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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
- 3/4 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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It’s would be better with. boiled eggs.
Thanks for the suggestion Maxine!
Hi Martha, What a wonderful and delicious hit this turned out to be. I am now making it weekly for my family. I use two picked rotisserie chickens and have upped the amount of celery and onion I add. I also make my own paleo avocado mayonnaise instead of using store bought and its absolutely wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing this!
You’re very welcome Sammy – so glad you enjoy the recipe as much as we do!
This turned out exactly how I imagined… Never had the original but this is without a doubt the best chicken salad recipe I’ve ever had. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome Ty! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
My family is full of picky eaters, but every single one of them loved this recipe. I have to keep it in stock in my fridge in case they crave a snack. Great for stuffing celery stocks if you can’t eat gluten!
Thanks Sandy! As the mom of a picky eater, I know how great it feels to find foods that everyone loves…so glad your family enjoys the recipe!
Excellent! Everyone loved it. You can dress it up with grapes, nuts or pineapple if you like that kind of chicken salad.
Thanks Jeanne – great ideas!
I’ve never heard of Willow Tree Chicken Salad, but while I was searching for a recipe, it popped up. I made it and I will say, “Hands Down! This is the BEST Chicken Salad ever!” My husband agrees and it will be a STAPLE in our life, now. Thank you for taking the time to figure it out AND for sharing it.
Wow – You’re very welcome Glenda! So glad you enjoyed the chicken salad!
Hello, This sounds like what I am looking for. I want to use a whole chicken from the deli (rotisserie). How should I increase the recipe to fit a whole chicken? Also would you include the dark meat in the salad? Please advise. And let me also say that this is the best example of a up kept message board I have ever seen on the internet. Kudos!
Thanks Sammy! We’ve made this with breast meat only (as you see it in the photos), as well as white and dark chicken meat just for ourselves – so it’s really up to you! (The dark meat is delicious too.) Depending on the size of your rotisserie chicken, once you remove the meat from the bones you’ll probably wind up with 1-2 pounds of meat in total. The recipe calls for 1 pound of chicken so adjust accordingly if you have closer to 2 pounds (just double the recipe). Hope this helps. Enjoy!
One of the best chicken salad sandwiches Ive ever had was in a deli in Wilmington, NC. It was very sweet, but couldnt put my finger on where the sweetness came from.. the ownersvrecipe was just like yours, but he used honey instead of brown sugar. Im going to try the brown sugar, but honey is a great option!!!
Hope you enjoy the recipe Sharon! Great idea!
Ok, you have the copycat chicken salad. Have you tried to do the willow tree chicken pie yet? I would like to know how to do that sauce. The Greek dressing is good. We used to get Christop’s about once a week at work.
Hi Jean – We tried making a copycat pie recipe years ago, but decided we liked my husband Jack’s pot pie recipe better. We have that on our site as turkey pot pie, but it also works for chicken too if you’d like to try that: https://www.afamilyfeast.com/turkey-pot-pie/ (We miss Christo’s!!) 🙂
Thank you. Will try.
This recipe is a winner! Had a rotisserie chicken from the market to make things easy. I added a handful of Cilantro. I love the bright, fresh taste of it. Tasted wonderful and I’m sure it will be 10x as good once it sits in the fridge overnight. Thanks for another great recipe, keep them coming!!!
Thanks Doug! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!