Can you freeze chicken salad?
Jake Sternquist
Chicken salad recipes are among our favoritemeal prepoptions.
Whats not to love?
Credit:Jake Sternquist
Its customizable, high in protein, a cinch to toss together in a large batch.
(TheUSDA recommendsfinishing or tossing any extras after 3 to 4 days of refrigerator storage.)
With that in mind, we were wondering, Can you freeze chicken salad?
Credit:Jake Sternquist
Can You Freeze Chicken Salad?
You sure can, but this thumbs up comes with a major caveat.
The mix-ins will lose their crisp, however, the real villain in this story is mayonnaise.
Credit:Jake Sternquist
The texture changes, and it can separate and end up curdled and/or watery.
This means that chicken saladalong with tunaandmacaroni saladslikely wont freeze the best quality-wise.
For this reason, there are actually more risks if youdoplan on extended storage and dont freeze chicken salad.
Chicken salad should be consumed or discarded within 3 to 4 days after preparation or opening.
If left longer than that, it can start to spoil, Carothers says.
If chicken salad doesnt have mayonnaise, it will freeze better, Carothers says.
Freeze for up to 3 months.
Thaw before serving, and as you do, we recommend adjusting your expectations.
The refrigerator is probably your best bet.
Again, we just dont recommend trying to freeze it in the first place.
Chicken salad that has been left out overnight should be discarded immediately.
It will most likely taste dry with significantly less flavor than fresh chicken.
