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Chicken Salad

A salad made with shredded chicken, mashed hard‑boiled eggs, vinegar, butter, mustard, sugar, sweet cream, red pepper, celery, and sea salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Chicken Salad

Why it works: Vinegar and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Chicken Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dressing

  1. Combine mashed eggs and vinegar in a bowl.

  2. Stir in melted butter, mustard, sugar, sweet cream, and red pepper.

  3. Beat the mixture until smooth.

  4. Bring the mixture to a boil, then let it cool.

Prepare the salad

  1. Finely chop the chicken and celery in equal parts.

  2. Season the chopped chicken and celery with salt.

  3. Mix the seasoned chicken and celery.

  4. Add the dressing just before serving.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Chicken + mustardtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,192 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Hard boiled eggs
Mashed into the dressing, they give it body and a rich, creamy texture.
Butter
Melted into the dressing, it adds richness and smooth mouthfeel.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor and balances the richness of the eggs and butter.
Sweet cream
Adds moisture and richness, helping the dressing stay smooth and coat the chicken.
Cooked chickens
Form the bulk of the salad, providing the main texture and protein.

The step that matters

Bring the mixture to a boil, then let it cool.. The dressing contains eggs and cream, which can curdle or separate if overheated. Heating gently and letting it cool before adding it to the salad keeps it smooth and cohesive.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, egg, vinegar, butter, sugar, cream, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Mustardthe original
  3. Potatofits about as well
  4. Asparagusfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, egg, vinegar, butter, sugar, cream, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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