These delicious (and easy) Honey Mustard Chicken Salad Sandwiches are a fun twist on typical chicken salad! They’re a hit wherever they’re served!
Honey Mustard Chicken Salad Sandwiches
I’m obsessed with chicken salad sandwiches. The boys love them too so they frequently end up as a go-to lunch for us. When I make chicken salad sandwiches though, they have a few requirements: They have to be ready FAST (lunchtime is busy at my house!), they have to be packed with good flavor and lots of texture, and they really have to be served on croissants.
In all honesty, we eat chicken salad more often on wheat bread than on croissants to keep them healthier, but I do love chicken salad on a croissant the very best! My go-to chicken salad recipe is a favorite in my home and I make it often because everyone loves it. My sister and I threw my (then soon-to-be) sister-in-law and brother a bridal shower earlier this summer and after serving that chicken salad, they requested it on the menu for their wedding luncheon. It’s really the best and so as I set out to make a variation on that recipe, my expectations (as well as my taste testers) were very high.
Luckily Honey Mustard Chicken Salad ticks off all of my requirements and passed the taste tests with flying colors — it’s a total winner!
How do you make this recipe?
- If I’m making a lunch sandwich I want it to be FAST! And this recipe’s prep time (10 minutes or less) definitely delivers.
- How do you get super-flavorful chicken in a flash? Rely on pre-made store-bought rotisserie chicken or a leftover homemade rotisserie-style chicken. I buy a rotisserie chicken and chop up the meat from that (about 2 cups) and then use the remaining chicken in one of the many recipes on my site that also call for rotisserie chicken. (See here, here, and here!) If you’re in a super-big hurry, a lot of grocery stores even have rotisserie chicken they’ve already cut up for you. It’s a bit more spendy but great in a pinch!
- If you’re planning on making sandwiches for a lot of people, this recipe easily doubles, triples, etc. If you get a colossal-sized rotisserie chicken, you’ll get about 6 cups of meat. That would make enough sandwich filling for a triple recipe and just triple all of the other ingredients!
Does this Honey Mustard Chicken Salad use Dijon mustard?
No; while most honey mustard chicken salad sandwiches do, this one actually uses regular yellow mustard! I’m using my famous “chick-fil-a” copycat sauce! This recipe is raved about and insanely good on chicken salad!
Quick Tip
A few people ask over the years what they can use if they can’t find coleslaw dressing that is part of this recipe. I don’t have a great substitute so instead I also worked on an alternate sauce for this recipe that is also amazing. Here’s my alternate recipe that uses Dijon mustard.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons regular full-fat mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
Whisk together until smooth! Taste and adjust seasonings and use in place of the other sauce in this recipe.
How should I prepare the chicken for these sandwiches?
- I LOVE using rotisserie chicken: I’ve already mentioned it earlier in this post, but I’ll say it again: rotisserie chicken is fast, flavorful, and tender! I like getting one from the store (or making one homemade) at the beginning of the week and then using it in recipes throughout the week. Check out this post for more details on that process! If you’re really in a time crunch, lots of stores even sell pre-shredded rotisserie chicken meat.
- Alternatively, you can grill the chicken: Besides using a homemade or store bought “rotisserie chicken” I love grilled chicken! If you want to use grilled chicken for this recipe, I wouldn’t marinate it (so the flavors don’t compete with the dressing) but be sure to generously salt and pepper the breasts and then drizzle some oil on both sides. Pound them to even thickness and grill over medium-high heat (450 degrees F) turning once halfway through grilling, about 4-6 minutes per side (until the thickest part of the chicken registers 165 degrees F.). Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover with foil. Allow the chicken to rest for a few minutes so the juices can re-distribute. Thinly slice and then chop the grilled chicken and it’s ready for this recipe.
- You can cook the chicken in a slow cooker and shred it: Season trimmed chicken breasts generously with salt and pepper and then place in the bottom of a crockpot. Cover the breasts completely with chicken stock or broth. Cook on low for 5-7 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Remove chicken, drain the liquid, and shred or chop the cooked breasts.
More Easy Recipes:
- French Dip Sliders
- Italian Sliders
- Turkey Bacon Club Wraps
- Italian Chicken Wraps (10-minute meal)
- Honey Mustard Club Sandwiches
Honey Mustard Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 2 cups prepared rotisserie chicken, chopped into small pieces (see post for other ways to prepare chicken)
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries fruit-infused for an even more delicious chicken salad!
- 2 stalks celery thinly sliced
Dressing
- 1/2 cup prepared coleslaw dressing (found near chilled dressings/dips in the grocery store; we like Marie's brand)
- 1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
- 3 tablespoons honey BBQ sauce
- Salt and pepper to taste
Serve with
- Bread or croissant rolls
- Lettuce
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the chopped rotisserie chicken, dried cranberries, and thinly sliced celery.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the coleslaw dressing, mustard, and BBQ sauce. Whisk until smooth and season to taste with salt and pepper. Adjust quantities to your preference.
- Gently stir all of the ingredients together until combined. Taste and adjust for any additional salt/pepper.
- Enjoy layered on toasted bread or a croissant and add some lettuce.
Video
Recipe Notes
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons regular full-fat mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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One more question (I couldn’t figure out how to edit my last question) – if I were to use the alternate dressing that you listed, instead of Marie’s coleslaw dressing, do I still add the BBQ sauce and yellow mustard? I can’t tell for sure what the alternate recipe is replacing.
I have a bunch of different BBQ sauces but no honey BBQ. Is there a way I could use less BBQ and supplement with honey? If so, how much?
great salad love all of these ingredients together and honey mustard is a nice flavor for me, so thank you for this recipe!
YUM I love honey mustard and chicken salad…such a great combination together! 🙂