Improve the Basic Chicken Salad Recipe

Quick & Easy Tips for a Better Multi-Purpose Chicken Salad

Sep 21, 2008

Take chicken salad from ordinary to extraordinary with these quick tips which add creativity and sophistication to the basic chicken salad recipe.

Chicken salad is perfect for quick meals or to use up leftovers. It is a common, easy dish but that does not mean that chicken salad should be boring. Chicken salad can “wow” guests at a dinner party, spice up lunch hour at the office, or make dinnertime easy and enjoyable for everyone. The following list of tips provides ideas for reinventing chicken salad and ways to make the basic chicken salad recipe more creatively delicious!

· Replace the Mayonnaise in Chicken Salad Recipes with Salad Dressing: Try Ranch, Creamy Caesar, or Creamy Italian dressing instead of the traditional mayonnaise. There are also flavored ranch dressings, such as garlic or bacon, which can kick up the flavor of chicken salad even further. Try a reduced fat or light dressing for an even healthier chicken salad.

· Make it a Fiesta Chicken Salad: Combine jarred salsa with mayo or sour cream to make a fiesta chicken salad. For even more flavor, add some chopped cilantro into the mix. This is a colorful and flavorful twist on chicken salad.

· Add Mix-Ins to Chicken Salad: Using diced apples, grapes, dried cranberries, or walnuts in chicken salad add great flavor, a little crunch, and sophistication to the traditional chicken salad. Grapes are not typically the go-to ingredient for chicken salad, but the grapes add a subtle sweetness and juiciness that can really enhance chicken salad. Using one of these add-ins can make chicken salad the star at a dinner party or luncheon.

· Spice up the Chicken Salad Recipe: Add wasabi sauce or chipotle peppers to the chicken salad. There are a variety of wasabi sauces available on the market, which can be combined with the mayo or dressing to establish a customizable level of heat. Also, try purchasing chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and finely chopping the peppers and mixing them into the chicken salad for a smoky flavor with subtle heat.

· Make a Chicken Salad Melt: Take the concept of a tuna melt, but use chicken salad instead. Place chicken salad with tomato slices and Swiss cheese on buttered slices of rye bread, and grill the sandwich until the cheese is melted and the bread is golden brown. This sandwich can be served open faced or closed.

· Serve Chicken Salad on a Different Type of Bread: Instead of serving chicken salad on white or wheat bread, try serving it on an English muffin, in a pita, or inside grilled flatbread. This makes the chicken salad sandwich look more sophisticated than the ordinary chicken salad sandwich. Also, for the “low-carb craze”, roll the chicken salad in lettuce to create a breadless wrap.

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