Sarra Ina Garten’s mustard chicken salad is bone-in chicken breasts roasted until golden, diced, and tossed warm in a dressing of mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, whole-grain mustard, tarragon vinegar, and fresh tarragon, then mixed with blanched broccoli florets and halved cherry tomatoes. It serves 4 to 5 and takes about 30 minutes of active work plus a few hours of chill time.
This recipe comes from Ina’s Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That? cookbook (2010) and it is one of her most tested recipes in existence. In the headnote, she writes that “this salad was a Barefoot Contessa staple for twenty years” and that she kept intensifying the flavor over time “by adding more mustard to the sauce and lots of fresh tarragon.” The biggest change she made was switching from poached chicken to roasted. She discovered that boiling water “takes the flavor out of the chicken” while roasting with olive oil, salt, and pepper “actually adds flavor.”
The technique that makes this chicken salad taste different from every other version is dressing the chicken while it is still warm from the oven. Warm meat absorbs sauce the way cold meat cannot, so the mustard and tarragon soak into every piece instead of sitting on the surface. Let the chicken cool completely before dressing and the sauce slides off, pooling at the bottom of the bowl where nobody tastes it.
Ina Garten Mustard Chicken Salad Recipe
Course: SaladsCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy5
servings15
minutes40
minutes500
kcalA twenty-year Barefoot Contessa store bestseller with a double-mustard dressing, fresh tarragon, and one rule that changed everything: roast the chicken on the bone instead of poaching it. The warm meat absorbs the sauce and the flavor goes all the way through.
Ingredients
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2 whole (4 split) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on (about 3 pounds / 1.4kg)
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Good olive oil
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Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
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5 cups (350g) small broccoli florets
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1 1/2 cups (360ml) good mayonnaise
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1/2 cup (120ml) Dijon mustard
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1/4 cup (60ml) whole-grain mustard
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2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar
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2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon leaves
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1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
Directions
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Roast the chicken: Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Place the chicken breasts skin side up on a sheet pan and rub the skin with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes until the chicken is just cooked through but still juicy. Set aside until cool enough to handle.
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Blanch the broccoli: While the chicken roasts, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and fill a large bowl with ice water. Add the broccoli florets and cook for 1 minute only, until crisp-tender. Drain and plunge immediately into the ice water to stop the cooking and lock in the bright green color. Drain well.
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Make the dressing: Whisk together the mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, whole-grain mustard, tarragon vinegar, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper until smooth.
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Dress the warm chicken: Discard the skin and bones from the chicken and dice the meat into large bite-size pieces. While the chicken is still warm, pour enough dressing over it to moisten well and toss gently. The warm chicken will absorb the sauce.
- Combine and chill: Add the tarragon, broccoli, and halved tomatoes. Mix gently to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours to let the flavors develop. Sprinkle with salt and serve at room temperature.
Notes
- Roast the chicken on the bone with the skin on. The bone and skin protect the meat from drying out during roasting, and the olive oil on the skin adds flavor that poaching never delivers. Discard both after cooking.
Blanch the broccoli for exactly 1 minute, no more. You want crisp-tender florets that hold their shape and color in the salad. Overcooked broccoli turns gray and falls apart when you toss it.
You may not need all the dressing. Add enough to moisten generously, then save the rest. You can always add more after chilling if the salad looks dry, but you cannot take it back if you add too much.
FAQs
Why does Ina roast the chicken on the bone instead of poaching it?
Most chicken salad recipes tell you to poach boneless breasts in water, which is fast but pulls flavor out of the meat. Ina discovered after years of running the store that roasting bone-in, skin-on breasts with olive oil, salt, and pepper does the opposite. The oven heat concentrates the chicken’s juices while the oil and seasoning add flavor from the outside in.
The bone also insulates the meat during roasting, so the breast stays juicier than a boneless piece cooked to the same internal temperature. You discard the skin and bone after cooking, but they have already done their job by the time the chicken comes out of the oven.
Why does Ina dress the chicken while it is still warm?
Warm meat has open pores that absorb liquid. When you pour the mustard dressing over chicken that just came out of the oven, the sauce soaks into the surface of every piece instead of coating the outside and sliding off. Ina uses this same principle across her salads, from potato salad to lobster pasta salad.
If you let the chicken cool completely before dressing, the pores close and the sauce stays on the surface. You end up with bland chicken in a puddle of dressing at the bottom of the bowl. Dressing while warm is the single biggest difference between a flavorful chicken salad and a forgettable one.
Can you make mustard chicken salad ahead of time?
Ina says to cover and refrigerate for “a few hours to allow the flavors to develop,” so this is built for making ahead. The tarragon and both mustards intensify as the salad sits, which means it tastes better the next day than it does right after mixing.
It keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days. Check before serving and add a spoonful of mayo or a splash of vinegar if the dressing has thickened. Ina says to serve at room temperature, so pull it out of the fridge about 20 minutes before you plan to eat. Cold dulls the mustard flavor.
What other chicken salads does Ina make?
Ina has published at least four chicken salads across her cookbooks. Her Curried Chicken Salad from Family Style (2002) uses curry, raisins, and cashews, and was another Barefoot Contessa store staple for over twenty years. Her Chinese Chicken Salad from Parties! (2001) goes in an Asian direction with sesame and soy. Her Grilled Lemon Chicken Salad from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (1999) uses grilled chicken over greens.
This mustard version is the most versatile because it works as a sandwich filling, a lunch plate, or a dinner alongside bread and greens. If you want a different Ina salad for a cookout, her Cape Cod Salad swaps chicken for bacon and takes the flavor toward autumn with cranberries and Roquefort.
What should you serve mustard chicken salad with?
Ina designed this as a lunch or picnic main course that does not need much alongside. A thick slice of country bread or a croissant with the salad spooned inside makes a complete meal. For a buffet, set it on a platter and let guests serve themselves.
For a summer cookout spread, pair this with Ina’s Dill Potato Salad and a simple green salad. The mustard-tarragon in the chicken and the dill in the potato salad complement each other without overlapping, and both can sit in the fridge all morning until you are ready to eat.
