You know what's a really easy and quick thing to make from left over Rotisserie Chicken from Costco? Chicken Salad! I've made this using fresh or frozen chicken breast that I poached and blended up in a food processor or blender, but using rotisserie chicken is super quick and tastes better than using poached or boiled chicken. I'm all about immediate gratification so rotisserie chicken it is!
Imagine getting to stuff this in your face in as little time as 5 minutes!
You'll need:
celery
onion
chicken (any cooked chicken will do)
mayonnaise
sour cream (optional)
walnuts or sliced almonds
grapes or dried cranberries (optional)
curry powder
black pepper
salt to taste
I start with 5 stalks of celery. I really like the crunch that celery adds, so I tend to use a lot. You can use less or even more if you wanted! I chop my celery into medium sized pieces. Not too big, but not super small either. It's totally up to you,
Then I finely mince a quarter of a medium onion. FINE mince is important here because biting into a huge chunk of raw onion would be not so great in this dish.
I like to use either walnuts or sliced raw almonds in my chicken salad. Either is great. I happened to have walnuts so I used them. You can omit these completely if you don't like nuts or have a nut allergy. I love them in this dish because, well....they add a nice, um, nutty flavor. Well, they are NUTS, right?! I used about a cup or so.
Just a quick run through with my knife. I like them medium chopped. Up to you.
I used about 3 cups of leftover rotisserie chicken that I bought from Costco. I like Costco chicken. A lot. It's hormone and steroid free, its cheap and delicious. I can get a ton of meals out of one Costco Chicken. True story. Check out these other recipes that involve Costco Chicken: Quick Chicken Curry, Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas, Chicken and Rice Soup and my all time favorite way to use the leftover bones to make rich and delicious chicken stock.
If you don't have leftover rotisserie chicken, you can also use some chicken breasts. Just boil them in water with a little bit of salt and pepper and when they are cooked, you can use two forks to shred them. Then you can save the stock and freeze for later use! Win win.
You can hand shred your chicken or even pulse it through a food processor or blender if you like it more finely chopped. Me? I just use my handy knife to give it a quick chop. I like the chicken fine and bite sized. It depends on the mood I'm in or what I'll be using the chicken salad for.
I throw all my chopped celery, onion and walnuts into a large mixing bowl so they can be friends.
Then I add my chicken.
I like to add 1-2 heaping spoonfuls of real mayonnaise and I think that works out to about 1/4 to 1/2 cup. I'm too lazy to measure it out in a measuring cup and I hate washing dishes so a big spoon is what I always use. I get there's some people who like Miracle Whip. Me? Not so much. But I guess you could use the whip stuff...but mayo is my friend and I will always turn to mayo first before ever using Miracle Whip.
Add LESS first. If you like your chicken salad super mayo-y and creamy, you can always add more, But if you over mayo, then you won't be happy and it's harder to fix.
Then I grab my curry powder. This is just a regular curry powder I got at Ralph's. The brand is Delish. No. That's the name. Well, yes...it does taste delish, but it's also CALLED Delish. I find the Delish brand to be affordable and reasonable spices and seasonings. You don't always have to shell out tons of money for a tiny name brand container.
Smell and taste your curry powder before adding into your recipe, Not all curry powders are created equal. If I had used a different brand from any Asian market, I would use waaaay less. Make sure you know how strong your curry powder is or isn't before adding. The Delish brand is a nice aromatic, medium spice and strength so I used a tablespoon. Better to be safe than sorry.
Add as much black pepper as you'd like.
Mix it all up! I added a little seasoning salt after tasting. You may or may not need to depending on the kind of curry powder you use.
I also like to add just a blop of sour cream, if I have any on hand. You can use unflavored Greek yogurt too. You can skip this step if you wanted. I just felt that I wanted my chicken salad to be a little wetter but didn't want to add any more mayo.
(A friend of mine pointed out that "splash" and "blop" are frustrating to those less comfortable in the kitchen, so it was about half a tablespoon).
I didn't have any on hand this time, but I love, love LOVE to add red, seedless grapes into this chicken salad. Or eat with the grapes on the side. I've even used dried cranberries. Not everyone likes fruit in their chicken salad. Believe me, growing up I HATED it. Korean folks like to add apples and grapes in potato salad and it made me crazy! So I used to NEVER add it into my chicken salad, but one day I had a chicken salad sandwich on Venice Beach that had red, seedless grapes in it and it absolutely blew my mind. So now I'm a believer. If you're going to try it with grapes mixed in, I'd suggest cutting the grapes in half before mixing in to your chicken salad.
Spoon a huge scoopful on salad, smear on bread and serve open faced or in tea sandwiches, spoon into tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, spoon into boiled eggs cut in half with yolks removed, spoon into lettuce cups for no carb option, eat on crackers with a dash of hot sauce...the list goes on and on.
I don't know what it is about chicken salad, but it just screams summer to me. It's what I'd like to eat at the beach or on a picnic. Or just eat while being outside.
Enjoy!
