Curried Chicken Salad

5 from 2 votes

Tucked inside a sandwich, stuffed in a pita, paired with fruit, or served on a bed of lettuce, this Curried Chicken Salad is a light and easy dinner or lunch idea for the warm weather months!

Course Lunch or Dinner

Cuisine American

Keyword curried chicken salad recipe, curried chicken salad with grapes, curry chicken salad

Prep Time 15

Chilling Time 1

Total Time 1 15

Servings 1/2 cups (11 1/2-cup servings)

Calories 156kcal

Author Blair Lonergan

Ingredients

3 cups cooked, diced chicken
1 ½ cups halved grapes (or 11 ounces mandarin oranges, drained)
1 cup diced celery
½ cup slivered almonds, toasted
1 cup mayonnaise (I used light mayonnaise for purposes of calculating nutrition information)
2 teaspoons less sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon curry powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Garnish: fresh cilantro or fresh parsley

Instructions

In a large bowl, toss together chicken, grapes, and celery. In a separate bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, soy sauce, lemon juice, curry powder, about ¼ teaspoon salt and a dash of pepper.
Add mayonnaise mixture to the chicken mixture and toss to coat. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight. Just before serving, stir in the slivered almonds.

Notes

To toast slivered almonds quickly, I like to place the almonds in a single layer on a microwave-safe plate. Microwave the almonds on high for about 1 minute, or until they're just fragrant and golden brown.
Feel free to substitute cashews, pecans or walnuts in place of the almonds if you prefer.
Wait to stir the nuts into the salad until just before serving. This way the nuts will still be crunchy and won't get soggy in the dressing.
I used grapes in this recipe, but you can also prepare a curry chicken salad with apples, with canned mandarin oranges, or with chopped mango!
Add a can of sliced, drained water chestnuts for some extra crunch.
A handful of raisins gives the salad nice texture and sweetness.
A garnish of fresh parsley or fresh cilantro adds a nice, bright, colorful finish!
Prepare this salad up to 2 days in advance. It keeps well in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
You can use leftover grilled or roasted chicken, store-bought rotisserie chicken, or chicken that you cook at home. If you prefer to cook your chicken at home, I use 1.5-2 lbs. of raw chicken tenders (breast meat is fine too, but the tenders cook faster). My preferred cooking method is to place the chicken tenders in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Cover with foil and bake in a 400F (200C) oven for about 30 minutes (or until chicken is cooked through). Allow to cool before chopping and using in the recipe.
For a healthy Curry Chicken Salad, try using low-fat mayonnaise or substituting plain Greek yogurt for half of the mayonnaise called for in the recipe.

Nutrition