Every Chicken Salad Chick Flavor, Ranked

When I found out there was a restaurant that serves almost nothing but chicken salad, I was so surprised you could have knocked me over with a feather. But now that I've tried it, I can't believe it hasn't always existed. Born in Alabama, Chicken Salad Chick now spans 22 states, and, lucky for me, mine happens to be one of them.

Chicken salad is a summer staple in my home. In a 100-year-old apartment with no air conditioning, it's one of the best ways to squeeze in a bit of satisfying protein when it's too hot to turn on the stove or even eat a hot meal. From simple celery to spicy sriracha, there's a flavor for everyone at Chicken Salad Chick, and I couldn't wait to try them all. I reluctantly passed on the famous grape salad, knowing I would have my fill of salads shortly, and set to work categorically ranking each one.

The Classic Carol chicken salad is closest to what I grew up with in southern Ohio, containing chicken, mayo, celery, and seasoning. It's the basic foundation on which all other chicken salads are built. To its credit, Chicken Salad Chick does it about as well as it could be done. The chicken is very finely shredded (a chicken salad pro tip Bethenny Frankel lives by), so it's smooth and spreadable. It's very tasty, well-seasoned, and dripping with nostalgia. It's like the chicken salad you'd find pre-packaged in the deli at a big box store or at a church potluck in the Midwest — simple, comforting, and familiar.

Unfortunately, it's also very one-note. It's lacking any acid at all to balance the richness of the mayo, and the celery is minced so finely that it doesn't crunch. But still, it's quite good overall, and if I got it in a box lunch at a work meeting, I would be thrilled with it. It's just that I've tasted so many more impressive flavors.

The Fancy Nancy is very similar to another version of the chicken salad I make at home, with halved grapes and pecans, plus chunks of Fuji apples. The whole blend of ingredients has a really interesting texture, which is juicy, crunchy, or crisp, depending on where you bite.

It's just not quite enough flavor complexity to compete with the higher-ranked salads on this list. Yes, the sweet, juicy grapes do a good job of shining through the base chicken salad, but there's only a couple of halves in each serving. The apples are neither as juicy nor as tangy, and though there's more of them, they can't do the job that an acid like vinegar or lemon juice would. It's good, but it's not exciting enough for me.

The Cranberry Kelli chicken salad is, again, very similar to a recipe that I keep in heavy rotation at home, with dried cranberries and slivered almonds mixed in. So, I knew I was going to like it, but it still managed to fall somewhat short of my expectations. The tang of the cranberries complements the mayonnaise nicely, and their chewiness, along with the occasional crunch of the almond slivers, adds a nice texture.

Unfortunately, there just wasn't enough of either in the Cranberry Kelli. There should be enough mix-ins to get a little bit in every bite. But in this salad, there were just enough cranberries to get one in perhaps every other bite, unless the bites were huge. Also, it still didn't have enough acidity overall. It's not a bad chicken salad, but it's not as satisfying as my own recipe, and it's definitely not as good as other Chicken Salad Chick flavors.

The Jalapeño Holly is for anyone who needs a little extra heat with their chicken salad, as it's loaded with big chunks of diced jalapeños. As a relative newcomer to the world of spicy foods, it looked a little intimidating, but the heat is actually very pleasant. My kids would certainly run screaming from the room after one bite, but it was extremely tolerable for me. The spice of a jalapeño is a very intense kind of heat that burns at the surface level, which isn't my favorite feeling, but the mayo stops it from becoming too overwhelming.

Overall, I like it, but it's still a little bit one-note compared to the other spicy options available at this restaurant chain. And before I tried Chicken Salad Chick, I would have considered this a killer chicken salad, so again, I'm not saying it's bad by any means. I'm just cursed with the knowledge that chicken salad can be more than this. It's more interesting than the Classic Carol, but it just can't keep up with the other flavors.

The Jill Pickle chicken salad is the newest addition to the Chicken Salad Chick menu — so new, in fact, that I had walked in with a totally different menu item scribbled in my notebook. And though I was momentarily disappointed that I wouldn't be getting my Greek fix that day, I quickly remembered one very important thing: I hecking love pickles.

