Simple Classic Chicken Salad Recipes

Even a novice cook can make a simple chicken salad according to the classic recipe. Moreover, there are a great many ways. Chicken salads are found in most national cuisines, and there are many innovative ideas. The combination of chicken meat with other ingredients allows for creativity and culinary potential.

What is the use of such food?

Chicken is distinguished not only by its high taste and nutritional value. It is the healthiest of all types of meat. Chicken recipes are found in almost all national cuisines, and the ancient Chinese even used chicken for medicinal purposes to restore male strength.

The meat of this bird is rich in elements valuable for humans, is well absorbed and low in calories. It is chicken that doctors recommend for feeding young children and people weakened by the disease.

Choose the right chicken in the store... In a quality bird:

thin and light skin;
there is no unpleasant smell;
transparent fat without yellowness.

When choosing fillets, make sure the meat is firm and natural flesh-colored.

Most useful are simple salads with boiled chicken fillets and low-fat dressings. Smoked and fried chicken is also used in salads for unusual flavoring effects when combined with a variety of ingredients. However, such dishes should be eaten with caution by people suffering from chronic pancreatitis, cholecystitis, and gastrointestinal diseases. They should also be careful with sour and spicy ingredients - pomegranate, pineapple, pickled mushrooms. And if one of your friends and relatives suffers from allergies, you should not treat him to a salad with citrus fruits, nuts or the addition of honey.

Reducing the calorie content of chicken salads

The nutritional value of such dishes depends on the ingredients. It can range from 150 to 500 kilocalories per 100 grams.

Most often, the extra calories come from a dressing, for example, fatty mayonnaise.

By the way, it is not at all useful in large quantities. This sauce is high in fat, which contributes to an increase in the level of bad cholesterol and the development of atherosclerosis.

In order not to gain weight, leaning on salads with chicken, monitor the calorie content of the components. You can, for example, take cheese with a lower fat content or season the dish with a light mayonnaise sauce, low-fat unsweetened yogurt. Or use only boiled chicken breast for salads - this is the leanest meat. Remove the skin before cooking.

Dishes for connoisseurs of traditional flavors

Chicken meat for salads has been used for a very long time, and many recipes have already become classics. But from this they did not lose anything. Time-tested options will please the most picky guests.

Recipe for Caesar salad with chicken and croutons

This simple and delicious chicken breast salad has probably already surpassed Olivier in popularity. And even a person who rarely comes to the stove can cook it.

Ingredients:

a bunch of lettuce;
chicken breast;
white loaf;
200 grams of parmesan;
five or six cherry tomatoes;
half a lemon;
80 ml olive oil;
140 ml soy sauce;
Caesar sauce and spices to taste;
two cloves of garlic.

Cooking method:

Cut the meat into medium-sized slices and place in a deep marinating bowl.
Crush a garlic clove, send it to the chicken together with the spices.
Pour lemon juice and soy sauce over the meat, stir and marinate for 2 hours.
Cut the loaf into cubes and fry in a preheated pan in olive oil with the addition of chopped garlic. It turns out croutons with a golden brown crust.
Put the croutons in a separate container, and fry the marinated meat in a skillet for three minutes on all sides.
Place lettuce leaves torn by hand in large pieces on a plate, and slices of breast on top.
Drizzle with Caesar sauce, garnish with croutons and tomato slices, sprinkle with grated Parmesan.

Instead of Caesar sauce, you can use garlic mayonnaise.

The classic chicken and pineapple salad recipe

The dish is very unusual in terms of the combination of components, but has already become a classic.

Ingredients:

half a kilo of chicken fillet;
one jar of canned pineapple and corn;
salt and mayonnaise to taste;
green onions.

Cooking method:

Boil and chill the meat.
Cut the chicken and pineapple fish out of the jar into small cubes.
Chop the onion feathers.
Mix everything in a deep container with corn and mayonnaise, pre-salting.
Let it brew in a cold place for 15 minutes.

This recipe for chicken salad is simple and delicious, it requires a minimum of preparation, for which many housewives love it.

"Appetizing" salad with smoked chicken: a recipe with a photo

This salad does not require long preparations - just a quarter of an hour is enough.

Ingredients:

a pound of smoked chicken;
210 grams of cheese;
mayonnaise for dressing;
three tomatoes;
jar of champignons.

Cooking method:

Serve after half an hour in a cool place, garnish with herbs.

Chicken and prune salad "Prague"

This salad, popular since Soviet times, will take longer, but it's worth it!

