Chicken salad is one of my all time favorite comfort foods. It’s easy to whip up, healthy, and is great for meal prepping. I have meal prepped before where I spent an entire day cooking dish after dish and that’s exhausting and honestly not sustainable for me. Lately I have moved towards an easier and more feasible meal prepping schedule that allows me to still have time on the weekends to do things I enjoy without one day being entirely dedicated to the kitchen. Plus since I live alone, there’s no one to help me clean up my mess, and that’s almost more exhausting than cooking in my book. Chicken salad has thus become a staple for my weekday lunches. This recipe gives a great spin on the traditional dish that is a real winner in my book. Not only does this dish come together in less than 30 minutes, it hits the savory and spicy notes that I love. It is whole 30, paleo, gluten and dairy free. So what’s not to love?
For the Chicken:
This recipe uses about 1.5 lbs of chicken. You can use cooked, shredded breasts or thighs. I personally love to just grab a rotisserie chicken at the store and save myself a step in the cooking process, but this is not required. My favorite ways to cook my own chicken including sauté the breasts in ghee or cooking them in the Instapot. For the instapot: season the breasts with some salt and pepper, add about a half cup of chicken broth (or water) to the bottom of the pot and cook on high pressure for 6 minutes, let the pressure manually release for another 10 minutes and you’re done.
Pecans:
The sweet nutty crunch of the pecans is one of the things that makes this dish so special. I am a total sucker for crunch in my chicken salads, and this gives it that perfect texture. The sweetness of the pecans also offsets the spice of the curry and the peppers very well. I recommend roasting the pecans first. This takes about 5 minutes. Just add raw pecans to a small skillet and cook on medium/high heat, stirring and flipping regularly. It should take about 5 minutes for the pecans to get a good dark brown roasted color to them. Don’t cook them too long or they’ll burn. If you don’t have pecans I would substitute walnuts or almonds, but the recipe works best with pecans.
Red Chili Pepper
I just get the small red chili peppers from my local grocery store. I dice and add them to my chicken salad seeds and all. If you are sensitive to spice there are several ways to take the heat down with this. You can remove the seeds and wash the pepper halves with water once the seeds have been removed. The washing step should remove some of the oils that give the pepper it’s heat. If you’re still worried that it is going to be too spicy for you, I would recommend just substituting this with about 1/4 cup of red bell pepper finely diced.
Mayonaise:
If you are on whole30 Primal Kitchen has a great avocado mayonnaise that is compliant. This comes with quite the price tag compared to standard mayonnaise, so if you would like to try your hand at making your own I’ve included a link to a great whole30 recipe. https://wholefoodfor7.com/make-it-yourself-whole30-mayo/
Serving:
There are so may ways to serve up this dish, but my personal favorite is by making cucumber “sandwiches”. Simple thinly slice your favorite type of cucumber and use these as the “bread” to create an entirely whole30 and grain free sandwich that is easy to store and eat. Looking for something different? This is also delicious eaten with celery, carrots, bell pepper, plantain chips, or wrapped up in your favorite tortilla. Of course you can always opt for the standard sandwich with your favorite bread if all else fails.
Curry Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Combine chicken, pecans, chili, green onions and spices and mix until well combined. Add mayonnaise and stir till evenly mixed. Add additional mayonnaise to reach desired consistency. Add salt to taste.
- For whole30 serve with sliced cucumbers, carrots, bell peppers, or celery.If you're not on whole30, my other favorite ways to have this is paired with plantain chips or wrapped up in a grain free tortilla.