So, after a brief mental recalibration, I dove in and was simultaneously more and less impressed with it than I expected to be. First, the good: There are plenty of pickles. Every bite is chock-full of little nibbles of pickle, so there's plenty of flavor throughout. There was also a very subtle dill flavor (whether from the pickles themselves or from added fresh dill, I can't be sure) that was refreshing. But I was still missing out on the elusive acidity, which was disappointing considering it's a pickle-flavored salad. What is a pickle without some tang? Even a splash of pickle juice would have taken the Jill Pickle to the next level.

The Barbie-Q is a classic chicken salad with a hint of hickory-smoked barbecue. It's a little softer than most of the other chicken salads at Chicken Salad Chick, having more of a dip consistency than a salad, but it's not runny by any means. It would be super spreadable, and I bet it would be perfect on a Chicken Salad Chick croissant sandwich. The barbecue flavor is sweet and smoky but subtle. Oddly, it reminds me of the ham salad I ate as a kid.

I never would have thought to put barbecue sauce in chicken salad, but it's a really impressive combination. The sweetness and acidity of the barbecue sauce cut through the richness of the mayo and balance the saltiness of the chicken. The consistency may suffer slightly for it, but it's worth it.

I'm a sucker for herbs with lemon, so Lauryn's Lemon Basil chicken salad with lemon pepper, pecans, and fresh basil is right up my alley. It's super bright and herby, bursting with basil that tastes like it's straight from the garden. I know this isn't a revolutionary flavor combination, but it's new to me in the world of chicken salad, and it's phenomenal.

By now, it's probably no surprise at all that I'm wishing for a little more tang from it, especially considering "lemon" is right there in the name. The lemon pepper does a good job of bringing lemon flavor to the party, but it's lacking the acidic bite necessary to balance the richness of the mayo. The fragrant basil definitely helps to brighten the salad as a whole, but it really needs a splash of lemon juice to take it all the way there.

The Fruity Fran is one of the salads I was most looking forward to trying. Like Fancy Nancy, it includes grapes and Fuji apples, but it takes chicken salad to a whole new level with the addition of pineapple. And believe it or not, that extra ingredient made all the difference in the world.

Pineapples have plenty of acid, of course, and in the Fruity Fran, they're finely chopped, so the fruit is mixed evenly throughout the salad. This gives it the tang that was missing from the Fancy Nancy, brightening up the entire salad so that the rich mayonnaise and savory chicken aren't so overwhelming. It's not quite an entire fruit cocktail, but it's pretty close.

I don't have a single complaint about it, and the only thing I could think of to make it better would be to mix in a few larger pineapple chunks. The consistent pineapple flavor throughout is nice, but the juicy pop of biting into a chunk would add even more texture to this already interesting salad.

The Dixie Chick might not look like much more than a classic chicken salad, but it's exploding with minced yellow onions that bite you back. They're minced so finely that they don't even crunch when you bite them, and while that was a negative for the celery in the Classic Carol, it works for the pungent onion in the Dixie Chick. This way, the onion flavor permeates the entire salad rather than just punching you in the face periodically.

Though not as acidic as vinegar or lemon juice, the onion's sharpness does the work of an acid, cutting through the mayo to create a more complex landscape of flavor. It's definitely powerful, but not overwhelming, and I absolutely love it. You might not be trading any kisses after you snack on this salad, but it's worth it.

The Buffalo Barclay is a straightforward chicken salad, but it turns up the heat with a splash of tangy buffalo sauce. It's a close cousin to adding a dash of hot sauce to chicken salad, but with a buffalo-style twist. It gives off a strong impression of buffalo chicken dip, which makes sense, since that's what you'd have if you swapped the mayo for cream cheese and threw in a handful of cheddar — and that's a huge plus for me. The buffalo sauce also makes it a little softer than most of the other flavors at Chicken Salad Chick, adding to the dip-like vibes.

The spice level comes in between mild and medium. It's a decent bit of heat that feels like a prickly warming sensation without blowing your face off like a jalapeño. I'm a huge fan of this chicken salad, as it feels both familiar and novel at the same time, and would gladly have it on a sandwich or would even pack a pint of it to bring to a party.

The Southern Pimento Cheese chicken salad is a cheese lover's dream, with cheddar and pepper jack cheeses and diced pimentos. It was my first experience with shredded cheese in a cold chicken salad, and I have to admit, it was a little confusing to look at. This little scoop is so packed full of shredded cheese that it looks like a heap of Spanish rice. Even eating it, I can't tell where the chicken ends and the cheese begins.

