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Tarragon Chicken Salad

chicken salad in bowl with tarragon recipe

This how-to recipe helps you cut down on hands on time by infusing the chicken with flavors of lemon first using: The Poaching Method.

By adding fresh lemon peel to the water, you release fragrant citrus oils into the water during the cooking process. Bay leaf adds subtle layers of flavors to the salad before you have even sliced the chicken!

These little steps cut down on your time spent in the kitchen immensely.

Tarragon and green onions work perfectly here, a minimal dollop of mayonnaise pulls all of the ingredients together for a quick, scrumptious, bright chicken salad. This recipe is perfection on rye bread with avocado and arugula for a quick lunch. This is a recipe you will make again and again! So make sure to save it!

Tarragon Chicken Salad infused with Lemon

A quick, flavorful tarragon chicken salad infused with lemon

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Prep Time 5

Cook Time 30

Total Time 35

Course Lunch, Salad

Cuisine French

Servings person

Equipment

1 stock pot with lid

Ingredients

1 Chicken Breast
2 rinds Lemon Peel
1 Bay Leaf
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Black Pepper
2 tbsp Mayonnaise
1 bunch Fresh Tarragon Leaves
2 stalks Green onions

Instructions

Place chicken breast in stock pot and fill pot with water until water is just covering chicken breast.
Add lemon peels and bay to pot and place on stove burner. Place pan lid on pan, positioning at an angle to allow steam to escape. Turn heat to high and bring pot to boil.
When water reaches rolling boil, immediately turn pan down to barely a simmer. Continue to cook over low simmer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes turn heat off, leaving pan on burner.
Allow chicken to rest for 20 minutes in hot water. This will complete the cooking process slowly, allowing the chicken to cook slowly and evenly, ensuring a moist breast.
While chicken rests, chop tarragon and green onions for the salad.
Finely chop the tarragon bunch releasing the slight anise like flavor from the herb.
Gather chopped tarragon and press into 1 tablespoon
Chop green onion tops, leaving the rounds in tact. Discard the green bottoms
Remove chicken from stockpot after the 20 minute resting time and slice into 1/3 inch thick pieces.
Add chopped tarragon, green onions, mayonnaise, salt, pepper and sliced chicken into medium mixing bowl. Shred chicken with 2 forks. The poached chicken should come apart easily with this method.
As you shred, pull the other ingredients in the bowl into your mixture. Keep forking until you reach your desired consistency.
I prefer a fully shredded chicken salad with tarragon, but if you like your chicken salads chunky feel free to stop when you are satisfied with the texture. I hope you enjoy this simple, flavor forward chicken salad recipe!