Julia Child's Brilliant (And Easy) Tip To Avoid Bland Chicken Salad

Julia Child spent her career teaching people how to cook upscale, elevated meals in an accessible way. The iconic chef had a cooking tip for just about everything, and chicken salad was no exception. When it came to the most flavorful version of this dish, Child recommended adding the seasonings to the chicken long before the chicken salad comes together.

Chicken salad is mostly chicken and mayonnaise enhanced with other ingredients, such as seasonings, crunchy veggies, or even dried fruit. In a vintage cooking video posted to TikTok, Child said, "I think one of the great tricks in making a chicken salad is to toss the chicken meat in seasonings and flavorings, and let it macerate for 20 minutes or so. Then, when you fold in the mayonnaise, it will have a marvelous taste to it." By letting the seasonings infuse into the cooked chicken, it creates a greater depth of flavor than if you introduce the seasonings when you're putting everything together at the end of the cooking process.

Depending on the taste you're after, you can use just about any herbs and seasonings you want; mayonnaise and chicken are ingredients that work well with most anything. Julia Child used quite a few elements to give her chicken good flavor: A little salt and pepper, of course, plus lemon juice, parsley, and tarragon. She also added red onions and walnuts for crunch, then drizzled some olive oil, which combines with the lemon juice to create the marinade she was referring to. Once that sits, it gets mixed with mayonnaise.

But chicken salad can take on many forms. You can add Buffalo sauce or mix in some horseradish for a spicy variation, for example, while grapes, dried cherries, or a hint of brown sugar gives the dish a sweet-and-salty flavor. You can also cut the mayonnaise's richness by swapping half of it with some Greek yogurt or sour cream; each add a little tang to balance out the fattier mayo.