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Why buy the expensive deli chicken salad when you can make our Copycat Willow Tree Chicken Salad at home? (It’s just as good!)
A few years back when I was pregnant with my daughter, I had food cravings like most pregnant woman do. One of my cravings was for Willow Tree chicken salad. Almost every day for lunch, I went to a little sandwich shop about a block away from my office, and I would get the exact same thing to eat: a Willow Tree chicken salad sandwich (and this sandwich shop specifically stated it was Willow Tree for good reason!) on sourdough bread, milk, and a piece of fruit.
Willow Tree Farm is a New England-area food company and poultry farm based out of Attleboro, Massachusetts, famous for their deli chicken salad and chicken pot pies. According to the Willow Tree website, they credit their chicken salad as one of the reasons the company has flourished over the years, and their products are also sold at grocery chains all along the East Coast of the United States.
My husband learned of my Willow Tree chicken salad craving – and being the sweetheart that he is – he set out to recreate this chicken salad recipe at home just for me. (It’s always important to keep a pregnant lady happy!) 😉
Jack started with the recipe found online here (someone else must have had a similar craving) but tweaked it further after reading the ingredients which the folks at Willow Tree were nice enough to list on their website as well. I think Jack has come pretty close with the recipe we’ve listed below. Enjoy!
A few last notes: This recipe was originally shared here on A Family Feast in November 2012. We’ve updated the original photo (you can see that below – our food photography has definitely improved over the years) and we included a video as well (see above). Our readers love this recipe – even those readers who never tasted the original Willow Tree version!
I do also want to thank the folks at Willow Tree for being such great sports about this copycat recipe. As you can see in the comments below, the folks at Willow Tree have been following along with our readers’ comments and closely guarding the family’s real chicken salad recipe!
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Copycat Willow Tree Chicken Salad
A copycat recipe of the famous Willow Tree chicken salad.
Ingredients
- 1 pound cooked chicken breast
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons finely minced celery
- 3 tablespoons finely minced onion
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of pepper
Instructions
- Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment, blend chicken breasts until thoroughly shredded, or shred by hand. (Note: Shredded chicken rather than diced chicken pieces will help recreate the original Willow Tree chicken salad texture.)
- Remove bowl from the stand mixer and add in all other ingredients. Stir by hand to mix well.
- Serve over lettuce leaves or in sandwiches.
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I tried this tonight, and it’s good! I decided to make a “basic” salad that I can fruit up or nut up as I like or leave it alone (I’m a fan of the fruity ones, but have been frustrated with my combos the past few times). I added some lemon juice, salt, and lemon pepper seasoning.
Add-ins I’ve liked include chopped apple (Honeycrisp), cut grapes, mandarin oranges, Sugar in the Raw. Toasted pecans ok; pineapple no.
Thanks Emmie!
Just wondering what mayonnaise you use? Cains, Hellmans, or other brand. Thank you.
Hi – We typically use Hellmann’s mayo!
Such a great base recipe for chicken salad! I used left over beer canned chicken that added smokiness which i love, and then also added grapes and walnuts! It is absolutely delicious and my husband is already begging for more!! Thanks!
You’re very welcome Claire! So glad the recipe was a hit!
I couldn’t find any reference to how much this makes. About how many sandwiches using the small Hawaiian rolls would you guess? Also, how about chopped up sweet pickles?
Hi Sue – We estimate the yield to be 4-6 servings/sandwiches (it’s at the top of the recipe card) depending on how much you like to load up your sandwich. For the small King’s Hawaiian rolls, I’d estimate that one recipe is enough to fill a package of 12 slider rolls with a reasonable scoop – but if you want to really load them up, I’d make extra. Hope that helps!
Sounds delicious except for the brown sugar??? Personally, I use grated carrots for the natural sweetness.
We hope you’ll give the recipe a try Mamie! (You might be surprised!)
I love this recipe. The first day I made it, I thought I should have deleted the brown sugar… but then the second day – it was so delish.. I can’t wait to even try to add chopped green grapes and maybe a few pecans to the recipe…
Great idea Karen! We’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Love Willow Tree Chicken Salad. I missed it as now I’m living in Florida. I made this recipe for a ladies luncheon I had this week, it was a big hit!!! I will make this again and again!!!
Thanks Fran – so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I’m really wanting to try this recipe. I seems to be exactly what I’m looking for. Very simple basic ingredients. I’m not a fan of nuts & such in my chicken salad. Anyways, when preparing the chicken breasts I’m assuming you bake them…? Do you season the breast before hand? Thanks for any advice. Looking forward to making this hopefully soon.
Hi – Any cooked chicken will work (roasted, poached, etc). We sometimes use a rotisserie chicken from the market, or we will poach the chicken using this recipe: https://www.afamilyfeast.com/sunday-cooking-lesson-perfect-poached-chicken/ I hope this helps! Enjoy!
This is a simple, down home chicken salad. Only changes I made were leaving out the onion because we don’t like it in cold salad but added a shake of onion powder. I also left the chicken a little chunkier since hubby prefers that to blended.
Thanks Delilah!
Made this today and loved it! I really liked the subtle touch of sweetness from the brown sugar. I followed the recipe as written with one minor change. I put the chicken in the food processor instead of shredding it. I wanted to produce a smoother chicken salad (just my personal preference). Thank you for a great recipe, I will be making this for many years to come!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Joy!