Chicken Salad with Walnuts and Cheese
Bright, made from everyday ingredients, tasty, light, and simple! Chicken salad with walnuts and cheese can be adapted to your preferences. Even if you choose a different type of cheese, the flavor will change. You can layer it or mix it in a bowl, serve it for a holiday meal or just for dinner.
Updated : 22 January, 2026
Easy
About 30 min.
Ingredients
350 grams
Chicken fillet
150 grams
Hard cheese
100 grams
Walnut
1 units
Apple
4 tablespoon
Mayonnaise
Table
Table of volume measurements:
- teaspoon - 5 ml
- dessert spoon - 10 ml
- tablespoon - 20 ml
- glass - 200 ml
Preparation
Step 1
How do you make a simple chicken salad with walnuts and cheese? Prepare the ingredients. Besides chicken breast, you can use meat from drumsticks or thighs - the salad will be even juicier.
Step 2
Boil the chicken breast in salted water until fully cooked. Cool the chicken and cut it into small cubes. If you cook the chicken ahead of time (for example, the night before), leave it in the broth so it doesn’t dry out and stays juicy.
Step 3
Grate the cheese using a medium or coarse grater.
Step 4
Finely chop the walnuts with a knife or pulse them in a blender. Set aside a few whole walnut halves for decorating the salad.
Step 5
Peel the apple and remove the core. Quickly grate the flesh on a coarse grater. Prepare the apple last, after all the other ingredients. To keep it from browning too fast, you can drizzle the grated apple with lemon juice. Choose a juicy sweet-and-tart apple. Varieties like Granny Smith or Simirenko work well.
Step 6
You can assemble this salad in a clear salad bowl or on a platter using a serving ring so all the layers are visible. Place the chicken as the first layer and level it out. I had a bit more chicken than needed, so to keep the salad from being too dry because of a thick chicken layer, I divided it into two layers. Drizzle mayonnaise over the top. For easier layering, I put the mayonnaise into a piping bag and snipped off the tip.
Step 7
Spread the grated apple evenly over the chicken and drizzle it with mayonnaise as well.
Step 8
Next, add the remaining chicken and drizzle it with mayonnaise.
Step 9
The next layer is grated cheese and mayonnaise.
Step 10
The final layer is chopped walnuts. Press the salad down slightly with your hands or with a round tamper attachment. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours so it can soak and set. If you leave it longer, cover the ring with plastic wrap.
Step 11
Before serving, remove the ring and decorate as you like. I decorated with walnut halves, cherry tomatoes, and rosemary sprigs. Enjoy!
Author note
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