Here is my never-boring chicken salad secret technique!

Always, always, always, start with good chicken

As we discussed in my article about great chicken making great chicken salad, your best chicken salad recipe is going to start with a bowl of slow-cooked, moist chicken meat. This can be chicken from the freezer or fresh chicken from a local free-range, organic ranch, but the key is in the slow-cooking. You want this chicken falling off the bones when it’s done. You also want to make sure you put a little water in with it and trap the moisture with a cover or aluminum foil securely wrapped around your dish.

After it cools enough to handle, remove the chicken from the bones and separate all the skin, fat and gristle from the delicious meat.

Chop the chicken meat to your preferred size and consistency.

The dressing determines the overall theme

Ah, now we get to the heart of the recipe. The chicken is the meat, the main attraction, but the dressing is where you shape the heart, the style, the flavor of your chicken salad.

Here is where you decide whether you’re going to do a creamy or an oil base. The dressing is where you decide on the thickness of the consistency. This is where you select the spices and decide on themes like mexican, italian, greek, east indian, asian, southern or whatever.

Get a bowl and put your dressing ingredients together separately from the chicken.

1. Creamy bases might start with mayonnaise, yogurt, cream cheese or sour cream. Oil bases are generally olive or other vegetable oil.
2. Add in your other liquids like salad dressing, vinegar, juices (something from a dill pickle jar, or maybe some fruit juice, etc), honey, salsa or other hot sauce, chili oil or paste, mustard, ketchup, tomato paste, etc. Adjust to taste.
3. Raid your spice rack. Mix in whatever spices fit your theme.
4. Mix well! You can use a blender if you like, or just stir it up with a fork or whisk.
5. Check your consistency. If it’s too runny, then thicken it up with a little corn starch or other thickening agent. If it’s too thick, add a little more compatible liquid flavoring (see step #2).
6. Check the flavor one more time. If you have time, let this mix set for 15-60 minutes and then check it again, making any necessary adjustments before mixing it in.

Add your accents

Amazing chicken salad comes from a combination of a solid foundation and the interesting chicken salad recipe additions you throw in to highlight it with special flavors.

Flavor accents come from including things like:

• dried or fresh fruits
• fresh, steamed or sauteed vegetables
• canned treats like olives, corn, beets, pickles, garlic, etc.
• nuts
• fun stuff like bacon bits, shredded cheese or boiled eggs

Prepare and chop up your selected chicken salad accents. This can be a longer process if you clean, chop and sautee fresh veggies — or it can be something quick like dumping in a small can of pre-chopped olives or diced mild green peppers.

Mix it all together!

Put your chicken meat, dressing and the accents all in a good-sized bowl and mix them together. Be sure the dressing is spread over every corner and tasty bit of chicken, fruit, nut, and veggie you may have in your delicious chicken salad recipe.

You don’t want to over mix it if you like having bigger chunks. Mixing it too much will cause the chicken to come apart into smaller pieces and can cause softer pieces of fruit or vegetable to turn to mush.

On the other hand, if you enjoy a smoother chicken salad consistency, then by all means, mix to your heart’s content!

Let it set or serve it up!

If you have time, let your chicken salad set overnight so the flavors mix together and soak in completely. If not, then go ahead and eat it immediately!

It’s great on a sandwich, in a lettuce wrap for those on no-carb diets, or even by itself in a bowl.

Did you try it?

If you’ve taken a great chicken salad recipe adventure and mixed up something new of your own, take a moment to comment below and tell us how it went!

The great thing about my chicken salad recipes is that they still work with canned chicken, canned veggies and dried fruit straight out of the box or bag.

Here’s my secret to fast, easy chicken salad that tastes great in 10 minutes or less!

Chicken salad recipe in 10 minutes or less

Ingredients:

• 2-12.5 oz. cans of canned chicken
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1-15 oz. can of corn, drained
• 1-12 oz. can of sliced olives (black or green, whichever you prefer), drained
• 1/2 cup salad dressing (ranch, caesar or thousand island)
• 2 tsp. fruit juice (apple, orange, lemon, etc)
• 1 tbs. Dijon mustard
• Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

Dump all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them thoroughly. If the chicken salad seems dry, add more salad dressing or fruit juice.

Serve immediately.

Optional ingredients

Depending on your personal tastes and the contents of your cupboards, you might throw in some of these:

• 1 small (4-6 oz.) can of chopped spinach (salted type)
• 1 small can diced mild green peppers
• 1 small can diced canned carrots
• 1 small can diced canned beets
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 1 tsp. asian chili sauce (spicy)
• 1/2 tsp. red curry paste (spicy Thai style)

Suggested side dishes

I always enjoy throwing my chicken salad into a lettuce wrap or into a sandwich with sliced sourdough bread. However, you might consider making a quick meal with these easy side dishes:

• potato chips or corn tortilla chips
• leftover rice or potatoes
• leftover pasta
• salad from a bag
• raw carrot sticks
• sliced apples, oranges, a bunch of grapes or other fresh fruit
• macaroni and cheese (boxed quick version)
  (you can even skip the fake cheese powder and keep the noodles plain, just adding a little olive oil or butter and sprinkling it with Parmesan cheese)

Here are some more ideas for your chicken salad:

• on a bed of lettuce
• in a lettuce wrap
• over a pile of rice or potatoes (hot or cold)
• with chips
• in a sandwich (this is my favorite!)
• on crackers
• on slices of artisan bread

Some lovely side dishes:

• spinach salad
• cabbage salad / coleslaw
• potatoes
• rice
• vegetable soup
• sauteed vegetables
• fruit salad

Presentation

Depending on the consistency of your chicken salad, a beautiful way to present it is using an ice cream scoop to make a perfectly rounded ball atop some bedding (lettuce, etc).

A looser, chunkier chicken salad looks great in more of a pile, scattered a bit with a drizzling of brightly colored dressing (creamy french, red pepper flecks, yellow mustard, etc).

A small bunch of red grapes or green parsley makes a pretty garnish.

Send us your pictures!

Send us a picture of your prettiest chicken salad presentation, and we may use it on this site!