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Nicholas Sparks has shared his recipe for chicken salad, but not everyone is on board with his choice of ingredients.
The Notebook author recently revealed in an interview with The New York Times that his version of the dish, which mostly consists of chicken, mayonnaise, and some fruits or vegetables, also includes 16 individual packets of Splenda, a zero-calorie alternative for sugar.
Sparks’s chicken salad dressing was made by combining: mayonnaise, dill pickle relish, jalapeño relish, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and the packets of Splenda.
“You can use real sugar, but why throw sugar in if you can use Splenda?” he told the outlet while also clarifying that he tries to avoid carbs “most of the time.”
16 packets of Splenda is equivalent to ⅔ of a cup of the sweetener alternative.
The Last Song author’s method of making the popular lunch dish quickly led to reactions on X where many users questioned why his chicken salad had to be so sweet or why he was using packets of Splenda instead of buying a box.
“Wait - is putting sweetener in a chicken salad a thing? Even sugar? I have never…” one user questioned.
Another X user agreed, writing, “No sugar in chicken salad. Why does everything need to be so sweet? If you can’t live without it being sweet because you have the palate of a 5 year old, then add some grapes.”
“That is wild on its face, obviously. But also at that point why are you still using individual packets of Splenda? invest in a full box! Nicholas Sparks is wasting so much time fiddling around ripping each packet open!” a third person pointed out.
Sparks’s chicken salad recipe gained so much attention that he later turned to Instagram to post a video explaining his recipe.
The author clarified that he uses Duke’s brand of mayonnaise in his chicken salad, which does not contain any sugar. “If you’re using Hellmann’s, you’re getting the sweetness already,” he said in the video.
“I use Duke’s, so I add a little sweetness.”
“Why put sugar in stuff if you don’t need it?” he asked. “The depth of flavor in this chicken salad is truly out of this world.”
He added, “All those who are picking on my Splenda-sweetened chicken salad, you’re missing out.”
The video also included some people trying out Sparks’s recipe first-hand and enjoying it despite being skeptical about the Splenda. According to the chicken salad recipe in the caption, he uses eight packs of Splenda despite The Times reporting that he uses 16.
However, some people in the comments section still weren’t convinced that Splenda belonged in chicken salad.
“I’m not picking on your choice of artificial sweeteners or how you use it, but I just want to let you know I don’t support any,” one comment read.
Another commenter agreed, writing, “I’m still not sure about this Nicholas. Since you mentioned it last night in Houston it has been on my mind.”