But the cheeses are rich and a bit sharp, so while the acidity comes up a little short, there's still a tang to cut through the buttery texture of the mayo. Though we've recommended pimento cheese as a chicken salad booster before, Chicken Salad Chick's version really kicks it up a notch. This is another of the chain's flavors that would be a big hit at parties and potlucks, and I know I'll be snacking on it straight out of the fridge.

Olivia's Old South chicken salad is tangy and hearty with chunks of sweet pickles and hard-boiled egg. It's another very familiar flavor combination, similar to Southern-style potato salads my grandma used to make. I wasn't a fan of the chunks of egg when I was a kid, but they're so nostalgic that now I can't resist them, and the sweet pickles cut right through the richness of the base.

Maybe this flavor combination shouldn't be so surprising to me (after all, I've had eggs and sweet pickles in both tuna salad and potato salad), but it just seems so different in a chicken salad. My only complaint is that I wish there were a little more of both — enough to get a couple bits of each in every bite. There is a point where chicken salad can be a little too chunky, but Olivia's Old South isn't anywhere near that line, so it could stand for a few more chunks. Still, I love everything about what's there.

I had already loved the Southern Pimento Cheese, so I was stoked to dig into the Jalapeño Pimento Cheese, which is the exact same recipe with the added heat of pickled jalapeños. That alone was enough to get my mouth watering. Like the Jalapeño Holly, the heat of the peppers is very in-your-face, so it might be a little overwhelming for the spice-averse. But the cheddar and mayo work together to keep the pepper jack and jalapeños from getting too out of control.

There's plenty of everything in every last bite, and the salad as a whole is thick without crossing the line into "too chunky" territory. I love the way all the flavors play with each other; they're all identifiable but still manage to work together as a cohesive dish.

The Sassy Scotty tastes like the Midwest in all the best ways. It's like a chicken, bacon, and ranch sandwich chopped up and served on a cracker. It reminds me of the stereotypical chopped salads I had with dinner as a kid. It's creamy and rich, and the tang of the ranch dressing still manages to brighten up the mix.

I think it's the simplicity that makes the Sassy Scotty so great. There are no big chunks of anything, so it's smooth and spreadable, and yet it's got layer upon layer of flavor. This is a chicken salad I could pick up for dinner and serve to my kids. Too many chunks, and they think the chicken salad is too fancy, but something like the Classic Carol just wouldn't interest them at all. This, though, I could get them to eat, and I have a feeling I'd have to fight them to get some for myself. The Sassy Scotty chicken salad was very nearly my favorite of the day, but a spicier contender just barely overtook it.

Though the Kickin' Kay Lynne was only the third out of 15 flavors of chicken salad I tried from Chicken Salad Chick, I confidently marked it down as a 10 out of 10 from the very first bite. It has everything I want out of a perfect chicken salad and a few more things I didn't even know I needed. If you're craving the heat, but jalapeños are a little too one-note for your liking, grab the Kickin' Kay Lynne.

This chicken salad has just about everything you could possibly imagine packed into it, including buffalo sauce, ranch dressing, bacon, cheese, jalapeños, and sriracha. It's a gnarly mix of flavors, and yet, somehow, it all works together. The spices all hit in different places — an intense punch from the jalapeños, a tingle from the buffalo sauce, and a sweet, steady warmth from the sriracha — making for a nice, steady ride from start to finish. Meanwhile, the ranch and cheese keep the spices under control, so while there's plenty of heat, it never feels overwhelming. I absolutely cannot get enough of this one.

Chicken salad is about as simple as it gets at its core (shredded chicken and mayonnaise), and even the simplest versions are good as long as the chicken is well-seasoned, so how did I go about ranking 15 different flavors? Truth be told, I had no idea how I was going to until I'd tasted them all, and in the end, the best way I could find to distinguish them was with a 10-point scale.

There were some key things I looked for in my taste test, with the first being whether it was enjoyable to eat. Simply put, would I be happy to get this on a sandwich in an everyday situation? Second, I looked for flavor complexity; is it just mayo and chicken with some chunks thrown in, or do the components come together into something greater than the sum of its parts? Third, I considered how original the flavor was. This factor is particularly subjective and even regional; in Ohio, our chicken salads get celery, fruit, and nuts, and that's it, so anything outside of that is novel to me. Based on those observations, I assigned each a score out of 10 and sorted them accordingly, resolving ties with overall vibes.