O.K. everybody calm down. It's a bold claim, I know. But this really is a great recipe. Perhaps the best curry chicken salad recipe in the land. Chicken, apples, mayo, curry, toasted pecans, celery and raisins. I know. You don't like raisins, right? You can use cranberries if you want.
The first time I made this curry chicken salad, I dreamed about it for the next 3 days. The same way I dream about french fries and having a big toe that isn't plagued with a bunion.
I originally got the recipe years ago from a guy who was a Crossfit super-enthusiast. And by Crossfit super-enthusiast I mean any person who has ever done more than one Crossfit class. If a person takes one class and THEN they think it's a good decision to go back for a second Crossfit class, they're automatically a deranged Crossfit enthusiast who will commit to it with a cult-like fervour.
The same guy is where I got my No Cook Hippie Dippy Cookie recipe from. I took one Crossfit class about a decade ago and the best things I got out of it were these two recipes from the gym owner.
I serve this chicken salad cold on a leaf of romaine lettuce (like a leafy pita) which is a habit I got into after the crossfitting lunatic nice guy from the gym, decided limiting carbs was a great idea.
Because of how blindly I follow the instructions of someone with a 6 pack, I don't ever eat this salad on bread. Only lettuce. Usually.
Gather your ingredients Martha Stewart-style. Get everything ready to go. You're going to be working with apples, celery, grilled chicken, and lots of other good stuff. The full printable recipe is at the bottom of the post.
Curry Chicken Salad Ingredients
- chicken
- celery
- apples
- raisins
- pecans
- mayo
- cayenne
- curry
- s&p
This chicken salad is filled with everything good. Things that are crispy, chewy, sweet, tart, creamy and crunchy.
It's the easiest recipe to make because there's no cooking, it's a dice and dump recipe.You dice your apple, celery, chicken and pecans then mix everything together and that's it, it's done.
Adjust the spices so they're how you like them. Love curry? Add more curry. Love heat? Add more cayenne. Like it creamier? Add more mayo. Watching calories? Add less.
Now let's talk about raisins. Apparently some of you don't like them. I don't know why, but I'm not here to judge.
If you don't like raisins use dried cranberries.
Add salt & pepper. You know. To taste.
Serve and enjoy.
Only 500 calories per meal if eaten on lettuce leaves.
The Best Curry Chicken Salad You'll Ever Eat
Ingredients
- 1 cooked chicken breast chopped
- 1 stalk celery chopped
- ½ a red apple diced small
- ¼ cup toasted pecans chopped
- ¼ cup raisins
- ¼ cup mayonnaise to start
- ¼ tsp. curry powder
- ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in bowl and mix.
- Add additional mayonnaise or spices to taste.
Nutrition
Now before you go squinching your nose up at chicken salad wrapped in a lettuce leaf as opposed to a pita or bread, I have to say, in the lettuce's defence, that the crunch it has makes up for the lack of carbs. I honestly prefer it this way now. Also because you're eating this on a lettuce leaf instead of two hunks of bread, you feel full but not as grossly full after eating it. Which means you have room to eat ice cream for dessert.
Honestly. The crispness of the lettuce against the creaminess of the mayonnaise is wonderfully delicious. The flavours of the salad are all very distinct. The slight hints of curry and cayenne pepper are met with the odd sweet burst of apple and raisin. Add in the freshness of the celery and the crunch of the toasted pecans and you have the perfect Curry Chicken Salad.
Sweet dreams.
DzynByJules
Obviously "peacans" slipped through my spell check, maybe MacGuyver uses them regularly! ;) Jules
DzynByJules
OK, I just MacGuyver-ed this amazing recipe (ya know, the duct tape, bubble-gum, coat hanger etc. method using what I had on hand), and if it's this delicious with my substitutions: red onion for the apple, walnuts for the toasted peacans, dried cranberries for the raisins, half greek yogurt & half mayo with a glob of dijon mustard, full curry & cayenne measurements (do not skimp people!), I can't imagine how freak-a-licious this would taste doing it the Ass/Karen way! Used the "bowl-wrap" method too, and licked it clean! A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! Thanks for sharing this with your loyal followers! Jules :)
Karen
You're welcome! This curried chicken salad really took off this time. Everyone's been emailing saying they made/are gonna make it. Mustta done a good sell job. ;) ~ karen
Jennifer
I was really hopeful that if a gym asshole gave you this recipe it would be sans mayo, so what do you think it would taste like with Greek yogurt? I've got the egg allergy and that vegan mayo, well there are some things you need eggs to make and mayo is one of them! It looks so yummy though especially in a lettuce wrap...
Karen
Hmm. I'm not sure it would work. Greek yogourt is more like sour cream. What do you normally substitute mayo with? Mayo has that certain "tang" from the eggs and vinegar. You could try to make it w/ greek yogourt and keep adding things (bit of mustard, vinegar) until it tastes about right. Lemme know. ~ karen!
Amanda
Your pics are lovely! I can't wait to try this recipe.
Karen
Amanda - Thanks! I'm putting my weekly menu post up in about an hour and a half. You'll see I'm having this very chicken salad on Wednesday night. :) ~ karen
Tana
Karen, I googled "curry chicken salad" to make little party sandwiches to take to a friend's house. I found yours and I'm SO glad I did! I got endive lettuce to make little 2-bite servings. Very crunchy, tasty, and deserving of the many compliments I received. I'm making it again tonight for the family. This one's a keeper. Thanks!
Karen
Tana - Thank you! Isn't it good? I usually just end up eating it right out of the bowl. ~ karen
Alexis
It may already be in the comments, but about how many ounces of chicken would you say you use?
