Today was a Monday.

All. Day. Long.

And then it rained all afternoon.

At the end of the day, I was Monday tired.

And I was so glad that I made this awesome chicken salad on Saturday! I put it in the slow cooker Saturday morning and let it cook for 8 hours before I pulled everything out and shredded it and added mayonnaise and Parmesan. Then I put it in a big lidded container and put it in the fridge until tonight!

So glad.

Slow Cooker Bacon Ranch Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

  • 3-pound bag of frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
  • 2 packages of dry ranch dressing mix
  • 2 2.5-ounce bags of bacon pieces – NOT bacon bits
  • 1-2 cups of mayonnaise
  • 1 cup of grated Parmesan

Directions:

  • Place chicken in the bottom of a slow cooker.
  • Sprinkle with both packages of ranch dressing mix.
  • Pour both bags of bacon pieces over the top.
  • Cook on low for 8 hours.
  • At the end of cook time, remove chicken to a plate and shred, then place in a large bowl.
  • Scoop out any bacon pieces, draining, if necessary.
  • Add 1 cup of mayonnaise and stir until combined. Add additional mayonnaise until salad is your desired texture.
  • Stir in Parmesan.
  • Store in a sealable container and refrigerate until time to serve.
  • Serve in sandwiches or with crackers.

Well Duh #1: I used a slow cooker liner. It makes clean-up so easy!

Well Duh #2: My chicken really didn’t create an abundance of liquid, so there wasn’t too much left after the chicken was removed. I just used a big slotted spoon to remove the leftover bacon pieces and added them to the shredded chicken.

Well Duh #3: Chicken salad is tricky because everybody has an opinion about how much mayo it should have. I like it to be just wet enough without being gloopy. Too much mayo is the destroyer of a good chicken salad. Add a little at a time. You can always add more, but you can’t take it out once you add it.

My tribe loves chicken salad – always. This version has very quickly become their new favorite! It really is delicious. And I honestly believe it was even better because it sat for awhile and let the flavors all marry. It’s a beautiful thing!