Hot Chicken Salad

This creamy Southern chicken casserole (a.k.a a hot chicken salad) includes tender chicken, celery, and boiled eggs baked with a crunchy potato chip topping.

Spoonful of hot chicken salad.

I’m bringing you a little treasure today in the form of my Granny Jordan’s old-fashioned Southern chicken casserole recipe. Back in the day, this baked chicken salad was regularly seen at lunch, brunch, dinner, potlucks, church picnics, and tailgating parties. It’s typically served as a savory dip-style casserole with bread or Ritz crackers for dipping, but more on that below. 

This is such a quick and easy hot chicken salad recipe. All we need to do is mix our ingredients together, which are mayo, cream of chicken soup, shredded chicken, celery, onion, and boiled eggs. We add this to a casserole dish, top it with lots of crunchy and salty potato chips, and bake! That’s it! It will be ready in just 20 minutes. 

This chicken casserole is so creamy, thanks to the mayo and cream of chicken soup. But it’s also super flavorful and texturized, as you have the crunch of the celery and potato chips combined with the tender chicken and eggs. Basically, it’s a taste sensation and you need to bake it immediately. Yes, really!

Labeled ingredients for hot chicken salad.

Recipe Ingredients

  • Ritz crackers and lettuce (for serving)
  • Mayo
  • Onion
  • Boiled eggs
  • Celery
  • Chicken
  • Cream of chicken soup
  • Potato chips

How to Make Hot Chicken Salad

Chop up boiled eggs.

Chop up your boiled eggs…

Chop up celery and onion.

As well as your celery and onion.

Add chopped ingredients to a mixing bowl.

Chuck all of those ingredients into a large bowl.

Add chicken, soup, and mayo to mixing bowl.

Then add the cream of chicken soup, cooked chicken, and mayonnaise.

Mix ingredients together.

Give it a good stir and it’ll look a little bit like this.

Spread mixture in a casserole dish.

Spread the chicken mixture into an 8×8 casserole dish.

Top casserole with crushed potato chips.

Top with crushed potato chips.

Baked hot chicken salad.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes and your hot chicken salad is ready to serve. How easy was that?

Hot chicken salad served on lettuce with Ritz crackers.

Serve hot on a bed of lettuce with Ritz crackers.

Hot chicken salad on a Ritz cracker.

I also have to admit I love to serve this baked chicken salad cold like this Southern chicken salad for sandwiches.

It’s delicious either way. Enjoy!

Storage

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat them in the microwave, oven, or air fryer. I don’t recommend freezing the casserole as creamy sauces don’t thaw well.

Recipe Notes

Here are some variations to make this hot chicken salad recipe work for you:

  • Add 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. You can mix this into the chicken casserole or add it on top along with the potato chips. Alternatively, add cheddar cheese to the casserole and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.
  • For extra flavor, add 1 jar of diced pimientos (drained).
  • For extra crunch, add 1 cup of sliced/slivered almonds.
  • Use any kind of cooked chicken, like rotisserie chicken, canned chicken, or shredded boneless skinless chicken breast.
  • Add more veggies, like 1 can of water chestnuts, 1 cup of chopped red bell pepper, or 1 cup of sliced mushrooms.
  • Garnish with chopped fresh parsley or green onion.
  • Add diced cooked bacon for added flavor.
  • Substitute the potato chips for toasted breadcrumbs, french fried onions, or crushed cornflakes.
  • Add a tablespoon of bottled or fresh lemon juice for a pleasant tang.

Recipe FAQs

How do you serve a hot chicken salad?

I like to serve my hot chicken salad casserole on a bed of lettuce with Ritz crackers, cornbread, homemade buttermilk biscuits, or bread. But it also tastes delicious as a main dish with cooked rice and a side of fresh green beans.

Check out these other chicken casserole recipes:

Tex Mex Chicken Casserole

Chicken Tortilla Casserole (Cooked in the Microwave)

Cheesy Chicken and Corn Casserole

Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Casserole With Rice

Chicken Noodle Casserole

Chicken Divan Casserole

Baked hot chicken salad.

Hot Chicken Salad

This creamy Southern chicken casserole (a.k.a a hot chicken salad) includes tender chicken, celery, and boiled eggs baked with a crunchy potato chip topping.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Course: Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: casserole, chicken, salad
Servings: 6

Ingredients

  • 1 cooked chicken
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 can cream of chicken soup
  • 2 chopped boiled eggs
  • 3/4 cup diced celery
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 1/3 cup cracker crumbs (optional)
  • 1 cup potato chips
  • Ritz crackers and lettuce for serving (optional)

Instructions

  • Mix chicken, mayo, soup, eggs, celery, onion, and cracker crumbs in a medium bowl.
    1 cooked chicken, 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1 can cream of chicken soup, 2 chopped boiled eggs, 3/4 cup diced celery, 1/2 onion, diced, 1/3 cup cracker crumbs (optional)
  • Spread into an 8x8 baking dish and top with crushed potato chips.
    1 cup potato chips
  • Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
  • Serve hot or cold over a bed of lettuce with Ritz crackers.
    Ritz crackers and lettuce for serving (optional)
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113 Comments

  1. I absolutely LOVE that you chose to share this recipe & memories of your granny with us. I swear that some of the best recipes are those simple things that our parents/grandparents cooked up back in the 70’s! This looks great!!

  2. Thanks for including that beautiful picture of your granny too! I am anxious to fix this salad for a hot summer night, served cold on the second day. I love leftovers! I have your blog listed on my blog so I get to keep tabs on you several times a day..keep those great recipes coming and I can’t wait to see pix of the new house! 🙂

  3. Hi – wondering what you could subsitute for the celery? I think my hubby will like this salad but he hates celery…..Thanks!

    Also curious why you left out the cracker crumbs.

    1. You can just totally leave out the celery and not put anything in its place if you like, or you could substitute water chestnuts (which I like about as much as your husband likes celery!).

      Leaving out the cracker crumbs was purely an oversight most likely due to the fact that I have the attention span of a gnat :).

      Hope this helps!
      Gratefully,
      Christy 🙂

  4. I cooked a whole fryer today and we only ate 1/2 of it. Now I know what I will do with the rest! Granny Jordan was a beautiful young woman and from what you said, she grew even more beautiful with age. Nothing is as special as the dear kind woman you describe her to be!

    Thanks for sharing her recipe and her picture!

  5. Christy, you scare me sometimes. Today I almost posted my chicken salad that I made yesterday! I made it yesterday and typed it up last night, but decided to save it for another day this week – course mine is a little different, and not hot but isn’t that funny? That’s happened several times – us on the same wavelength.

    I love running across those old stained hand written recipes! You know it’s funny, but everytime I see them, it’s as if the same person wrote them no matter where they came from. Everyone must’ve learned cursive writing the same way or something! That could be my Mama’s handwriting.

    Such a sweet story… thanks so much for sharing.

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