How To Make A Creamy Chicken Saladno Mayo Needed
This recipe serves eight, but keeps in the refrigerator for five dayshello, work lunches!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons toasted sliced almonds
1. Make the dressing.
To make this chicken salad recipe, start by whisking together the sauce ingredients in a large bowl. Add the yogurt, lemon juice, oil, Dijon, zest, salt, black pepper, and cayenne to a large bowl and combine.
2. Shred the chicken.
Utilize leftover cooked chicken, or stop by the store on your way home and grab a rotisserie chicken, to cut down on prep time for this recipe. Use two forks to shred the cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces, then toss into the bowl with the dressing.
3. Get chopping.
With any chicken salad, theres a bit of chopping involved. Luckily for no mayo recipe, we kept the knife work to a minimum. Thinly slice two ribs of celery and roughly chop scallions and parsley, add all three to bowl with dressing and chicken.
4. Personalize it.
Heres where you can make this recipe your own. To keep it classic, we added raisins and sliced almonds, but you can use whatever dried or fresh fruit you prefer as well as whatever nuts you have on hand.
5. Serve it up!
Serve this creamy, no-mayo chicken salad between toasted slices of sandwich bread, on a croissant, in a wrap or spooned into lettuce cups.
How Long Does Chopped Chicken Salad Last
You can keep this chopped chicken salad in the refrigerator for three to four days, which makes it a perfect meal prep solution.
This recipe will make four servings. You can divide the chopped chicken salad into four portions and be prepared for lunch for the next four days.
I recommend always keeping the dressing and the salad separate when you wont be eating it right away. The longer the dressing sites on the lettuce, the more likely it will be soggy when you eat it. To keep all of your ingredients crisp and fresh, wait to put the dressing on until you are ready to eat.
You can also freeze the baked chicken and pull it out whenever you feel like making this salad!
Dont have any chicken on hand? Try this Super Fresh Shrimp Tomato Salad or Easy Chopped Salmon Salad!
How To Cook Moist Chicken Breasts For Salads And Sandwiches
1. Start with completely defrosted chicken breasts. Never try to cook half-frozen breasts on the stove.
They wont cook evenly all the way through, and thats how you end up with raw insides and over-cooked outsides. Plus, if your meat is still frozen, its going to make the next step nearly impossible
2. Pound your chicken breasts to an even thickness. This is the secret to tender, moist chicken breasts! Meat that is all the same thickness is all going to cook at the same rate, so you arent going to get parts that are over-cooked and dried out.
Place your chicken breast smooth-side up between two layers of plastic wrap or in a large disposable plastic bag and go to town. Start with the thickest part of the meat and strike it, working outward until the breast is the same thickness all over.
3. Marinate or season your chicken breast before it goes on the heat. If youre marinating, nows the time for it. If the chicken is not being marinated, at the very least, salt and pepper that thing before putting it on the heat.
Even better, get creative and sprinkle on some of your favorite spices. Is it going in a Mexican salad? Use some taco seasoning. An Italian sandwich? A little basil and oregano would be perfection.
If at any time your chicken starts to brown too much, turn down the heat a bit and let it cook at a lower temperature.
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How To Store Instant Pot Chicken
- Leftover cooked, shredded, or diced Instant Pot chicken can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight.
- Shredded Instant Pot Chicken is IDEAL for meal prep. Make a big batch at the beginning of the week, divide into individual containers, then use it all week long.
Lady Marmalade Chicken Salad
The name of the game with this Lady Marmalade Chicken Salad is pungent flavors. Every ingredient in this recipe orange marmalade, shallots, green apple, lime juice, garlic, brown mustard, curry powder, cilantro is working to pack a different punch of flavor, each of which, when married together, works to unify the dish. All of these elements are combined with creamy Greek yogurt and tender chicken for a salad that can be a stand-alone meal, but that is also great when paired with toasted bread or lettuce leaves.
Get the Recipe: Lady Marmalade Chicken Salad
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No Time To Boil Chicken Open A Can Thats Ready To Go With No Cooking Required
Years ago I discovered freeze dried chicken, and theres no boiling, roasting or frying to mess with.
Just pour out the amount you want to use, add warm water and wait.
In a few minutes youll have real chicken thats perfectly seasoned and ready to use in any of your best recipes without fillers or fake food anywhere in sight.
Homemade Chicken Salad Ingredients
Go to the fridge right now, and you likely have everything you need to make a batch:
- Chicken I normally use canned chicken breast, but you can also use shredded, poached chicken rotisserie chicken or leftover grilled chicken
- Mayonnaise our preference is Dukes mayonnaise. You can use the full-fat variety or a low-fat version.
