Everyone has a chicken salad recipe, but not everyone has a curry chicken salad recipe, and that’s how you’ll make your next potluck chicken salad stand out from the rest! The addition of warm and earthy spices will take the typical chicken salad recipe and turn in into something extraordinary. All you’ll need to do is dip into your spice drawer for a few essentials, like cardamom, cumin, and coriander. This interpretation of a classic recipe will leave your serving bowl practically scraped clean, and everyone will want the recipe.
Our typical chicken salad recipe calls for mayonnaise, but we’ve decided to add a little bit of tang and texture by using plain Greek yogurt. It also makes this just a little bit healthier than when we use mayonnaise. It’s pretty easy to whip up your own curry powder mix and that’s just what we’ve done here, with a combination of amazing spices that are so warm and rich, not overpowering but just enough to pique the taste buds and really make the dressing taste amazing. We’re all about building layers of flavor, so we first start by mixing the spices together, then adding them to the yogurt that’s been doctored with a little honey and lemon juice. Now, it’s time to build our curry chicken salad.
Diced chicken is the main ingredient and then we scatter delicious color, flavor, and texture with bits of celery and bell pepper for crunch, diced red and green onion, and finally roughly chopped cashews that add a sweet nuttiness. These are all tossed with that curried yogurt dressing and the salad is ready to serve! We do like to put the salad in the refrigerator for a bit, as it allows all of those flavors to really come together, so our curry chicken salad is the ideal make-ahead side dish and it will keep for up to three days refrigerated. We love to shake up our usual routine recipes with thoughtful and flavorful modifications, and our curry chicken salad is one that we come back to time and time again.
Curry Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- Dressing:
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt or mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon cardamom
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon coriander
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- Salad:
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked and diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- ¼ cup green onion, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup red onion, finely diced
- ½ cup cashews, roughly chopped
- ½ cup red bell pepper, diced
Preparation
- Mix spices together in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Mix yogurt, lemon juice, and honey until well blended. Stir in the spice mixture and set aside. Add more salt and pepper, to taste.
- Place chicken, celery, green onion, bell pepper, cashews, and red onion together in a large bowl. Toss gently then add the prepared dressing. Toss again until evenly mixed.
- Serve immediately or store in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Recipe adapted from Gimme Some Oven.
