I spent years coming up with lunch specials for the restaurants I worked in, and very quickly learned about the singular power of a good chicken salad sandwich.
That power is the ability to take on any flavors or ingredients you can think of and still taste amazing. Which is how you can go from this Basic Chicken Salad:
Photo by CookinBug
(Sure, “basic” is in the title, but it is super tasty all on its own.)
To this Fruity Curry Chicken Salad:
Photo by Diz
(Yes, it’s basically the same recipe with a liberal dose of spices and pantry staples loaded into it.)
As a chef, my job was to make specials that people would actually pay for, while not costing much at all to make. That meant using leftover chicken (or turkey) and ingredient staples already in the kitchen.
So I taped this list to the wall, as a quick guide to chicken salads I knew were easy to make and easy to sell. They all start with the Basic Chicken Salad recipe, and then you add some tasty new ingredients.
Chicken Salad Flavors
Your imagination—and your pantry—are the only limitations to the possibilities. Sure, you can cook chicken specifically for this, but it’s cool to use leftovers of nearly any type, whether it’s roasted, baked, fried, or grilled. It’s all going to taste just fine.
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