Chicken Salad Recipes | The building blocks of a great chicken salad recipe

The building blocks of a great chicken salad recipe

My family loves variety, so I like to make my chicken salad different every time. So you may wonder, how do you make an amazing chicken salad recipe every time and still get a good variety of tastes?

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!

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