Chicken Salad Gets A Flavor Punch With A Dollop Of This Condiment Hiding In Your Fridge

Chicken salad is the perfect dish to whip up for lunch or dinner. Serve it on a sandwich, over lettuce, or just eat it on its own. It doesn't need much — just chicken and mayonnaise, and you can keep it easy with rotisserie chicken — but for an extra flavor boost, look no further than a condiment likely already in your kitchen: Dijon mustard.

Dijon is a pungent, tangy, somewhat spicy condiment that adds big flavor in small amounts. Its acidity and tang are both great contrasts to the rich, fattier taste of mayonnaise. For an easy addition to chicken salad, add a teaspoon of Dijon for every tablespoon of mayo. Since Dijon is more flavorful than mayonnaise, you don't want a 1:1 ratio here, or the Dijon will overpower the mayo. Once combined, season the Dijon-mayo blend with some salt and pepper, then fold in the chicken, and you have a balanced chicken salad with so few ingredients. But to get even more flavor alongside the mustard and mayonnaise, add a drizzle of honey.

The addition of honey alongside the Dijon and mayo effectively creates a honey mustard chicken salad. It has sweet, acidic, and rich ingredients and becomes reminiscent of dipping your favorite fast-food chicken tenders in that sweet-tangy sauce. You don't need much else here, but to build on it further, swap standard honey out for hot honey. The addition of spice boosts the chicken with yet another flavor element, but you still won't have too much of any one thing. And to get even more flavor, go the Julia Child route and season the chicken beforehand (even if you're using pre-cooked rotisserie chicken!). 

Texturally, there are a few ingredients that complement that smooth, creamy hot honey mustard dressing. Finely chopped sweet onion adds a little crunch, or for a more subtle sharpness, fold in some chopped chives. You can even build on the savory element by adding bacon into the mix. Serve the chicken salad any way you want, but make sure it's hearty enough to stand up to that dense salad. A pita pocket, durable wrap, or sturdy bread like ciabatta are all greet vessels for enjoying this dish.