Curried Chicken Salad
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This curried chicken salad is a perfect blend of savory, sweet, and a little spicy, with a satisfying crunch from grapes, cashews, and celery.
I originally shared this curried chicken salad on my salad column on Serious Eats in 2011. All these years later, it remains one of my favorites. Savory, sweet, and a little spicy—with lots of fresh crunch from grapes, cashews, celery, and scallions—it’s wonderful over greens, piled into a sandwich, or even as a lettuce wrap. The creamy dressing is flavored with curry powder, a blend of spices like coriander, cumin, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom, to name just a few. I recommend using poached chicken to make the salad, but roasted chicken breasts or a rotisserie chicken work just as well.
Table of Contents
“I have been making chicken salad for years and this is the best of all my recipes!”
What You’ll Need To Make Curried Chicken Salad
- Mayonnaise: Creates a creamy base that holds the salad together. The mayo also adds richness to the overall flavor.
- Sour Cream: Lightens up the mayonnaise with a tangy note, contributing to a more balanced and smooth texture.
- Curry Powder: Infuses the dish with a deep, warm spice blend that gives the salad its distinctive curried flavor.
- Honey: Sweetens the dressing to balance the savory curry and sour lime juice, creating a more complex flavor profile.
- Lime Juice: Adds brightness and acidity, cutting through the richness of the mayonnaise and enhancing the fresh taste of the salad.
- Cooked Shredded Chicken: Provides the protein and substance for the salad, making it filling and satisfying. See recipe note for specific guidance on cooking the chicken.
- Celery: Adds a crisp, refreshing texture that contrasts with the creamy dressing and tender chicken.
- Seedless Grapes: Introduces a burst of sweetness and juiciness, complementing the savory and spicy elements of the dish.
- Scallions: Offers a mild onion flavor with a hint of sharpness, adding complexity without overwhelming the other ingredients. They also add a pop of color to the salad.
- Cayenne Pepper: Provides an optional touch of heat for those who like a bit of spice.
- Cashews: Adds a rich, buttery crunch with a slight saltiness, providing texture and a savory balance to the sweet and spicy notes.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Make the dressing: In a medium bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, curry powder, honey, lime juice, and salt.
Whisk to combine.
Add the chicken, celery, grapes, scallions, cashews, and a pinch of cayenne pepper, if desired, to the dressing (if not serving immediately, hold off on adding the cashews so they stay crunchy).
Toss well, and then taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. (If using a rotisserie chicken, be careful when mixing so that it doesn’t fall apart too much.)
Chill the curried chicken salad until ready to serve.
Make-Ahead Instructions
This salad can be made and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Wait to add the cashews until right before serving, otherwise they will get soft.
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Curried Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- ½ cup mayonnaise best quality such as Hellmann's or Duke's
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1½ tablespoons honey
- 1½ tablespoons fresh lime juice from 1 lime
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 4½ cups cooked shredded chicken see note
- 3 large stalks celery diced
- 1 cup seedless grapes halved
- 3 scallions, light and dark green parts, finely sliced
- Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
- ⅔ cup salted cashews
Instructions
- Make the dressing: In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, curry powder, honey, lime juice, and salt.
- To the dressing, add the chicken, celery, grapes and scallions. Toss well to combine, then taste and adjust seasoning, adding the cayenne pepper, if desired. Cover the chicken salad with plastic wrap and chill until ready to serve. Right before serving, stir in the cashews (adding them at the last minute ensures they stay crunchy).
- Note: I use poached chicken for this recipe. If you'd like to use roasted chicken, you'll need 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Arrange the chicken breasts skin-side up on the prepared baking sheet. Coat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle both sides with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes, or until done. Let cool. (You may also use a rotisserie chicken.)
- Make-Ahead Instructions: This salad can be made and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Wait to add the cashews until right before serving, otherwise they will get soft.
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
Comments
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This is delicious. I did make one change which I think would help with the calories. I used plain Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream and it still tastes yummy. Thanks for posting this!
This chicken salad is very good right when you make it but put it in the refrigerator overnight & it is blow your socks off fantastic! I followed the recipe exactly as written. Another winner from Jen.
This is delicious! Wow!! I will be make no it often for parties I host. And also for pot lucks. Thank you so much!
This is really delicious. I’ve made it a bunch of times and it always turns out. I use walnuts which work fine too. Cooking the chicken this way makes it nice and soft.
p.s. I beg you to get rid of the pop up bar on the bottom of the site. The fact that it keeps coming back after clicking close makes it even more awful. I feel like printing out everything I want and never coming back here. It’s also slowing down the site sometimes. PLEASE cancel it.
Hi Yasmine, Glad you like the chicken salad! Thanks for your note. And I’m so sorry the pop up ads are bothering you! I do use an outside company to run the ads, and I have to constantly monitor to make sure that the site doesn’t get too ad-heavy. I will mention to them that the ad(s) keep coming back after you close them. I wish I didn’t have to have any ads at all…it’s a balance between user experience and the high cost of running a site. Thank you for the feedback.
Hi Yasmine. Choose “Show Reader” for text only.
669 seems like a lot for calories for one serving? What are you considering as a serving? 1 cup or more?
Hi Gloria, I’d guesstimate that each serving is about 1-1/2 cups. (The mayo, sour cream, and cashews boost the calories in this a bit.) Hope that helps!
If I make this a day ahead should I add the grapes later? How about the sour cream?
Hi Linda, You can make the whole thing a day ahead; it will keep well.
I make this all the time, it’s my family’s picnic favorite. Jennifer you do have some very flavorful recipes!
Really liked this recipe, for the most part! But, I am also not a fan of curry, I saw there were several reviews of others mentioning they weren’t either, but they still really liked it, so that encouraged me to try this one, I’m glad I did, but I did add a bit of lemon juice and some garlic also, thought they were a tasty addition. Thanks!
Hi Jenn, I love your recipes and especially this one! I will be making this, with the help of 2 other ladies, for approximately 30 ladies for a luncheon. Serving it on lettuce, with carrot sticks and a croissant. Do you think the original recipe would serve more than 4 people?
Hi Linda, the serving size here is fairly generous so I think you could probably get away with feeding about five with this recipe. Hope everyone enjoys!
Thanks, Jenn. Now, one more question- Would you just double everything to serve 10, or should other adjustments be made? THANKS!!
Doubling everything will work! 🙂
Why do you bake chicken instead of poaching it? does it have a different flavor, texture?
Hi Stacy, Poached chicken will work, but roasted chicken is more flavorful and harder to overcook.
Hi Jenn, I’m very excited to try this recipe. I have chicken breasts to use up and I was wondering if your grilled chicken breast marinade would work for this or if I should just grill with salt, pepper and olive oil?
I’d probably just go with the salt, pepper and olive oil, but you really can go either way. 🙂
Jenn, yet another winning recipe! I don’t even like curry, or thought I didn’t, but this salad is just DELICIOUS!!!