The best chicken salad is meaty, creamy, and flavorful—and it just might be hiding in the deli section at your local supermarket. It should be peppered with tasty mix-ins, like veggies, fruit, nuts and/or eggs, to give it a nice texture. The mayonnaise-y base should be plentiful, but not too creamy. Balance is key. The best chicken salad should be absolutely delicious smeared between two slices of bread, in a lettuce cup, on your cracker of choice, or totally solo on a spoon.
Most major grocery store delis sell at least one kind of premade chicken salad. For our second chicken salad taste test, we expanded our search to include stores we missed before—like Sprouts, Costco, Sam’s Club—and yes, we even grabbed Publix chicken salad from way across the coop. But don’t worry! You’ll still find the best Walmart chicken salad and the best Trader Joe’s chicken salad on this list, too. Of all the best store bought chicken salad options out there, these were our favorites.
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- Trader Joe’s Homestyle Chicken Salad
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This chicken salad has pieces of carrot in it. Freaky, right? Shockingly, this stuff is still delicious. If you’re looking for a super savory chicken salad, this is the best chicken salad to buy. It’s really creamy and black peppery and there’s no sweetness whatsoever. Don’t get confused and accidentally buy their curry chicken salad. It’s not very good. This is the Trader Joe’s chicken salad and it’s one of the best store bought chicken salad options out there.—Jordan Myrick
Credit: Liv Averett
- Sprouts Curry Chicken Salad
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With tender shredded chicken in curry spices and a mango-chutney dressing, this Sprouts chicken salad might not be what you expect from the best chicken salad. The sweet, tangy flavors and unique textures—thanks to mix-ins like raisins, red bell peppers, carrots, green onions—complement each other nicely. That said, this chicken salad leans quite sweet! If you’re looking for more savory options, this might not be the best premade chicken salad for you. Otherwise, definitely try it! —Ariana Losch
Credit: Liv Averett / Sprouts
- Great Value Chicken Salad With Cranberries, Celery & Pecans
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Walmart knows chicken salad. They have their chicken salad recipes on lock. In my opinion, if you buy one thing at Walmart, it should be chicken salad. This Walmart chicken salad, which contains cranberries, celery, and pecans, is among the best premade chicken salad we’ve ever tasted, especially if you like chicken salad with fruit in it. It’s not my favorite Walmart chicken salad, but it’s definitely up there in terms of the best store bought chicken salad. —Jordan Myrick
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Publix Chunky Chicken Salad
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In my experience, Publix chicken is always moist, tender, and pretty good quality. It has a specific, extra-savory and onion-forward flavor that makes it stand out (you can really taste it in their fried chicken). Frankly, I respect their decision to highlight that in this chunky chicken salad. While the mayo base is still creamy, the chicken chunks are big and prominent but still incredibly tender. I didn’t get a bad hunk of chicken in the whole container. If you like it chunky, well, I hope you live in the South, because this is the best store bought chicken salad for you. —Ariana Losch
Credit: Liv Averett / Publix
- Member’s Mark Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad
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Sometimes it doesn’t take a lot to make a chicken salad worth your while. Sometimes you just need pecans and cranberries. Member’s Mark (the house brand at Sam’s Club) takes everything you would expect from classic premade chicken salad—creamy, sweet mayo with salt, pepper, and white meat chicken—and gives it an interesting crunch and tartness. We liked it better than their plain, classic chicken salad. It’s similar to the Walmart chicken salad in the previous review, but it comes in a much bigger tub and, in my opinion, tastes a little fresher. If you’re searching for a super creamy chicken salad to serve a big group, Member’s Mark is the best chicken salad for you. —Ariana Losch
Credit: Liv Averett / Sam’s Club
- Great Value Rotisserie Seasoned Chicken Salad
