web site from a desktop. I upload them from my phone and then I can access them from the app or browser.
★★★★★