- Pickle Relish make sure to use sweet pickle relish, which usually contains finely diced pieces of sweet pickles and red peppers in a sweet brine
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How Do You Make Chicken Soft And Tender
Instructions
Chicken breasts should be flattened before seasoning with salt and pepper. Preheat the pan. Continue to cook the chicken breasts for 1 minute over a medium heat, without moving them. Turn the chicken breasts over. Reduce the heat to a low setting. Cook on low heat for 10 minutes after covering the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and let it to settle for another 10 minutes.
How To Make Quick And Easy Chicken Salad
Letting this sit in the fridge for a bit, helps meld the flavors together. Shoot for at least an hour. In a medium sized bowl combine the chicken, grapes, pecans, green onions, celery, mayonnaise, lemon, and mustard. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with croissants, romaine, or with crackers. This chicken salad is always so fun for everyone to make their own sandwich or add it on top of green lettuce.
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Shredded Chicken Yield And Serving Sizes
The amount of shredded chicken your breast or thigh yields will vary widely depending upon their size. Generally:
- 1 1/2 pounds of boneless chicken will yield about 4 cups of shredded chicken.
- 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast will yield about 1 1/3 cups of shredded chicken. This is a medium breast. The average ones at our grocery store tend to skew larger, but it will depend on the specific brand you purchase. Organic breasts are usually smaller.
- Plan on about 1/3 to 1/2 pound of uncooked boneless chicken per serving.
- If you are adding the shredded chicken to a recipe with a large amount of other fixings , you will likely need less. For example, I find 1/4 pound per person for chicken tacos be plentyassuming we have plenty of chips and guac.
- The nutritional information in the recipe below is calculated for 1/2 pound or 1 breast.
I hope this guide on shredded chicken was helpful for you! What are some of your favorite ways to use shredded chicken? Id love to hear about them in the comments below!
Does Cook Time Change If I Have A Smaller Or Larger Instant Pot
- No matter which size model Instant Pot you have, the number of minutes you select on the Instant Pot remains the same.
The capacity of each Instant Pot and the amount of time the differently sized pots take to come to pressure will vary, but youll always set it for the same number of minutes, regardless of its size.
If you have a different brand other than Instant Pot and are wondering how long to cook chicken in a pressure cooker, the times listed above should still be accurate for other electric pressure cooker models.
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How To Make Shredded Chicken: Recipe Step
- STEP ONE: Place boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the bottom of a large pot, then season them.
- For seasoning, I opt for a generous pinch of salt and pepper. If you like, you can add other seasonings, such as a bayleaf, poultry seasoning, or a few springs of fresh herbs.
- This shredded chicken recipe is meant to be more of a blank canvas to add to a wide range of recipes. Because I know I have some fellow Tex-Mex fans, if you are looking for Mexican shredded chicken options, I recommend these Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Tacos and this Instant Pot Mole Chicken.
- ARRANGING THE CHICKEN: If you are cooking a larger number of chicken breasts or thighs, you can overlap them slightly.
- If you have a lot of overlap, Id suggest upgrading to a larger pot or using two separate pots.
- STEP TWO: Cover the chicken with 1 inch of water .
- YES, water! If you like you can use chicken broth, though I find that with this cooking method, you dont need it. Unless you have some that you need to use up, save yourself an ingredient and make this shredded chicken without broth.
- STEP FOUR: Check for doneness.
- The chicken is done when the center reaches 165 degrees F .
- Check your chicken OFTEN towards the end. If your chicken is dry or tough, it is because it is overcooked. You can even remove the chicken as soon as it reaches 160 degrees F. Place it on a plate, cover it, and let rest for five more minutes. Check for doneness once more. The carry over should cooking finish the job.
Can You Freeze Chicken Salad
Sadly, mayonnaise doesnt freeze well and thats the base for the dressing in this recipe. If youd like ready to go chicken salad, Id suggest finely chopping the chicken and seasonings .
Freeze the diced chicken in single serving portions. When youd like a salad, just combine the chicken and seasonings with mayonnaise and any extra add ins.
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How To Serve Chicken Salad
Theres plenty of ways to serve chicken salad to delight every eater:
- Serve in croissants or on toasted thick cuts of whole wheat bread
- Mound chicken salad on top of fresh greens or cooked rotini pasta for an easy ladies-who-lunch salad
- Nestle a scoop of chicken salad in avocado halves
- Scoop out the center of a large tomato or cooked artichoke and stuff with chicken salad
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Tips: Shredding Chicken With Ease
- Shred with your KitchenAid mixer! First, cut each chicken breast into 3 to 4 pieces.
- Place them into the mixing bowl and insert the paddle attachment.
- Mix at the lowest speed for about a minute, then slowly increase the speed and mix until the chicken is shredded evenly.
- This process only takes about 1 to 2 minutes.
At this point, you will want to chop all your veggies and herbs and get them ready to add to the cooked chicken. Finely chop or dice it all up and set aside until the chicken is cool.
