Its creamy, crunchy, savory, and sweet all at once.

One day, she brought home a bag of grilled chicken strips.

Your sister uses these all the time to make salads, Mom told me in Cantonese.

Dolly Parton next to a photo of chicken salad in a bowl garnished with a pecan

Simply Recipes / Getty Images

Perfect, I told her.

And I was right.

The pre-seasoned store-bought version is great because its not as bland as plain boiled chicken breast.

Chicken salad with cranberries and pecans served on top of arugula in a bowl

Simply Recipes / Kat Lieu

If you use too much raw onion in this salad, it will overpower the dish.