Famous Curried Chicken Salad

Turn your everyday, classic Chicken Salad into Famous Curried Chicken Salad with a pinch of curry powder, raisins, crunchy celery, apricots, creamy mayo, and more with this super easy recipe. Every bite of this Chicken Salad has a unique texture and is full of such a variety of flavors, all your tongue can think is YUM!

Even though I love eating chicken with the skin-on, I don’t often buy it for meals. It’s been drilled into my head for years that eating healthy means buying skinless chicken. I guess that’s why I buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts like they are going out of style.  

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy eating my boneless, skinless chicken breasts, and using them in my favorite recipes, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise that skin-on chicken is juicier, more tender, and with loads of yummy flavour.

I enjoy making these kinds of summertime cold salads for light lunches, side dishes, and to take to your next potluck get together! If you’re looking for a few more summer cold creamy salads, check out this Creamy Shrimp Pasta Salad, a personal favorite Cheese Potato Salad or a Macaroni Dill Salad.  

Disclosure: I am participating in the Chicken Farmers of Canada campaign managed by SJ Consulting. I received compensation in exchange for my participation in this campaign. The opinions on this blog are my own.

This recipe was inspired by the absolute best chicken salad I’ve ever tasted from Chicken Farmers of Canada.

Why You’ll Love Curried Chicken Salad 

• Using a cheaper cut of chicken means staying on budget is easier
• So many flavors and textures your tastebuds will be dancing
• No funky smelling canned chicken
• Easy to customize and add more of your favorite chicken salad ingredients
• Great to take to the next potluck

Curry Chicken Salad Ingredients 

• Cooked chicken breasts
• Golden raisins
• Mayonnaise
• Sour cream
• Hot curry paste
• Salt
• Whole dried apricots
• Celery
• Green onions
• Apple
• Cilantro
• Almonds

How to Make Curried Chicken Salad

• Step One: Place raisins in a bowl of boiling water to plump up. Set aside.
• Step Two: Combine mayonnaise, sour cream, curry paste and salt in a large bowl. Blend together until no streaks of curry remain. Mix in chicken.

• Step Three: Add apricots, celery and green onions to chicken mixture and stir together.
• Step Four: Drain the raisins and mix into the chicken mixture. Add in apple and cilantro and mix to combine.
• Step Five: Top with almonds. Serve on a bed of greens, if desired.

Equipment Needed 

This post contains affiliate links.

• Mixing bowl
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Mixer
• Cutting board

What to Serve with Famous Curried Chicken Salad

• Burgers or stuffed burgers
• Steak
• Maple Dijon Grilled Chicken
• Taco Chicken Burgers
• Ginger Lime Chicken
• Serve stuffed inside a butter lettuce wrap is a great option

Recipe Tips and Tricks 

• Always be sure to use different cutting boards for meat and other ingredients to avoid cross contamination.
• Use a meat thermometer to be sure the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165F before consuming.
• Make sure to cut the ingredients into small pieces so that it’s easy to get a forkful and eat it. 

Variations and Substitutions 

• Trade raisins for grape slices or just add the grapes in with the raisins for a tasty addition.
• Swap almonds out for other nuts, or simply add other crunchy nut choices in.
• Use light mayo instead of regular mayo.
• Swap out the green onion for red onion.
• Use low-fat plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.
• Add a squirt or two of lemon juice.
• Add a dash of celery seed, a little salt, and black pepper to taste.

Storage Instructions 

Due to the perishable ingredients in this recipe, always make sure to refrigerate leftovers when not in use. This Curried Chicken Salad should not sit out longer than 2 hours, it will need to be refrigerated. 

Leftover Chicken Salad should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.

Can I Freeze? 

Mayonnaise tends to separate when thawing after it’s been frozen. Since this homemade Chicken Salad uses mayo, I don’t recommend trying to freeze this recipe.

What’s Juicier- Skinless or Skin-on Chicken?

I think leaving the skin on your chicken makes for more juicy, tender chicken. The reason skin-on chicken is juicier is because the skin traps the natural juices inside the meat as it cooks. 

Cook a chicken breast with skin and cook one without skin and you will be able to tell the difference between the two.

More Amazing Chicken Recipes

• Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken
• Classic Traditional Chicken Salad
• Chicken Bundles
• Taco Chicken Salad
• Chicken Salad with Grapes
• Hot Chicken Salad
• Mustard Chicken Salad
• Greek Chicken Salad

Follow me on Instagram @simplystacieblog, Facebook at Simply Stacie, TikTok @simplystacierecipes or Pinterest at @simplystacie and let me know how you liked this recipe and my other recipes.

If you make the recipe, rate it on the recipe card below and tag me on Instagram and use #simplystacie. I like sharing the photos on my Instagram stories!