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Chicken salad with mushrooms and walnuts

Layered Chicken Salad with Mushrooms and Walnuts

Layered, hearty, and delicious — made from everyday ingredients! This chicken salad with mushrooms and walnuts works just as well for a holiday spread as it does for a weeknight dinner. It's genuinely filling, looks beautiful on the table, and comes together with very little fuss.

Natalia Tsybulskaya

Recipe author

Chicken salad with mushrooms and walnuts

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Chicken breast

200

Mayonnaise

Garlic

Eggs

Hard cheese

Button mushrooms

150

Onion

Vegetable oil

Walnuts

Salt

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 39 % 12 g

Fats 52 % 16 g

Carbohydrates 10 % 3 g

197 kcal

GI: 100 / 0 / 0

Cooking method

Cooking time: 30 min

Step 1:

How do you make chicken salad with mushrooms and walnuts? Start by gathering your ingredients. You can use any cut of chicken you like. I'm using classic button mushrooms, but any seasonal mushroom works here — even frozen ones, just thaw them first. Any cheese will do, though it's best to avoid the very soft varieties so it grates cleanly.
Step 2:

Peel the onion and cut it into a small dice.
Step 3:

Heat the oil in a skillet. Any neutral vegetable oil works, from sunflower to olive, but use a refined one — only refined oils hold up well to the heat of frying. Add the diced onion and cook for about 5 minutes, until golden.
Step 4:

Rinse the mushrooms well and cut them into cubes.
Step 5:

Add the mushrooms to the pan and season with a little salt to help them release their liquid. Fry for about 15 minutes, until the moisture cooks off and the edges crisp up. Let them cool completely.
Step 6:

Stir the mayonnaise together with the minced garlic. I ran mine through a press, but you can mince it with a knife or use a fine grater. Homemade mayonnaise really shines here, but store-bought is fine too. Sour cream or plain yogurt make an easy swap for the mayo if you prefer.
Step 7:

This is a layered salad, so let's start assembling. If you're starting with raw chicken, simmer it in salted water for about 20 minutes, then let it cool and cut into small pieces.
Step 8:

Toss the chopped chicken with 1 tablespoon of the garlic mayonnaise.
Step 9:

Get your serving dish ready. Spread the dressed chicken across the bottom as the first layer.
Step 10:

Hard-boil the eggs (usually about 8 minutes once the water comes to a boil), cool them under cold water, peel, and chop.
Step 11:

Add a layer of chopped egg over the chicken, then a thin layer of mayonnaise.
Step 12:

Next comes a layer of the fried mushrooms — spread them evenly across the surface. Add a little more mayonnaise.
Step 13:

Grate the cheese and scatter it over the mushrooms.
Step 14:

The finishing touch: walnuts. Chop them coarsely and sprinkle over the top of the salad. If you like, toast them in a dry skillet first for extra flavor.
Step 15:

Let the salad rest for about 30 minutes, then serve. Enjoy!

Every oil is only good up to a certain point — its smoke point — after which it starts to burn and form harmful compounds. When frying, pick an oil with a high smoke point and avoid heating delicate, unrefined oils.
Homemade mayonnaise is worth the effort — it tastes better and lets you control what goes in. You can also dress the salad with sour cream or plain yogurt instead, either on their own or blended with the mayo in any ratio you like, which lightens the whole dish.