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.
This is my reference point when making curry chicken salad. I'm personally a mayo hater so I use greek yogurt instead and it is so delicious! My local co-op also puts wild rice in their recipe and I thought of doing that as well with this recipe.
Love it and have now made it several times!
Perfect. Made exactly as instructed.
That's great, I'm glad you liked it Emily and thanks for rating! ~ karen
Haven't even made it yet and I'm already going to give it 5 stars!! Full of a bunch of favorite ingredients!! Thanks!
LOL. Well, hopefully it'll live up to your 5 star expectations! ~ karen
OMG i just made this for dinner and i'm standing here dipping Wheat Thins into it and i can't stop. Thanks for the recipe. I'm addicted already.
Wow--I am actually drooling a bit here! Can't wait to try it!!
When you say "1 cooked chicken breast," are you talking the whole breast -- both sides?
To Martha Blair Murphy and any others who have this same question, as I do; I have just made this salad using a whole chicken breast (both sides). I happened to have one that I had poached and it was drop-dead moist and absolutely SCREAMING to be made into chicken salad. So I chopped the whole thing and added the other ingredients. I quickly saw that my salad didn't have near the proportions of non-chicken ingredients as was in Karen's picture. This tells me that she is actually using a chicken breast half. Meaning one side of the breast. (I've noticed that people are calling a half breast a whole one nowadays. Maybe because they are separated at death and packaged that way at the grocers.) I had to double the other ingredients to get the appearance of Karen's pic. So to answer that question, you will need one chicken breast half in this recipe. I got a nice bowlful of salad from the whole breast that will keep me going for SEVeral days.
Now, I didn't have all the ingredients on hand. I have just found this recipe and after reading ALL the comments I was convinced I need to make it today. Plans for a trip to the store to pick up missing items got nixed because it is cold and raining today. So I subbed some toasted pine nuts for the pecans, chopped water chestnuts for the celery (not the same type of crunch but it's crunchy nonetheless), and just omitted the apples. Mine were on the soft side and on their way out the door for the birds and squirrels. I used craisins, a little bit of red onion, and definitely had to up the curry powder. I know this stuff will be many times better with the listed ingredients I'm missing, but lemme tell you, this stuff is off the charts delicious! I love the mild warmth in my mouth from the cayenne. I usually don't go for chicken salad of any kind because I don't care for the texture of the chicken. I like to cook my own chicken because of unknown quality of ingredients in the precooked ones, but never seem to be able to acccomplish that beautiful moistness of breast that I dream of. This time it happened for me so I am happily having me some lovely chicken salad, and it isn't even lunchtime yet. (Oops, I caved for the bread since I don't have any lettuce, so it's served on a toasted ciabbata bun. Heaven in my mouth!
You are right, Karen. This is the best! This is where my rotisserie chicken leftovers go.
This is an awesome recipe! My daughter asks for this chicken salad all the time. I sub chopped dried apricots for the raisins. Fantastic!
That's a good substitution idea! ~ karen
YUM! Looks so delicious - I'll make it tomorrow!
I'm really bored with my own cooking lately, so thank you!
EVERYONE is bored with their own cooking lately, lol. ~ karen!
I make a similar curry chicken salad and it is SO GOOD. BUT, I add a jar of Trader Joe’s mango chutney to the salad. It is incredible. I urge you to try that addition. And TJ’s mango chutney is much better than Major Grey’s supermarket chutney.
Absolutely 💯 % delicious! Thanks so much for sharing. Great inspiration.
I’m not sure if anyone mentioned this... too many comments to check, but this could easily be made vegan by changing out the Mayo for vegan Mayo and chicken for chickpeas. Just mush the chickpeas up a little with a fork or pastry cutter or potato masher and add to the rest.
Good thinking! ~ karen
I made this today, and I used cranraisins instead of raisins. It's very good, and I enjoyed eating it on romaine lettuce leaves (I used three small leaves so I could pick them up with my hands.) I really liked the minimum lettuce; so many salads use too much mayo. I think that I would like to decrease the cayenne a little bit and increase the curry. OR, it may depend on what type of curry you use. What kind do you use? Anyway, thanks for the recipe. I'll bet it would be good with shrimp, too.
Absolutely mix it up to your tastes Bonnie! I actually use curry powder from Thailand so it is a bit of a sweeter mix than a traditional curry powder. :) ~ karen!
This is without a doubt my favorite dish to make with a roasted chicken. I have made it scores of times and of course, I have modified it for my own tastes but this is wonderful as is. Thanks
Thanks Jerry! I'm glad you like it!! ~ karen
How do you cook the chicken?
This sounds really delicious :)
I wonder if this recipe would work with leftover cooked halibut?
Sometimes we have leftover cooked fish & I am always looking for new ways to serve it (my husband hates leftovers served the same way)....
I love your blog ... and I just read the discussion about eating/raising chickens. I'm still loving what one of my teachers (Susun Weed) told us ~ that when you really love the animal you're raising for meat, and that animal knows why you're caring for it so deeply (you talk to it !!), then when the time comes, you'll be eating love (!!) and 'you are what you eat' ....