Bing Cherry Chicken Salad With Toasted Pecans

Chicken Bing Cherry Salad
BevLinder / Getty Images
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 30 mins
Total: 45 mins
Servings: 4 servings

Here's a wonderful fruit-packed version of chicken salad from Marjorie Druker, chef, and co-owner of the New England Soup Factory located in the Boston area. Fresh cherries and Vidalia onions make this chicken salad the perfect sandwich filling. Or serve on a bed of lettuce sprinkled with some walnuts or pecans for a nice lunch.

This chicken bing cherry salad recipe calls for poaching chicken breasts. If you're in a hurry, though, you can easily substitute roast chicken or even rotisserie chicken from the supermarket!

Ingredients

For the Poached Chicken:

  • 1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

  • 1 stalk celery, cut in half

  • 1/2 onion

  • 1 slice lemon

  • 1 bay leaf

  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

For the Salad:

  • 1 cup pecan halves, toasted

  • 1/2 cup diced Vidalia onion

  • 1 stalk celery, diced small

  • 1/2 pound fresh cherries, pitted

  • 3/4 cup mayonnaise

  • Kosher salt, to taste

  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Steps to Make It

For the Poached Chicken

  1. Gather the ingredients.

  2. Place the chicken in a 4- to 6-quart pot.

  3. Add enough cold water to cover the chicken by 1 inch.

  4. Add the celery, onion, lemon slice, bay leaf, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

  5. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

  6. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, remove chicken from the pot.

  7. Cool completely and chop before making the salad.

For the Salad

  • Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.

  • Place the pecans in a single layer on the baking sheet.

  • Bake for 5 to 7 minutes, removing once to stir, until fragrant and toasted. Watch carefully to avoid burning.

  • Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. In a medium mixing bowl place the chicken, onion, celery, cherries, and pecans. Add mayonnaise and gently stir so that all contents are lightly covered in mayonnaise.

  • Season with salt and pepper.

  • Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

A note from Marjorie: Removing pits from cherries is undeniably tedious, but a cherry pitter (found at most kitchen supply stores) makes the job more tolerable. You’ll end up with mashed fruit and stained fingers if you attempt to do it all by hand. For a shortcut, use oven-roasted chicken (even one purchased at the supermarket) instead of poaching the breast yourself.

Reprinted from "New England Soup Factory Cookbook: More Than 100 Recipes From the Nation’s Best Purveyor of Fine Soup" by Marjorie Druker (Thomas Nelson, Inc. 2007). (Buy from Amazon)

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
776 Calories
55g Fat
24g Carbs
49g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 776
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 55g 70%
Saturated Fat 8g 40%
Cholesterol 138mg 46%
Sodium 784mg 34%
Total Carbohydrate 24g 9%
Dietary Fiber 5g 19%
Total Sugars 15g
Protein 49g
Vitamin C 12mg 59%
Calcium 84mg 6%
Iron 3mg 16%
Potassium 818mg 17%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)