Nicholas Sparks' chicken salad recipe leaves fans upset over secret ingredient: 'Gone too far'

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Romance author Nicholas Sparks is capturing attention on social media after sharing his own recipe for chicken salad — but fans appear to be questioning a certain ingredient that's included in the dish.

In a recent interview, Sparks shared the chicken salad recipe, which started out as a standard recipe, with rotisserie chicken, celery and Vidalia onion.

But it was the addition of Splenda, 16 packets to be exact, that caught people off guard.

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"You can use real sugar, but why throw sugar in if you can use Splenda," Sparks stated in the interview.

Some social media users called out the novelist for incorporating the sweet ingredient into the salad.

"[I'm] from the south and we're known for using obscene amounts of sugar but I've never even considered putting it in Chicken salad," one user wrote on X.

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"This is the second most cursed thing I've read this morning," another social media user commented.

Nicholas Sparks' chicken salad recipe includes 8 to 16 sachets of the artificial sweetener, Splenda. (iStock)

"You’ve gone too far," one ‘X’ account wrote. 

Sparks appeared notice the confused responses from his social media followers, so he decided to share the full recipe on his Instagram page.

"I often incorporate recipes into my novels, but in my recent @NYTimes article they mentioned one I created and make for myself often. To my surprise, it’s getting a bit of attention online, so I wanted to give you the full recipe," Sparks captioned his video.

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Besides chicken, Sparks' salad includes a large sweet onion, celery, dill relish and diced jalapeños.

Sparks' recipe (not pictured) starts out like your standard chicken salad, until the addition of diced jalapeño and a number of Splenda packets. (iStock)

The mayo mixture consists of Duke’s mayonnaise, which Sparks said does not contain sugar compared to Hellmann's.

He then adds apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and Splenda. The recipe on his Instagram post only called for eight packets compared to the 16 he mentioned in his interview.

After Sparks clarified the full recipe, fans still appeared to be skeptical about his Splenda Chicken Salad.

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"I’m still not sure about this Nicholas," one Instagram account commented.

Nicholas Sparks' fans are questioning an ingredient that's included in his chicken salad recipe. Some people say it sounds delicious, while others appear to be turned off by the addition of Splenda. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

Not everyone seems to be opposed to Sparks' recipe. In fact, many said they are eager to give it a try.

"Sounds delicious to me," one user commented.

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"Oh my gosh is there anything you can't do..thanks for sharing..I love Splenda with my drinks..gotta try this one," another Instagram user wrote.

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This is not the first time chicken salad has reached the spotlight in recent months, as reality TV star and founder and CEO of the Skinnygirl brand, Bethenny Frankel, has gone viral for reviewing different creations.

Nicholas Sparks is sparking a social media debate after sharing his chicken salad recipe (not pictured) which includes 16 packets of Splenda. (iStock/Bruce Glikas/WireImage)

Frankel's affinity for the dish has led many to label her the "the chicken salad influencer."

She has shared numerous videos of herself trying chicken salad variations along with sharing her own recipes.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Sparks' team for comment.