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This Walmart chicken salad is another banger. What does “rotisserie seasoned” mean? I don’t really know. I guess they made it from rotisserie chicken? Which I think is seasoned with salt and pepper? So is this salt and pepper chicken salad? Isn’t all chicken salad salt and pepper chicken salad? It’s confusing. None of those questions matter, though. Just buy this incredibly savory and creamy Walmart chicken salad because it’s savory, satisfying, and makes a damn good lunch. —Jordan Myrick
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Kirkland Signature Chicken Salad Made with Rotisserie Chicken
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Costco’s rotisserie chicken salad probably deserves to be higher on this list. Jordan was confused by what exactly makes Great Value’s chicken salad “rotisserie,” but they wouldn’t have the same issue with Kirkland. This is so evidently a rotisserie chicken salad, thanks to the extra tender, juicy meat and savory herbs in the mayo dressing. It tastes exactly like Costco’s rotisserie chicken (our silver medalist of grocery store rotisserie chickens), with crispy chicken skins and all. And hey, since that might not be what everyone’s looking for in the best store bought chicken salad, we relegated this to third place. We’re helpful like that. (I beg you to buy it, though. It will change your life.) —Ariana Losch
Credit: Liv Averett / Costco
- Publix Classic Chicken Breast Salad
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Classic doesn’t mean boring, and that’s what I love about Publix’s creamy, balanced chicken breast salad. Every bite (literally, every bite) comes with the nice, crisp crunch of celery and pickle relish. Most of the Publix deli chicken salads I tried—three of which made this list—are slightly less sweet than other store brands, too, which gives it a more homemade flavor. If you live in the South, Publix chicken salad is a great option, and their classic version is the best chicken salad for traditional taste buds. It’s fairly similar to Walmart’s chicken salad (our current #1), but unfortunately less accessible nationwide. —Ariana Losch
Credit: Liv Averett / Publix
- Publix Hot Honey Chicken Salad
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If I could erect a shrine in honor of Publix’s Hot Honey Chicken Salad, I would. If I could award this the “best of the best chicken salad” I’ve ever tasted, I would. I mean, technically, I could do both of those things, but it’s a little reductive, since this is a limited-time flavor from a grocery store only accessible to southern states. I hate telling people what to do, but if you have the chance to try this, please do. It tastes like all the best parts of a Hot Honey Chicken Tender Publix Sub in a chicken salad—dill pickle, onions, and all. The savory, tender chicken, crunchy, salty pickle, and spicy-sweet hot honey is a stunning combination.
Credit: Liv Averett / Publix
- Sprouts Chicken Salad
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The Sprouts deli wins me over more and more every time we sit down for another taste test. They know how to emphasize fresh ingredients. We loved the crisp veggies in Sprouts chicken salad—carrots, green onions, celery—and you get to actually appreciate them, because they aren’t drowned out in mayo dressing. Now, that’s sort of the caveat here: If you want a very creamy chicken salad, well, you can add more mayo into this, or you can pick another grocery store chicken salad on this list. Sprouts goes very light on the dressing. In our opinion, that’s what makes this some of the best chicken salad you can buy. —Ariana Losch
Credit: Liv Averett / Sprouts
- Great Value Southern-Style Chicken Salad
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I can’t think of enough good things to say about this Walmart chicken salad. We stood in the Sporked kitchen and ate this with potato chips well after our taste test had ended. It is the most perfectly balanced chicken salad to ever grace a grocery store shelf. It is salty, and it has the slightest sweetness, plenty of crunch, and tons of shredded chicken. It even has a little hard boiled egg in the mix, which I didn’t think I’d like but I did! The next time you want the best chicken salad, head straight to the Walmart deli, because they are doing a great job with it over there. —Jordan Myrick
Credit: Merc / Walmart
Best Savory
Most Unique
Best Sweet
Best Chunky
Best Traditional
Best Value
Best Chicken Flavor
Best Balanced
Best Limited Time
Runner Up
Best of the Best
Other Products We Tried: Reser’s, Trader Joe’s Curry Chicken Salad, Starkist, Good & Gather Rosemary Chicken Salad, Good & Gather Rotisserie Chicken Salad, Good & Gather Cranberry Almond Chicken Salad, Ralphs Chicken Salad, Sam’s Club Rotisserie Chicken Salad, Whole Foods Sonoma Chicken Salad, Whole Foods Classic Chicken Salad
