{"id":2122054,"date":"2025-03-10T15:38:24","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T20:38:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/?p=2122054"},"modified":"2025-03-10T15:38:24","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T20:38:24","slug":"matthew-mcconaughey-chicken-salad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/matthew-mcconaughey-chicken-salad\/","title":{"rendered":"This Is Matthew McConaughey\u2019s Secret for Perfect Chicken Salad"},"content":{"rendered":"Matthew McConaughey needs a second Academy Award for his recipes. His recipe for tuna salad<\/a> went viral in November, and now he's on the cusp of culinary fame again, this time for his chicken salad. In an interview with Food & Wine<\/em>, McConaughey broke down all of his best tips for making a killer chicken salad<\/a> at home.\r\n\r\nDon't worry: His recipe for chicken salad does not require a mix of head-turning ingredients like his tuna salad. Though admittedly, we're now in a committed relationship with crispy jalapenos, thanks to him. Instead, McConaughey claims the key to a great chicken salad starts with the basics: a well-cooked chicken<\/a>.\r\n

What is McConaughey's secret?<\/h2>\r\nOK, let's talk turkey<\/del>...er...chicken. McConaughey says the absolute best chicken salad is made with a whole roasted chicken<\/a>. He doesn't like to mess around with cooking smaller cuts of chicken, saying, \"I don't like pieces of chicken being cooked. I think\u2026if you can cook a whole chicken\u2026that's much better than cooking just a breast or cooking just a wing or cooking just a chicken piece on the grill. It gets too dry the other way.\"\r\n\r\nHe has a point. It's much more difficult to dry out a whole chicken. Roasting low and slow in the oven (e.g., Ina Garten's perfect roast chicken<\/a>) doesn't expose the meat to direct heat like grilling or searing; rather, it cooks the chicken evenly. The skin, fat and bones of a whole chicken all work in tandem to lock in moisture. You can also roast your chicken with lemon, herbs, spices and other aromatics<\/a> to layer extra flavor into your chicken salad.\r\n\r\nTrue, roasting a whole chicken does take more time than other cooking methods, so it may not be doable every<\/em> time. Luckily, you can take a shortcut if necessary and opt for a good grocery store rotisserie chicken<\/a> instead.\r\n

How does he make his chicken salad?<\/h2>\r\nOnce the bird is fully cooked, the real magic begins. McConaughey believes chicken should always<\/em> be shredded and never chopped. \"You pull it off the bone. That's my favorite chicken salad when it's pulled off the bone, not chopped,\" he says.\r\n\r\nShredded chicken<\/a> is easier to pile high on a sandwich (chopped chicken doesn't stay in place as well). It also gives the chicken salad more textural variation, with raggedy edges to capture the mayo.\r\n\r\nMcConaughey starts the base for his chicken salad the same way he starts his tuna salad: with a combination of mayonnaise<\/a>, olive oil and Italian dressing. You can either choose a good brand of Italian dressing<\/a> or try homemade Italian dressing<\/a>. Just make sure you have something with acidity from lemon juice and\/or vinegar plus herbs like oregano and basil.\r\n

What else does he use in the recipe?<\/h2>\r\n

Like his tuna salad recipe, it's all about using whatever you have on hand. His family hates throwing away food and takes a zero-waste approach to meal planning at home. \"On Sunday night, at the end of the week, you don't order anything. You don't have a planned dinner,\" McConaughey says to Food & Wine<\/em>. \"You open up the fridge, and everything that's still obviously good, that's in the fridge, that's leftover, and you get them all out. You start to say, well, what kind of meal can we make out of this?\"<\/p>\r\nMatthew has put everything from chopped pears to hearts of palm into his chicken salad, so it's truly an anything-goes recipe. What's so masterful about his approach is his understanding of balance when combining leftover ingredients. He brings equal sweetness, saltiness, heat and acidity to his chicken salad and tuna salad creations.\r\n\r\nThe moral of the story? No matter what you choose to put in your recipe, whether it's a traditional chicken salad with grapes and nuts<\/a> or more left-field with wasabi and agave, balance is key.\r\n\r\n[cf]skyword_tracking_tag[\/cf]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alright, alright, alright, Matthew McConaughey’s chicken salad recipe has entered the chat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7801,"featured_media":2122080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[303719,303720,303745],"categories-v2":[308324,308345,308369],"coauthors":[206601],"acf":{"long_pin_file":{"ID":2122081,"id":2122081,"title":"Matthew Mcconaughey Chicken Salad Toh Long Pin Asedit","filename":"matthew-mcconaughey-chicken-salad-TOH-long-pin-ASedit.jpg","filesize":214279,"url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/matthew-mcconaughey-chicken-salad-TOH-long-pin-ASedit.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/matthew-mcconaughey-chicken-salad\/matthew-mcconaughey-chicken-salad-toh-long-pin-asedit\/","alt":"Bowl of chicken salad with an inset of Matthew McConaughey on the bottom right","author":"8116","description":"","caption":"","name":"matthew-mcconaughey-chicken-salad-toh-long-pin-asedit","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2122054,"date":"2025-03-07 16:56:11","modified":"2025-03-07 16:57:48","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1000,"height":1500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/matthew-mcconaughey-chicken-salad-TOH-long-pin-ASedit.jpg?resize=150,150","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/matthew-mcconaughey-chicken-salad-TOH-long-pin-ASedit.jpg?fit=300,300","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/matthew-mcconaughey-chicken-salad-TOH-long-pin-ASedit.jpg?fit=768,0","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":0,"large":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/matthew-mcconaughey-chicken-salad-TOH-long-pin-ASedit.jpg?fit=700,1024","large-width":700,"large-height":1024}},"ncv_override_generic_settings_option":false,"ncv_autoplay_option":"","ncv_stickyplay_option":"","ncv_ads_option":"","ncv_mute_option":"","ncv_comscore_option":"","ncv_autoplay_mobile_option":"","ncv_viewable_threshold_option":"","ncv_sticky_offset_option":"","ncv_autopause_option":"","ncv_sticky_offset_mobile_option":"","ncv_autopause_mobile_option":"","ncv_sticky_mobile_option":"","ncv_remove_player_option":false,"ncv_moat_option":""},"yoast_head":"\nMatthew McConaughey's Secret for Perfect Chicken Salad<\/title>\n\n\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/matthew-mcconaughey-chicken-salad\/\" \/>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Matthew McConaughey's Secret for Perfect Chicken Salad","description":"Matthew McConaughey chicken salad is the new Matthew McConaughey tuna salad. 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