Thanks
Karen
HI Alexis - I'm really not sure how many ounces it would be. You don't have to be terribly finicky with the measurements. I used 1 large chicken breast. When I double the recipe I'll use 2 large or 3 small chicken breasts. If it seems too dry after you've mixed it all up, just throw in another dollop of mayonnaise. ~ karen!
Diana Rosenal
Curry Chicken Salad
Annette
I'm eating this now and can't get enough... I don't even bother with the lettuce. It's straight out of the bowl! lol I'll be making this regularly! YUMMY!!! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Karen
You're welcome Annette! That's my favourite way to eat it too. Right outta the bowl. ~ karen
Sadi
Sooo yummy! I doubled the curry, and used canned chicken from Costco!!!
Hollie @ I'm Busy Procrastinating
Karen, I have saved this recipe since last summer and finally made it yesterday. YUM-MEE! Because I don't have an asshole from a gym to order me around, I ate mine on croissants. But next time maybe I'll do the leafy greens, because this stuff is so good, I could just eat it out of the bowl. I happened to have golden raisins on hand, rather than regular, and they were the perfect sweetness to offset the curry. Thanks for sharing!
Karen
Thanks for letting me know Hollie! Isn't it *good*?! I just eat it out of the bowl. Honestly. It's my preferred method. ~ karen!
Janel
How many servings does this make I could eat the whole bowl!
Karen
Janel - Well then, clearly ... it serves one. :) ~ karen
GL
Where did you get those fantastic white rectangular servers? They look amazing!
Karen
GL - Thanks! Yeah, they're fun. Great for putting out a few olives and cheese. Sadly, I can't remember where I got them. Homesense (Homegoods) I think. They're "Tannex". http://store.tannex.ca/ I just looked it up and they appear to be like a restaurant/wholesale online store. And WOW do they have some great stuff! ~ karen
Seul
My daughter requested this for her birthday dinner. She ate seconds, and packed some for lunch the next day-- thanks for sharing the recipe, this one's going in the book. *grins* Do I put it under Karen's curry chicken salad, or That asshole's chicken salad?
Karen
Hahahah! Omg that made me laugh. Ahem ... well ... I *did* make a few changes to it, but it is in truth the Asshole's recipe. How 'bout Asshole Karen's Curry Chicken Salad? ~ k!
Kat - the other 1
Chicken asshole salad?
Ummm....
Lol!
Abra
I love curried chicken salad and this recipe didn't disappoint! The only addition I made was some chopped onion and I omitted the celery and cayenne because I was out. So delicious! Thanks for a yummy meal inspiration...my six year old loved it too and even asked to try curry powder on its own. He's my adventurous eater like his mama! :)
Karen
Abra - I'm so glad! Actually, now that I'm reminded of it, I may just have some for dinner tomorrow night! ~ karen
beth stockwell
Loved this BUT the cayenne totally ruined it! I can't believe how much the cayenne overpowered it. I would 100% suggest to LEAVE OUT THE CAYENNE. And I also added more curry powder and some turmeric.
Karen
Beth - I have to disagree. I really don't think the cayenne ruins the salad. In fact I think it adds to it. That's why I've included it as an ingredient, LOL. I had to go back and look at the recipe to make sure it was correct and it is ... 1/4 of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper really isn't very much. BUT if you don't like cayenne, or can't handle the cayenne then by all means leave out the cayenne! ~ karen
cred
Okay! I tried it... I love it!
I had to change a bit (not b/c I don't trust you but b/c I made this when it popped up as "you might also like" under today's post and I didn't have everything I needed):
My kid ate the last apple so mine was sans apple (but I know the crunch & sweetness would be perfect).
I was going to sub cranberries b/c I only eat raisins in waldorf-ish salads so I didn't have any on hand. But apparently I'm out of crans, too. At this point, I was going to give up but recalled some raisins I dried 3 wks ago from some Ontario concord grapes- not as plump & chewy as Cali raisins but oh so grapey.
I only had some mesclun mix from the garden so I put the chick salad over the loose greens & it was delicious.
Time to get my butt to the orchard as I've been intending for the last month- need to try this with apples.
Kristy
Omgsh! This looks amazing! We will be having this at our house this weekend! And I love the lettuce as an alternative to bread! :9
Karen
Kristy - The lettuce makes it wayyyyy better for a hot, summer night. Like tonight. Or tomorrow night. Or the next 90 nights or so. ~ karen
fuff
okay so i'm "that" person with the weird allergy. i sense that the apples are integral for this recipe and i'm really really really wanting to make it BUT...i'm deathly allergic to raw apples (insert sad face here). i might try it without but i'm trying to brainstorm a suitable alternative in the meantime. any brilliant ideas?
Karen
Fuff - It's really the crispness and crunch of the apple that's integral. Plus the bit of colour is nice. If you're looking to substitute I'd probably try pear. Otherwise, just leave the apple out and add a bit more celery. :) ~ karen
Kelly m
Use red grapes. My favorite curry chicken salad includes them and it’s amazing.
Stella
Looks amazing! I love eating with a lettuce wrap! So tasty!
Caseyj
Wow, gonna make this. Do you think there is a good subsitute for the pecans? My house is on a strict no-pecans-walnuts-or-cashews menu plan. Would almonds work?
Also, I think you should check out Hungry Girl's Greek Chicken Salad recipe. It uses mainly yogurt plus a tad of mayo for the creamy-ness (but you don't have to), then adds chicken, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, olives, feta or goat cheese and some seasoning. It's divine.
Karen
Caseyj - I think you could use any nut you like. Personally if I couldn't use pecans, I'd go with walnuts. But you can't. After that I'd go with toasted pine nuts. When in doubt, always go with toasted pine nuts. Almonds are a good choice too. Either chop them up yourself or buy the sliced ones. Now I'm off to look at Hungry Girl's chicken recipe! One can never have enough chicken recipes. ~ karen!