Martha Stewart Chicken Club Salad Recipe

I skipped the bread and it was better. Martha Stewart’s Chicken Club Salad takes everything you love about a club sandwich, the bacon, the chicken, the tomatoes, the mayo, and puts it on top of crispy romaine lettuce instead of between slices of toast, with the chicken and bacon baked together on the same sheet pan in 45 minutes.

This chicken salad recipe is one of Martha Stewart’s best chicken salad recipes for summer when you want something filling but not heavy. The whole thing takes 45 minutes and most of that is the oven doing the work while you chop a few vegetables. I make it on hot days when turning on the stove sounds wrong but I still need a real meal.

Try More Salad Recipes:

• Chicken Taco Salad
• 7 Layer Salad
• Fruit Salad

Why You Will Love This Chicken Club Salad:

• The bacon and chicken bake on the same pan: Martha starts the bacon first for 10 minutes, then slides it to one side and adds the chicken. One baking sheet, one cleanup. I used to cook bacon on the stove and then cook the chicken separately and it took twice as long with twice the mess.
• No cooking a dressing: Mayo and white wine vinegar stirred into the chopped vegetables. That is the entire dressing. I thought it would be boring and it is not. The vinegar wakes everything up and the mayo holds it all together.
• It is a club sandwich you eat with a fork: Bacon, chicken, tomatoes, onion, celery, mayo. All the club sandwich flavors on a bed of romaine. I do not miss the bread at all, which I did not expect.

Chicken Club Salad Ingredients

• 6 slices bacon
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6 to 8 ounces each)
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 3 plum tomatoes, quartered lengthwise, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, sliced crosswise 1/4 inch thick, plus 1/2 cup celery leaves (optional)
• 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar
• Lettuce leaves, for serving, such as romaine

How To Make Martha Stewart Chicken Club Salad

1. Bake the bacon: Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Lay the bacon in a single layer and bake until the fat starts to come out, about 10 minutes.
2. Add the chicken: Flip the bacon and push it to one side of the sheet. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and put it on the other side. Bake until the bacon is crispy and the chicken is cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Prep the salad: Move the bacon to a paper towel lined plate and let it drain. Crumble it when it cools. Let the chicken cool completely. In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, red onion, celery, celery leaves if using, mayo, and vinegar.
4. Toss and serve: Cut the chicken into 1/2-inch chunks and add to the bowl. Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Serve the salad over lettuce leaves and sprinkle the crumbled bacon on top.

Recipe Tips

• Let the chicken cool completely: If you add hot chicken to the mayo and vegetables, the mayo gets thin and the whole thing turns soupy. I did this once and it looked like chicken soup. Let it cool all the way down before you chop and toss.
• Seed the tomatoes: Martha says plum tomatoes, quartered and seeded. The seeds and juice make the dressing watery if you leave them in. Takes 30 seconds and the salad stays creamy instead of runny.
• Bake the bacon and chicken on the same sheet: Bacon goes in first for a 10-minute head start, then chicken joins. They finish together. I used to do these separately and this method cut my cleanup in half.
• Serve on whole leaves, not chopped: Martha uses the lettuce as cups, not as part of the salad. The whole leaves hold the chicken mixture like little boats. It looks better on the plate and you eat it like a taco.

The Lunch I Make More Than Any Other

I am not exaggerating. I make this salad more often than almost anything else on the site. When I have leftover chicken or a rotisserie in the fridge, this comes together in about 10 minutes and it is a full meal that I actually look forward to eating.

• I use rotisserie chicken most of the time and skip the oven step entirely. Martha says you can swap in 4 cups chopped rotisserie and she is right. It tastes just as good.
• I have scooped this into butter lettuce cups and served it as a starter when people came over. It disappeared in about 5 minutes.

I put it on toast once because I missed the bread and I realized I had just rebuilt the club sandwich. I went back to lettuce. The chicken taco salad is the only other salad I reach for as often.

What Goes Well With This Club Salad

I tried adding a side of cornbread once and it felt like too much. The salad is already filling with the chicken and bacon. A handful of good crackers or warm biscuits is the most I add.

On really hot days I just eat the salad by itself with a cold drink. It does not need help.

How To Store Leftovers

Keep the salad and the lettuce separate. The lettuce turns into a wet rag overnight if it touches the mayo. The chicken mixture stays good in a container for up to 2 days and the flavors actually get better the next morning.

I scoop leftover salad straight into a wrap with a slice of avocado and that is a better lunch than most things I could buy. I have also eaten it on crackers like a dip and that works surprisingly well.

FAQs

• Can I use rotisserie chicken? Yes. Martha says you can use 4 cups chopped rotisserie chicken and skip the baking step. I do this most of the time because it is faster and the flavor is already there. You still bake the bacon separately.
• Can I use regular mayo instead of light? Yes. The salad will be a little richer. Martha calls for light mayo but regular works fine. I have also used half mayo and half Greek yogurt and liked it.
• Why plum tomatoes? They have fewer seeds and less juice than regular tomatoes so the dressing does not get watery. If you use regular tomatoes, scoop out the seeds and the watery center before chopping.
• Can I make this ahead? Martha says you can prep the chicken, bacon, and vegetables up to 1 day ahead. Keep them separate in the fridge. Toss everything together and add the mayo and vinegar right before serving so the salad stays fresh and the bacon stays crispy.

More Salad Recipes:

• Cucumber Salad
• Easy Salad Dressings
• Potato Salad

Nutrition Facts

(1 serving, serves 4)

• Calories: 350
• Total Fat: 14g
• Saturated Fat: 3g
• Cholesterol: 100mg
• Sodium: 550mg
• Total Carbohydrates: 8g
• Protein: 40g