This chicken salad is a low carb, copycat version of the Neiman Marcus Chicken Salad recipe from the 1960s. Chunks of chicken breast, sliced celery, and pecans are mixed into a rich, creamy dressing that is out of this world.
For this recipe you’ll need: Mayonnaise, xylitol, cleery, pecans, parsley, kosher salt, heavy whipping cream, pepper, and smoked paprika.
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If you are not a Texan you may not know who Helen Corbitt was. She was the Julia Child of the South — at least as far as I am concerned. She was the Director of Food Services for Neiman Marcus and her dishes were spectacular. From her popovers with strawberry butter (which you can still get at the Dallas Neiman’s restaurant) to her chicken salad. Now, all of the recipes I’ve seen for Helen Corbitt’s chicken salad call for almonds but I swear to you I remember pecans.
The one thing that I couldn’t adjust for were the red grapes. They add so much flavor to this dish but they aren’t very low carb. What I have done is added a little extra sweetener to the dressing to compensate. If you are allowed higher carbs and can eat berries try raspberries or strawberries in this, I imagine it would be great.
I’ve had chicken salad in probably every region of the United States but I have never found one I liked better than the Neiman Marcus chicken salad. Tender chicken, crunchy celery, buttery pecans… all enveloped in a light, rich dressing.
So good!
Here are a couple of tips for making chicken salad.
- Don’t ever substitute Miracle Whip for Mayo. Just don’t.
- Don’t use dark meat chicken. Always use breast meat only.
- Don’t shred the chicken. Always cut it in bit sized cubes.
- Take the time to roast the pecans before using.
- Do not just add the cream without whipping it.
- Serve it ice cold.
Table of Contents
Neiman Marcus Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound cooked chicken breasts cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup xylitol or preferred 0 carb sweetener
- 1 cup thinly sliced celery
- 1/2 cup pecans , chopped and toasted
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Smoked paprika to garnish
Instructions
- Whip the cream and set aside (do not sweeten it)
- Mix the mayonnaise, salt, and sweetener. Set aside.
- Add the chicken, pecans, and celery to a bowl.
- Mix in the mayonnaise mixture until the ingredients are coated.
- Add black pepper to taste.
- Fold in the whipped heavy cream and parsley.
- Sprinkle smoked paprika over the top and serve on a bed of lettuce or baby spinach.
Notes
Nutrition
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Click on the picture or the recipe name to go straight to it, Poblano Chicken Rollups, Tres Leches Cake, Low Carb !, Mexican Coffee
I was employed by Neiman Marcus
The delicious chicken salad had almonds
The delicious tuna salad had pecans
Scoop of tuna or chicken on lettuce was my lunch everyday
The popovers with strawberry bread delicious
Thank you Reggie ! So glad you enjoyed the Tuna salad. Really means a lot coming from you since you are so experienced with the real thing. Happy cooking and creating !
I am getting addicted to your recipes—-enough so that I’m going to have to order one of your low carb cookbooks … I have one question though, I have a hard time finding the nutrition label with most of these recipes on your site.. Is there a trick to where it is with each recipe?
Thank you for what must be endless hours of testing and posting these fabulous recipes that make “Low Carb recipes” feel and taste like “down home”.
I can’t wait to make the Neiman Marcus Chicken Salad.
It serves up to 6. Sometimes if I am very hungry… just 1. For some reason the serving sizes have all disappeared on my recipes. :/
Can I substitute Miracle Whip for mayo???
(Just kidding. 😉 )
Very… very… very… funny… 😛