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More Easy Chicken Recipes
- Heres another excellent way to cook chicken: Our Perfectly Poached Chicken is soft, tender, and flavorful.
- These Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas are so flavorful and this shredded chicken is perfect for the filling. We toss chicken with salsa verde, sour cream, garlic and cheese.
- If you are wondering whether or not you can make this in a slow cooker, you can! Hop over to our Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken Recipe to see how easy it is.
Recipe updated, originally posted June 2015. Since posting this in 2015, we have add a recipe video and tweaked the recipe to be more clear. Adam and Joanne
How To Store Shredded Chicken
Shredded chicken is perfect to keep on hand in the refrigerator during the week to cut down on meal-prep time too.
- TO REFRIGERATE SHREDDED CHICKEN: Let the cooked chicken cool completely. Place in a shallow, airtight container and press a sheet of plastic against the top. Refrigerate for up to 4 days.
- TO FREEZE SHREDDED CHICKEN: Follow the steps above, but instead of refrigerating, store the chicken in the freezer for up to 2 months. You can also store it in heavy duty freezer bags. Be sure to squish out as much extra air as you can.
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Ingredients Needed For Chicken Salad
- Cooked chicken breasts I like to use rotisserie chicken. Youll need a large rotisserie chicken to get 3 cups cubed chicken breasts .
- Lemon be sure to zest first before slicing and juicing as this recipe calls for both.
- Celery this gives the chicken salad a nice light crunch. Dice it up small.
- Green onions red onions can be substituted for a stronger flavor.
- Parsley skip the dried it doesnt have near as much flavor as fresh.
- Mayonnaise use good quality mayonnaise for best flavor, such as Hellmans/Best Foods. I really does make a difference since theres a fair amount used.
- Dijon mustard feel free to add more to taste if you like a stronger mustard flavor.
- Bread or lettuce for serving.
How To Perfectly Cook A Chicken Breast
Fajitas made with sautéed chicken. A meal with Mexican influences that will have you drooling. To begin, dice the tomato, onion, and pepper into small pieces. Salad de Poulet de Poulet de Poulet de Poulet de Poulet de Poulet Also included in this dish is shredded chicken. Baked chicken breasts with a wine sauce on the side. Because of the high vitamin C content of citrus fruits, this dish is both delicious and a good antioxidant meal.
- Cooking with coconut and pineapple curry is one of the standout meals from this new cookbook. It is full of flavor and easy to prepare in the kitchen. The use of both coconut milk and creamed coconut in this curry offers a unique flavor and texture.
Cooking with coconut and pineapple curry is one of the standout meals from this new cookbook. It is full of flavor and easy to prepare in the kitchen. The use of both coconut milk and creamed coconut in this curry offers a unique flavor and texture.
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Does This Work With Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
Yes! This method works well with boneless skinless chicken thighs, but with thighs you dont need to pound them thin first since theyre already pretty thin to begin with.
Just season the thighs with salt and pepper and cook them according to the recipe instructions. Theyll require a significantly shorter cooking time, usually 3 to 6 minutes per side, so keep a close eye on them to make sure theyre not overcooking.
How To Shred Cooked Chicken Breast And Thighs
While you can certainly enjoy your slow cooker chicken sliced or diced, shredding it is fast, simple, and versatile. Here are a few of the best ways to shred chicken breasts and thighs:
- Hand Mixer. This is my preferred method! Remove your chicken to a bowl or place your hand mixer directly into the slow cooker and use it on low speed to shred the chicken. You also can transfer the cooked chicken breasts or thighs to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and shred it on low.
- Two Forks. Grab two forks, using one to steady the big pieces of chicken. Use the other fork to tear the big piece into shreds.
- Fingers. If your chicken is cool enough, you can shred it with your fingers.
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Chicken Salad With Walnuts And Grapes
Grapes, walnuts, and chicken come together in a creamy mayo-sour cream dressing. Toss this tasty salad in 20 minutes and serve it on bread, lettuce leaves, or with mixed greens with slices of avocado. It makes a great last-minute lunch if you have leftover chicken or turkey. Add radicchio for a pungent crunch, or use crushed roasted seaweed for a salty and crunchy texture.
Chicken Thigh Cooking Times
Boneless Chicken Thighs.
- Cook on LOW for 3-4 hours or HIGH for 2-3 hours
- Chicken thighs are less likely to dry out than chicken breasts, so you have flexibility to cook the chicken on high.
- Based on medium boneless chicken thigh with a weight of 4.5 ounces.
- Be sure to add or subtract time if your piece of chicken is smaller or larger.
Bone-in Chicken Thighs.
- Cook on LOW for 5-6 hours or HIGH for 3-4 hours.
- Based on medium bone-in chicken thigh with a weight of 5.5 ounces.
- Be sure to add or subtract time if your piece of chicken is smaller or larger.
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