Hot Chicken Salad
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
This creamy Southern chicken casserole (a.k.a a hot chicken salad) includes tender chicken, celery, and boiled eggs baked with a crunchy potato chip topping.
I’m bringing you a little treasure today in the form of my Granny Jordan’s old-fashioned Southern chicken casserole recipe. Back in the day, this baked chicken salad was regularly seen at lunch, brunch, dinner, potlucks, church picnics, and tailgating parties. It’s typically served as a savory dip-style casserole with bread or Ritz crackers for dipping, but more on that below.
This is such a quick and easy hot chicken salad recipe. All we need to do is mix our ingredients together, which are mayo, cream of chicken soup, shredded chicken, celery, onion, and boiled eggs. We add this to a casserole dish, top it with lots of crunchy and salty potato chips, and bake! That’s it! It will be ready in just 20 minutes.
This chicken casserole is so creamy, thanks to the mayo and cream of chicken soup. But it’s also super flavorful and texturized, as you have the crunch of the celery and potato chips combined with the tender chicken and eggs. Basically, it’s a taste sensation and you need to bake it immediately. Yes, really!
Recipe Ingredients
- Ritz crackers and lettuce (for serving)
- Mayo
- Onion
- Boiled eggs
- Celery
- Chicken
- Cream of chicken soup
- Potato chips
How to Make Hot Chicken Salad
Chop up your boiled eggs…
As well as your celery and onion.
Chuck all of those ingredients into a large bowl.
Then add the cream of chicken soup, cooked chicken, and mayonnaise.
Give it a good stir and it’ll look a little bit like this.
Spread the chicken mixture into an 8×8 casserole dish.
Top with crushed potato chips.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes and your hot chicken salad is ready to serve. How easy was that?
Serve hot on a bed of lettuce with Ritz crackers.
I also have to admit I love to serve this baked chicken salad cold like this Southern chicken salad for sandwiches.
It’s delicious either way. Enjoy!
Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat them in the microwave, oven, or air fryer. I don’t recommend freezing the casserole as creamy sauces don’t thaw well.
Recipe Notes
Here are some variations to make this hot chicken salad recipe work for you:
- Add 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. You can mix this into the chicken casserole or add it on top along with the potato chips. Alternatively, add cheddar cheese to the casserole and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.
- For extra flavor, add 1 jar of diced pimientos (drained).
- For extra crunch, add 1 cup of sliced/slivered almonds.
- Use any kind of cooked chicken, like rotisserie chicken, canned chicken, or shredded boneless skinless chicken breast.
- Add more veggies, like 1 can of water chestnuts, 1 cup of chopped red bell pepper, or 1 cup of sliced mushrooms.
- Garnish with chopped fresh parsley or green onion.
- Add diced cooked bacon for added flavor.
- Substitute the potato chips for toasted breadcrumbs, french fried onions, or crushed cornflakes.
- Add a tablespoon of bottled or fresh lemon juice for a pleasant tang.
Recipe FAQs
How do you serve a hot chicken salad?
I like to serve my hot chicken salad casserole on a bed of lettuce with Ritz crackers, cornbread, homemade buttermilk biscuits, or bread. But it also tastes delicious as a main dish with cooked rice and a side of fresh green beans.
Check out these other chicken casserole recipes:
Chicken Tortilla Casserole (Cooked in the Microwave)
Cheesy Chicken and Corn Casserole
Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Casserole With Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cooked chicken
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 2 chopped boiled eggs
- 3/4 cup diced celery
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1/3 cup cracker crumbs (optional)
- 1 cup potato chips
- Ritz crackers and lettuce for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Mix chicken, mayo, soup, eggs, celery, onion, and cracker crumbs in a medium bowl.1 cooked chicken, 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1 can cream of chicken soup, 2 chopped boiled eggs, 3/4 cup diced celery, 1/2 onion, diced, 1/3 cup cracker crumbs (optional)
- Spread into an 8x8 baking dish and top with crushed potato chips.1 cup potato chips
- Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
- Serve hot or cold over a bed of lettuce with Ritz crackers.Ritz crackers and lettuce for serving (optional)
I’m quoting myself today!
Each day when you wake up you have a choice. You can have a good day or you can have a bad day. So you might as well have a good one.
To submit your positive or uplifting quote, click here.
Wow! Granny Jordan was a looker, beautiful, beautiful lady!
Was she ever in any beauty contest, if no, she sure should have been.
I’m sure gonna try her recipe with the crackers,haha….
Good day to you, Christy!
I just pulled this out of my oven & it smells sooooo good!! I snuck in a tasty bite but have to put a cranky baby to sleep before I can really indulge! (on the cell phone). Can’t wait! Thanks for yet another recipe to add to my tried & true file! 😉
Christy:
I was surfin’ the net looking for my “On The Go Sugar Free International Cappuccino” that has been discontinued in the stores. Low and behold your site was listed and your recipe came up for the sugar free cappuccino. Girl, I am going to try it.
I so enjoyed the picture and story of your grandmother who was definitely a “Southern Belle”.
I am going to make the chicken salad casserole recipe this week for a party I am having, it sounds scrumptious.
Your site has been added to one of my favorites.
As a grandmother myself, I thank you for the wonderful recipes.
Carole
(Also known by my grandchildren as: Mi-Mi,Grandma Carole, and just plain Grandma) 🙂
Christy it’s so funny how I notice the little things. You and I not only have the same plates, but the same spatchula that Katy is stirring with. Maybe I’m just easily amused, but I think that is so cool!…lol
Christy – I love your Southernplate.com site…and I am like Vickie – I am always looking at your dishes! 🙂 I love the green ones the best. I enjoyed this story about your Granny! You’re a lucky girl to find her recipes. 🙂 Will be making this recipe this week!
Sue in North Carolina
Another thing about us Southern girls…don’t we all just love to look at each other’s family pictures? they can be total strangers and we are just fascinated to sit and hear about every person portrayed. And although i haven’t been back to my mama’s hometown in Tennessee, I can recite her genealogy to anyone in that area- “Avent,Galloway, McAlexander, McCrory, McCommons”- and they will know exactly who my grandparents were, who my cousins are, and where they moved off to. And yes, we’re Irish.
I laughed when you said your mom thinks you don’t chop your onions small enough. Just like a mom! You grow into an adult and even though the rest of the world thinks you are an expert in your field, your mom still tells you how to do things.
I hate extra gadgets, but I LOVE the Vidalia Onion Chopper. It lets you chop mountains of onions and celery and bell peppers in just a few minutes and they are all in perfect little cubes.
Sounds great I will certainly try it.
Loved reading about your Grandmother and the wonderful recipes you have of hers. Aren’t the old recipes great?
I have my Great Grandmothers cook book given to her before she was even married to my Great Grandfather. It was given to her as a shower gift in 1891. I love trying her recipes that she had marked in the book. All the favorites and notes as to how the reaction was to the recipes, when it was served and for whom it was especially made for such as Cocoanut cake made for my Great Great Grandma on her birthday March 10, 1892….
Now I am the Great Grandmother and hoipe that someday that my Great Grandkids will enjoy not only my favorites but also some of Granmas from this treasure I have.