Go Back Email Link
–+ servings
Ella Cooks

Double-Brined Dill Pickle Chicken Salad, Crazy Creamy and Seriously Tangy

Love it? Click to rate
Be the first to rate this recipe!
I made this four times in one week before I worked out what was bothering me about it. The pickle kept sitting on top of everything instead of going through it, so you'd get one good tangy bite and then plain chicken salad for the rest of the sandwich. Turns out the fix is brining the chicken twice, once while it poaches and once while it's still too hot to comfortably hold. That's ten extra minutes, and now the regular kind tastes like something's missing.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Chill Time 1 hour
Servings: 6
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Calories: 420
Ingredients Method Nutrition Notes

Ingredients
  

For the chicken
  • 2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts about 3 large ones
  • 1 cup dill pickle brine straight from the jar
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
  • 1/4 cup dill pickle brine kept back for the warm toss
For the dressing
  • 3/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 2 tbsp dill pickle brine
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp celery salt
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp dried dill
  • 3 tbsp fresh dill finely chopped
For crunch
  • 1 1/2 cups dill pickles chopped small, drained and patted dry
  • 2 celery ribs finely diced, about 3/4 cup
  • 1/3 cup shallot finely diced

Method
 

  1. 1. Poach the chicken. Put the breasts in a wide pan with 1 cup brine, the water, bay leaf and peppercorns. The liquid wants to just cover them. Bring it up to a bare simmer, the kind where a bubble comes up every few seconds and that's it, then put the lid on and give it 12 to 15 minutes depending on how thick they are. Take the pan off the heat and leave the chicken sitting in the liquid another 10 minutes.
  2. 2. Shred and soak. Lift the chicken out and shred or chop it while it's still hot enough that you're passing it from hand to hand. Get it in a bowl, pour that reserved 1/4 cup of brine over, toss it about. Leave it to come down to room temperature and toss it once more partway through. It will take nearly all of it.
  3. 3. Sort the shallot out. While the chicken cools, put the diced shallot in a little bowl with a spoonful of brine. Ten minutes takes the raw edge off and leaves you the sweet part.
  4. 4. Mix the dressing. Whisk the whole dressing list together in the bottom of a big bowl. Taste it now. It should be a touch too tangy on its own, because the chicken and celery are about to soften it.
  5. 5. Bring it together. Chicken, drained pickles, celery and shallot into the dressing. Fold it rather than stir it, so the chicken stays in proper pieces instead of turning to paste.
  6. 6. Chill it. An hour at the absolute minimum. Three is better. The dried dill needs that time to wake up.

Nutrition

Calories: 420kcalCarbohydrates: 5gProtein: 36gFat: 28gSodium: 1150mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2g

Notes

Things I learned the hard way

Don't let it boil. I did this for years without thinking about it. A proper boil tightens the proteins and squeezes the water straight out. You want the surface barely moving. If you've got a thermometer, pull them at 160°F and let the residual heat finish the job.
 
Chop the pickles smaller than feels right.  You want pickle in every single forkful, not the occasional chunk. About a quarter inch.
 
Don't salt it until the end, if at all.  Between the brine, the pickles and the celery salt there's plenty in there already. Taste it after it's chilled and decide then.
 
Keep the poaching liquid. Strain it into a jar and it'll sit happily in the fridge for a few days. It makes a good base for potato soup, and it's excellent for brining chicken thighs before you roast them.
 

Ways to change it

Spicy. Swap half the pickles for chopped pickled jalapeños and put 1/4 tsp cayenne in the dressing.
 
Crunchy top. Fold in 1/2 cup crushed kettle chips right before it goes on the table. Not a minute earlier, they go soft fast.
 
Bacon ranch.  Four slices of crisp crumbled bacon, and swap the dried dill for 1 tbsp ranch seasoning.
 
Lighter.  Half the mayo replaced with plain Greek yogurt. It comes out tangier, so pull the brine in the dressing back to 1 tbsp.
 
With egg. Three chopped hard boiled eggs folded through. This one is very good in a sandwich.

Tried this recipe?

Let us know how it was!
QR Code linking back to recipe