The Fresh Herb Ina Garten Uses To Give Chicken Salad A Serious Flavor Boost
There are countless ways to prepare a tasty chicken salad. It's an easy, packable lunch idea that's loaded with protein — and it doesn't have to be boring. Get a creamy texture with anything from mayonnaise to Greek yogurt, and don't forget to add plenty of herbs.
Ina Garten adds tarragon to her chicken salad
Fresh tarragon isn't as easy to find in the grocery store as more common herbs like parsley or fresh basil, but you can almost always grab it at a farmers market or specialty food store. You can substitute with dried tarragon if you can't find the fresh version, but you'll only need about a teaspoon of the dried herb for every tablespoon of fresh.
"It's very good with chicken," Ina Garten says of tarragon. "It doesn't overpower it." Garten removes the leaves from the herb, then roughly chops them before adding a small handful into the chicken salad. She prefers the subtlety of the herb compared to something strong, such as rosemary. To build texture and flavor, Garten adds a handful of other ingredients to the salad, including celery, salt, and pepper, but she keeps the recipe pretty basic. She only adds mayonnaise to the salad for creaminess, but if you want to cut the richness of the mayo with something slightly tangy, you could use a 50/50 blend of mayonnaise and either sour cream or plain Greek yogurt.
