Arby’s Pecan Chicken Salad Sandwich

Arby’s Pecan Chicken Salad Sandwich is a much-loved menu item at Arby’s. Arby’s is known for its hearty roast beef sandwiches, but they do much more than roast beef. I know you will love Arby’s chicken salad as much as I do.

Arby’s knows how to make a chicken salad that is packed with all sorts of tasty ingredients. Try one of their Market Fresh Pecan Chicken Salad sandwiches at home.

Copycat Arby's pecan chicken salad sandwich on a plate and the salad in a bowl behind it.


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Arby’s Chicken Salad

You don’t need to limit yourself to just a sandwich with this chicken salad. You could put this in a large tortilla for a wrap. This chicken salad would go well in a submarine bun. I loved this with toasted sourdough bread. Honestly, it’s great with crackers or scooped out and placed on a bed of lettuce for a salad.

A bowl of copycat Arby's pecan chicken salad with grapes and apples.

Ingredients You Will Need for Arby’s Chicken Salad Sandwich

This pecan chicken salad recipe is very flexible, you could add a little more or a little less of any of these ingredients, and you will come up with a great-tasting chicken salad sandwich. See the Recipe Variations section below.

  • Grilled Chicken
  • Mayonnaise – I recommend Dukes or Helman’s, some people like Greek yogurt instead of mayo.
  • Pecans
  • Seedless Red Grapes
  • Apples – I recommend red delicious they give the perfect crunch
  • Lemon – for freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • Leaf Lettuce
  • Honey Wheat Bread
Copycat Arby's pecan chicken salad sandwich ingredients on a marble surface.

Ingredient Notes

If you don’t have any grilled chicken around, you could use leftover chicken that you may have from a baked chicken. You can also use leftover rotisserie chicken. If you need to grill your chicken, you should grill 1 to 1¼ pounds for this recipe.

While they do not toast their pecans, I think you could quickly bring this salad to the next level by toasting the pecans in a skillet over medium-high heat until they become fragrant. Allow the pecans to cool completely before preparing the chicken salad.

How to Make Arby’s Pecan Chicken Salad Sandwich

  1. Place the diced apples into a medium-sized bowl. Pour one tablespoon of lemon juice over the apples and gently stir to ensure they are coated, preventing them from browning.
  2. Add the chicken, grapes, celery, and pecans to the same bowl, and thoroughly mix all the ingredients together.
  3. Add 1/2 cup of mayonnaise to the mixture and stir until everything is well combined. Add 1/4 cup of mayonnaise as needed if the mixture seems too dry. Season the salad with salt and pepper according to your taste preferences.
  4. Cover the bowl and let the flavors meld together in the refrigerator for about 1 hour before serving.
  5. To make the sandwich, take about 1 cup of the prepared chicken salad and place it between two thick slices of honey wheat bread and a few lettuce leaves.
  6. Enjoy your delicious chicken salad sandwich with chips or fries.
Collage of making copycat Arby's pecan chicken salad sandwich.

Arby’s Chicken Salad Recipe Variations

If you do not like pecans, you could use almonds, walnuts, cashews, or even pinenuts.

If you do not want to use red grapes, you could swap these for green grapes, cranberries, or even raisins.

I sometimes like to add diced celery or red onion to the salad for some added crunch and flavor.

If you are trying to save on carbs consider making the sandwich in a lettuce wrap.

How to Store Arby’s Chicken and Pecan Salad

You should store the chicken salad leftovers in an airtight container in your refrigerator. It will last for three to five days.

Copycat Arby's pecan chicken salad sandwich halves stacked on a plate.

Do you love Arby’s? Be sure to check out these copycat recipes

More Chicken Salad Recipes

Be sure to check out more of my copycat restaurant salad recipes and easy chicken recipes.

Copycat Arby's pecan chicken salad sandwich halves stacked on a plate.

Arby’s Pecan Chicken Salad Sandwich

Arby's pecan chicken salad with grapes and apples makes a delicious sandwich.
4.84 from 60 votes
Print Pin Rate Add to Collection
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Arby’s Recipes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 363kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 cup diced red apple
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice (juice of one small lemon)
  • 2 1/2 cups grilled chicken breast
  • 1 cup halved grapes
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup mayonnaise
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • lettuce leaves optional
  • thick-sliced wheat bread optional

Instructions

  • Place the diced apples in a medium-sized bowl. Add one tablespoon of lemon juice and stir to coat the apples to prevent them from turning brown.
  • Add the chicken, grapes, celery, and pecans to the bowl and mix well.
  • Add 1/2 cup mayonnaise and stir to combine. If the mixture is too dry you can add another 1/4 cup of mayonnaise. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Allow the flavors to marry in a covered bowl in the refrigerator for about 1 hour before serving.
  • If you would like to serve the chicken salad as a sandwich, place about 1 cup of chicken salad and a few lettuce leaves between two thick slices of wheat bread.

