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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Hi Jenn, the recipe says it serves 4, is that correct? Seems like 4 1/2c chicken would serve more than that. Thanks!
Hi Linda, they’re generous servings, so you could probably eek 5 out, but I usually serve 4 with it.
Delicious! I made this using Costco rotisserie chicken. I used currants and chopped Granny Smith apple instead of grapes (don’t like grapes in savory applications) and celery (didn’t have celery on hand, but used celery salt to season). Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly. The tart sweetness of the apple and the size of the currants are perfect for the sandwich application. I used Jamaican Blue Mountain curry (my curry of choice). It was perfect. I’m sure it will be even better after a day or two in the fridge, as is the case with most curries. Thanks, Jenn, for another winning recipe.
Fantastic flavors! I’ve made this several times and everyone loves it. Definitely a keeper, thank you Jenn 🙂
Great recipe! Wonderful flavor!
Oops, sent comment, but forgot the most important… STARS
Another Once Upon a Chef “KEEPER!” Just fabulous…. And spot on tip about holding off on cashews until right before eating…. Thank you from Crozet, VA
I absolutely love curry, but I found this to be too heavy on the curry flavor – I literally could not taste any of the other yummy ingredients (could have been curried anything!). Maybe because I used “high end” Penzeys curry? I’ll half the curry next time.
This recipe is delicious! I had it when a friend made it in tortillas as wraps, and loved it. Now that she’s shared the recipe with me, I made it and found it equally yummy and am serving is as part of a birthday lunch!
This was excellent! I made it with a few tweaks: I used canned chicken, omitted the celery (don’t like it), and substituted golden raisins for the grapes and thinly sliced almonds for the cashews. I also added a little more curry. All the other ingredients were added in lesser amounts (about half) since I only used 2 small cans of cooked chicken. I will definitely make it again – thanks! 😋
I’ve made this several times. The only thing I do different is add extra sauce because the sauce is so yummy.
This is the first time I have ever commented on a recipe. This was SO delicious. I didn’t have grapes but used raisons instead and it was still wonderful. I also toasted the cashews for additional flavor. Yummy, yum, yum!