Ingredients:

320 grams of chicken fillet;
three eggs;
four pickled cucumbers;
half a can of green peas;
two carrots;
salt and mayonnaise to taste;
a handful of peeled walnuts and pitted prunes;
two large spoons of nine percent vinegar;
bulb.

Cooking method:

Boil fillets, eggs and carrots, chill.
Grate eggs and peeled carrots.
Chop the onion into small cubes, pour vinegar in half with water and marinate for a quarter of an hour. Salt.
Cut the cucumbers into small cubes too.
Steam prunes in boiling water, chop.
Fry and chop the nuts.
Place the sliced meat on a flat dish and cover with pickled onions.
Then - a layer of eggs, cucumbers, carrots, peas and nuts.

Decorate the salad with prunes and mayonnaise net. And before serving for soaking, keep in the cold for 2 hours.

Boiled chicken salad recipe "Pomegranate bracelet"

This dish is hearty and not too high in calories, and the pomegranate gives it a spicy taste.

Ingredients:

320 grams of chicken and mushrooms each;
two beets;
four potato tubers;
two onion heads;
three carrots;
mayonnaise, salt and pepper - to taste;
Garnet;
half a glass of shelled walnuts.

Cooking method:

Cool the cooked chicken fillet and cut into cubes.
Similarly, chop the mushrooms and onions, and then, season with salt and pepper, simmer for a quarter of an hour in sunflower oil.
Boil the rest of the vegetables and rub. Make crumbs from the nuts. Prepare pomegranate seeds.
Place a glass in the middle of a flat plate and lay the ingredients around in layers. First - a potato layer (salt and season with mayonnaise), then - carrot, chicken, mayonnaise.
The next layers are mushroom, nutty, mayonnaise. Top with beets, mayonnaise and pomegranate seeds. Put in the cold for 30 minutes.

An elegant salad in the form of a bracelet will decorate the table for any celebration.

Unusual inventions of zealous housewives

Some women (and men too) have changed the classic recipes because of the desire to try something new or the lack of the necessary ingredients. Thanks to their imagination, completely new dishes were created.

"Bride" chicken salad recipe with photo

This dish is made quickly with simple ingredients. But it is better to cook it in advance, because the salad will become the most juicy on the second day, when it is thoroughly soaked.

Ingredients:

320 grams of smoked chicken;
dense processed cheese;
three boiled eggs;
two large spoons of vinegar;
mayonnaise;
bulb;
potato tuber.

Cooking method:

Smoked chicken can be replaced with boiled chicken - the dish will become less spicy, but more tender.

"Obzhorka" - a simple recipe for salad with chicken breast

This hearty dish is perfect for both festive and everyday meals.

Ingredients:

chicken breast;
fresh or canned cucumber;
two eggs;
a can of peas or beans;
bulb;
a small spoonful of acetic acid and sugar;
mayonnaise;
100 - 150 grams of Korean carrots optional.

Cooking method:

Boil the meat, cool, divide into fibers.
Cut the onion into thin rings and cut them into halves. To fill with water. Add sugar and vinegar essence. Stir and leave for an hour or two.
Cut the boiled eggs into cubes and the cucumber into strips.
We mix all the ingredients, add some salt and season with mayonnaise.

You can make this salad with chicken and Korean carrots.

The cucumber is then taken fresh, since the carrots will already give the desired piquancy.

Also, a pancake salad is created based on this recipe. In this case, eggs are not just crushed, but pancakes are made of them and starch, cooled and cut into strips.

Recipe for salad with smoked chicken and mushrooms "Rowan bunches"

This beautiful dish will become the center of even a sumptuous festive table. And it takes a little time to create it.

Ingredients:

a can of champignons, better than pickled ones;
two smoked legs and two tomatoes;
140 grams of cheese;
a bag of poppy;
wheat croutons;
parsley;
clove of garlic;
mayonnaise;
20 rowan berries (can be replaced with cranberries).

Cooking method:

Slice the smoked chicken, separating the bones and skin.
Add crushed garlic, diced mushrooms and tomatoes, mayonnaise, mix.
Put on a dish. Stir the grated cheese with the poppy seeds, sprinkle the salad on top, garnish with berries and herbs in the form of a rowan bunch.

Chill the salad before eating it.

Exotic treats from different countries

Chicken salads are loved by different peoples, and each has its own recipes. It is very interesting to try them, the main thing is to choose options with available ingredients.