Dill Pickle Chicken Egg Salad

This zesty Dill Pickle Chicken Egg Salad is the ultimate upgrade to everyone’s favourite chicken salad. Pickle lovers will adore the tender buttermilk and dill brined chicken accented with even more dried dill, garlic dill pickles, salty capers, and EGGS! Perfect for any occasion from picnics to potlucks and school lunches.

If you love Garlic Dill Pickles, you are going to love this recipe. I like to describe it as Chicken Salad meets Egg Salad meets a pickle jar. Pickle flavoured anything is a popular food trend right now and I’m 100% on board… how about you?

Disclosure: This post is made possible by Egg Farmers of Alberta. All opinions and experiences are my own.

Dill Pickle Chicken Egg Salad

Picture this. You’ve just enjoyed the best chicken breasts ever for dinner and there are leftovers. If you are like me, you’re already thinking about lunch tomorrow because you know it’s going to be CHICKEN SALAD. But what if you done’t have quite enough leftover chicken to feed the whole family?

Scenario number two. You are hosting brunch and want a substantial lunchtime option to serve as sandwiches or on crostini. The dish should be easy to make yet have a stunning presentation.

In both scenarios, Chicken Egg Salad stands out as the winning option. Simply dice up hard boiled eggs to bulk up a classic chicken salad or slice them in half to show off their pretty yellow yolks for a stunning presentation.

Whichever way you serve it, this Dill Pickle Chicken Egg Salad recipe is sure to become one of your favourite chicken salad recipes. The buttermilk brined cooked chicken is incredibly tender and flavourful. In fact, it is a wonderful meal on its own.

However, when you combine the leftovers with chopped capers, dill pickle, dried dill, mayonnaise, and red onion, it makes for one incredible lunchtime treat between bread. If you love chicken salad sandwiches and egg salad sandwiches, you will love this Dill Pickle Chicken Salad sandwich recipe with eggs. 

Ingredients for Chicken Egg Salad

• Chicken
• Buttermilk
• Dried Dill Weed
• Salt
• Mayonnaise
• Pepper
• Red Onion
• Garlic Dill Pickles
• Capers
• Eggs

Making buttermilk brined chicken breasts specifically for this recipe is an extra step but it is worth it for the extra flavour boost. It is very easy to double the chicken portion of the recipe to enjoy it both as a dinner main and as leftovers.

Alternatively, feel free to use any leftover chicken, including store bought rotisserie chicken.

Buttermilk is a great chicken marinade option because has a gentle acidity that won’t toughen the chicken during a longer marination time. It tenderizes the chicken and infuses it with a wonderful buttery flavour.

Use store bought real mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip) or homemade, if you prefer. Try Homemade aioli for even more amazing garlic flavour.

Garlic dill pickles are an absolute must for this salad recipe, as is the dried dill weed. However, feel free to use fresh dill and dill pickle relish. Note that the texture will not be the same when using relish instead of diced pickles.

Capers can be optional, but they do add interesting bursts of salt throughout the salad. Taste and adjust with salt after you mix in the capers.

Finally, use either finely diced red onions or sliced green or spring onions in this recipe. Feel free to add diced celery or your favourite crunchy element to make this recipe your own.

How to Make Dill Pickle Chicken Egg Salad

Please note that the total recipe time includes marinating time and plan accordingly or simply make the salad with leftover chicken.

The Buttermilk Marinade

Pour buttermilk into a large mixing bowl. Add dried dill, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Stir well. Carefully place whole chicken breasts into the marinade. Cover and refrigerate 3-5 hours (up to 8 hours).

To pan fry the chicken, preheat oven to 400 F. Remove chicken from the marinade and pat dry with paper towel. Discard the marinade.

Heat 1 – 2 tablespoons oil in a heavy cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Carefully place each chicken breast in the pan, taking care not to overcrowd the pan. Sear chicken in the hot skillet for 5 minutes, then flip and sear for another 5 minutes.

Note: The buttermilk solids caramelize as you sear the chicken so be careful that they do not char too much.

Place skillet with chicken in the preheated 400 F oven for 10 minutes, or until the chicken reaches 165 F. Remove cooked chicken from oven and allow it to cool to room temperature. Once chicken is at room temperature, place it the fridge and allow it to chill for an hour.

Two Ways to Cook Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs

My idea of the perfect hard-boiled egg is one with a completely set yolk that is not dry and chalky. Over the years it has taken some experimentation with different methods and today I am happy to share my results with you!

The first and my preferred method is pressure cooking eggs in the Instant Pot. To make perfect hard-boiled eggs in the Instant Pot, position the rack in the bottom of the Instant Pot insert. Add 1 cup of water and place as many (fridge temperature) eggs as you like on the rack.

Place the lid on, ensure the valve is closed and set the timer for 6 minutes on high pressure.

Once the eggs have been cooking for 6 minutes, allow them to sit one more minute before releasing the pressure. Remove the eggs and immediately place them in a bowl of cold water.

The second method is boiling the eggs in a saucepan on the stove, no special appliances required! Fill a small saucepan with water and add cold eggs. Bring to a boil over high heat, and immediately lower to low – medium heat for a light boil. Lightly boil eggs for 7 minutes then drain and plunge into cold water to stop them from cooking further.

Putting it All Together

Now, let’s make Chicken Egg Salad! To begin, dice the cold chicken, then add it to a medium mixing bowl. Next, add the finely diced red onion, diced pickles, chopped capers, dried dill, and mayonnaise to the bowl. Season with freshly ground pepper and mix well. Taste and season with salt if needed.

Peel the eggs and slice them in half, in quarters or dice them depending on how you want to serve the salad. Add diced eggs directly to the chicken salad, then serve as sandwiches on toasted or non toasted bread.

For a beautiful presentation, line a shallow bowl with lettuce leaves and place the salad in a mound in the middle of the bowl. Arrange sliced egg halves around the salad. Garnish with edible flowers, chopped fresh dill or chives.

Serve chicken salad on toasted crostini, on crackers, or in lettuce cups for a low carb option.

Hi! I’m Bernice Hill and I’ve been the sole recipe developer, photographer, and writer at Dish ‘n’ the Kitchen for the past eleven years. It is my pleasure to share easy to follow recipes that are delicious, nutritious, and approachable for the whole family.

If you make this Dill Pickle Chicken Egg Salad recipe, I’d love to hear about it in the comments section or in the ratings. Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest for my latest recipes. Also, if you do make this recipe, please share your photos and tag me on Instagram. I hope you like this recipe!