Chicken Salad

Eating healthy food fills your body with energy and nutrients. Imagine your cells smiling back at you and saying: Thank you!

This homemade chicken salad is fast and easy to prepare with a handful of everyday ingredients, and is perfect for hot-weather picnics, lunches or dinners. You can add or replace chicken salad ingredients according to your preferences, and it's awesome to use leftovers. Let me show you how to make a delicious chicken salad with this high-end recipe for basic chicken salad.

This basic chicken salad recipe uses seven simple ingredients and only takes 10 minutes to complete from beginning to end if you're using cooked or leftover chicken. After that, you can serve it up on salad greens, scoop it into pita bread, or half an avocado, roll it up in a tortilla for a wrap or serve it hot in a quesadilla.

Mayonnaise: Creamy mayonnaise binds together all the separate ingredients for chicken salad into a satisfying mixture of flavors and textures. Use your choice of regular or reduced fat mayonnaise. In this chicken salad recipe, the mayonnaise is enhanced with lemon juice, salt, and ground black pepper. Taste the dressing before mixing it with the chicken; you may find it needs a little salt or another flavor booster from your spice collection.

Cooked chicken: Chopped or shredded. If you have leftover roast chicken, grilled chicken, or rotisserie chicken, chicken salad is a great way to use it all up. You can also use canned chicken to make a chicken salad (drain it first), or you can cook chicken for chicken salad. I have mentioned the recipe for chicken below.

Iceberg leaves: Fresh, lettuce/iceberg adds both flavor and crunch. Be sure to chop the leaves into small, uniform pieces so it's easier to eat.

Walnuts: Here's the secret ingredient that makes this chicken salad recipe stand apart. Caramelized walnuts are available at any grocery store and are quickly pan-toasted to bring out their nutty flavor, and then coated in the caramel.

Ingredients For Chicken

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup chicken strips

½ teaspoon red chilli flakes

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

Ingredients For Salad

½ cup caramelized walnuts

2-3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup cooked chicken strips

½ cup chopped lettuce/iceberg leaves

Directions For Chicken

In a pan melt butter and add crushed garlic, cook until the garlic turns light golden now add the chicken strips and cook on medium flame until it changes color. Now add salt, red chili flakes, and lemon juice and cook for 8-10 minutes. Check if your chicken is done if not add 2-3 tbsp of water and cover cook for another 5 minutes.

Directions For Salad

In a medium bowl add mayonnaise, caramelized walnuts, lemon juice, ground black pepper, cooked chicken strips, and chopped lettuce or iceberg leaves. Mix everything well and enjoy.

FAQ

• Can you freeze chicken salad?

No, it cannot be frozen because it has mayonnaise and it will separate as it thaws. The leaves will not be crispy but become soggy.

• Can you add extra ingredients?

Yes, you can add almonds, cashews, chopped carrots or cucumbers, garlic powder, or any other spice you like to add. You can also replace the mayonnaise with sour cream or fresh yogurt. You can add herbs just like tarragon, oregano, thyme, or basil.

• What if you eat vegan?

If you are vegan and you eat vegan products, you can skip the chicken and add vegan tofu, olive oil, chickpeas, vegan hummus, beans, cherry tomatoes, or any other vegetable you like.