Video

Notes

While Arby’s does not toast their pecans, you could easily bring this salad to the next level by toasting the pecans in a skillet on medium-high heat until fragrant. Allow the pecans to cool completely before adding them to the salad.

Nutrition

Calories: 363kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 72mg | Sodium: 143mg | Potassium: 669mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 150IU | Vitamin C: 6.2mg | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 1.2mg

About Stephanie Manley

I recreate your favorite restaurant recipes, so you can prepare these dishes at home. I help you cook dinner, and serve up dishes you know your family will love. You can find most of the ingredients for all of the recipes in your local grocery store.

Stephanie is the author of CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home, and CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home 2.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Robin Shipman

    Thank you so much for this recipe!! I love Arby’s salad but HATE my neighborhood Arby’s! This way I can have it MINUS the attitude! Tasted EXACTLY like their’s! I didn’t add the apples or celery but didn’t miss it at all. Imho, the pecans and the grapes make it perfect!

  2. Carrie Anne Betts

    Thanks for this recipe! I don’t eat chicken so I slice tempeh thinly and marinate with soy sauce, microwave, then let cool. So. Good. And I add a bit of dill.
    I really appreciate you posting this. 🙂

  3. Floyd_Lloyd

    I know that this article was written three years ago, but I love, Love, LOVE this sandwich and am always disappointed when they take it off the menu. It is seasonal and doesn’t stay on all year. My question is, if I can ever get a response, is the binder of this salad mayo or yogurt? It doesn’t really taste heavy enough to be mayonnaise. If I can figure this out, sorry Arby’s, I’ll be having this at home.

    • stephaniemanley

      My binder is mayonnaise, an employee later emailed me and said, wow your recipe is spot on, and I got the ingredients right. So I would assume it is mayonnaise as well. I think the key here is not to add too much of it.

  4. Rosa

    In the instructions you said to add chicken, sliced grapes, diced celery… but you don’t have grapes on ingredients. How much grapes do I add?

      • Amber Quates

        I make this recipe with regular mayonnaise. I can’t stand Hellman’s because it’s sweet. And I either use blue plate or a store brand that tastes good. I made this recipe for our churches graduation party for our congregation several years ago. It went over really well. In fact, my mom had never had chicken salad that way before and she loved it when she tasted it. So much so, she called me today and asked me to make it for Christmas Eve. This time though, I’m going to make it with roasted turkey. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

  5. Ellen

    You forgot the grapes, which are my favorite part 🙂 I make this at home all the time but I just boil chicken breasts instead of grilling them. I love this stuff!!

  6. Tina P

    I worked there when they first started making the market fresh line. You’ve pretty much got it, you just have one extra ingredient 😉

    • KC Hater

      I have a super dumb question, and hopefully someone will see this and respond. Can anyone tell me how to best prepare the chicken? Obviously you can prepare your own, or even by the Tyson precooked stuff, what is the best option to get that Arby’s taste? Sorry, I know, I know, DURP.

      • stephaniemanley

        Why don’t you take about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of chicken breasts sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides, and then cook them in a pan. To the pan be sure to add a couple of teaspoons of oil, and cook them for about 7 to 8 minutes on the first side and about 5 minutes on the second side over medium heat. Be sure the chicken is fully cooked before making the chicken salad.

      • KC Hater

        Thank you for your help. I really like the Arby’s Chicken Salad, and didn’t want to wreck the recipe by cooking the chicken the wrong way.

        Much appreciated! !!!

        Jeff

      • Consuelo Johnson Yero

        I would definitely make my own by simply cooking it over the stove depending on how you want to season it but you can also buy the chicken already precooked as well

      • Valerie Villalobos

        I make a different chicken salad with boiled chicken thighs all u do is season the water right n the broth makes ur chicken more flavorful. Shredded then chopped. I find white meat is a lil 2 dry 4 a salad. Truste me boiling in its own juices gives it more tastier n tenderer.

      • Ani Animasola

        I use a 1/2 cup sour cream as part of the binder. I adjust the mayo by the same amount. My family likes it a lot. Oh, also I use walnuts.

  7. arbys employee

    I work at an arbys and this isnt quite the recipe. To make 12 sandwiches you need 1 lb of grilled chicken breast (diced), 1/2 lb of mayo, 8 oz of chopped grapes and apples (red) and 4 oz of pecans and chopped celery.The portion sizes are 6 oz each on 2 slices of wheat bread. Also add a piece if leaf lettuce to it. All you do is chop and mix all the ingredients together (except the lettuce) in a bowl, then it is ready to put on the bread abd serve.

  8. Carol

    Just made this! Amazing! I added some ingredients though: parsley, spinach, mango flavored cranberries (so yum!), and cayanne pepper. It is without a doubt the richest chicken salad I’ve ever had. Thanks! 🙂

  9. NJuniee

    This is out of this world delicious !! OMG ! I will never eat chicken salad any other way ! Thank you so much for this recipe !!

  10. Wendy (The Weekend Gourmet)

    I love this chicken salad…and now I can make it at home for less money! Thanks, Stephanie…

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