Curry Chicken Salad

4.39

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This curry chicken salad recipe with celery, onion and raisins is super flavorful and comes together fast using shredded chicken. It’s an awesome salad to meal prep for lunches throughout the week. 

If you’re looking for a delicious and budget friendly lunch idea, this curry chicken salad is for you! I love eating this on toasted bread, on top of a lettuce salad or in a wrap. It’s perfect to meal prep for the week ahead, to bring on an outdoor adventure or picnic or for a backyard dinner.

Quite a few people have been asking about budget friendly recipes and while I don’t share the cost breakdown of my recipes a lot of them are budget friendly! This recipe fits the bill.

When I’m looking for a budget friendly, quick and easy option, chicken salad always make the list. A couple other budget friendly salads that come to mind are this caprese pasta salad, my curried chickpea salad, avocado egg salad and this sweet potato tuna salad… they’re all super budget friendly.

Curry chicken salad on an open faced sandwich with sourdough bread. Bowl of cilantro in the background.

Ingredients in Curry Chicken Salad

  • shredded chicken
  • celery
  • raisins
  • red onion
  • mayonnaise (I like avocado oil mayo, but you can use whatever type you prefer)
  • curry powder
  • apple cider vinegar
  • ground pepper
  • sea salt
  • cashews (optional)
Mixing bowl with a gold spoon beside it. Ingredients for the curry chicken salad are in the bowl: curry powder, mayo, shredded chicken, raisins, chopped onion, chopped celery.

How to Make Shredded Chicken

The first step is to cook your chicken and shred it. I know some chicken salads use chunks of meat, but I prefer it shredded. For the shredded chicken you can totally pick up a rotisserie chicken and use that. Just buy a plain rotisserie chicken and shred the meat while it’s still warm. Trust me, it’s much easier to get the meat off the bone when it’s warm compared to when it has been in the fridge.

Another super easy way to make shredded chicken is to cook boneless, skinless chicken in your slow cooker. This is what I do all the time and it is seriously so easy. I need to do a full blog post on this but here’s the basic recipe for slow cooker shredded chicken:

  1. Place boneless skinless chicken breasts inside of your slow cooker. I usually do 1 lb a time. Drizzle with a little olive oil (1  Tablespoon) and liberally sprinkle with sea salt and ground pepper.
  2. Set your slow cooker to cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 2-3 hours.
  3. Test to make sure your chicken is cooked through. You can use a meat thermometer to be 100% sure (the meat needs to be 165°F internally). I usually just make sure all the meat is white, cooked through and pulls apart easily.
  4. The last step is to transfer the cooked chicken to a plate and use 2 forks or a meat shredder to shred the chicken.
Bowl of curry chicken salad with a gold spoon.

How to Make Curry Chicken Salad

Once you have the shredded chicken, the hard part is done and all you have to do is stir together your seasonings.

For curry chicken salad one of the key ingredients is curry powder, of course. This is what gives the chicken salad all the delicious curry flavor. Most curry powders are a blend of turmeric, chili powder, ground coriander, ground cumin, ground ginger and pepper. Different brands each taste a little different so find one you like and stick with it. I’m a big fan of Simply Organic curry powder.

Once you have your mayo, apple cider vinegar, curry powder, pepper and salt stirred together in a large bowl. Just add the shredded chicken, celery, raisins and red onion. Toss until combined and you’re done! You can enjoy the salad right away or if you prefer you can place it in the fridge to chill before serving.

How Long Can You Keep Homemade Chicken Salad?

Store your homemade chicken salad in an airtight container for 3-5 days in the refrigerator. Unfortunately chicken salad doesn’t freeze well so if you meal prep chicken salad plan to eat it within 3-5 days of making!

Is Chicken Salad Healthy?

Yes! I personally love that it is naturally balanced in fat, fiber and protein.

I think chicken salad can get a bad rap because it has mayonnaise. Mayonnaise is high in calories and fat, but a little bit goes a long way. I like using avocado or olive oil based mayos and look for brands made with organic eggs and without added sugar. My personal favorite is Primal Kitchen’s avocado oil mayo.

Close up of curry chicken salad on an open faced sandwich with sourdough bread.

More Curry Favorites:

More Protein Salads:

4.39 from 47 votes

Curry Chicken Salad

This curry chicken salad recipe with celery, onion and raisins is super flavorful and comes together fast using shredded chicken. It's an awesome salad to meal prep for lunches throughout the week. 
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients  

  • 2 cups shredded chicken
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 1/4 -1/3 cup raisins
  • 1/4 cup red onion, chopped
  • 1/4 cup avocado or olive oil mayonnaise
  • 1/2 Tablespoon curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1/8- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 Tablespoons cashews, optional

Instructions 

  • In a large bowl, stir together mayo, apple cider vinegar, curry powder, pepper and salt.
  • Add shredded chicken, celery, raisins and red onion to the bowl. Stir until well combined.
  • Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed. If mixture seems too dry, add more mayo.
  • Serve on bread as a sandwich, in lettuce wraps or over a bed of greens.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1/4 of recipe | Calories: 280kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 18g | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: curry chicken salad
Did you make this recipe?Mention @eatingbirdfood and tag #eatingbirdfood!

About Brittany

Hey there, I’m Brittany, the creator of Eating Bird Food, cookbook author, health coach and mama of two littles. Here you’ll find quick and easy recipes that make healthy fun and enjoyable for you and your family!

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Recipe Rating




36 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This was great! I made as directed except used chopped pecans in place of the cashews and added a little bit of honey. So good! Been eating in lettuce wraps.

    1. So pumped you’ve been loving this salad, Kris! Thanks for making it and for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. I really appreciate it 🙂

  2. 5 stars
    Absolutely DELICIOUS!! I used dried cranberries instead of raisins…. made a big batch and have had it every day for lunch! So tasty!

    1. Ahh yay!! That makes me so happy to hear, Lauren. So pumped you’re loving this recipe. Thanks for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. I so appreciate it. 🙂

  3. 5 stars
    So yum! I wasn’t sure about curry powder cold with the raisins but I LOVE it! My husband is also a fan. So quick to whip up. Great lunch option!

    1. Woo, so glad this salad was a hit!! Thanks for giving it a try and for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. I so appreciate it, Amanda.

  4. 5 stars
    I loved this recipe, you never disappoint! I used black grapes and sliced almonds because that’s what I had on hand and it was still super yummy. Would Greek yogurt work well as a replacement for mayo to make it lighter?

    1. So glad you loved it, Katlyn! And yes, I love using Greek yogurt as a sub for mayo in my tuna or chicken salads. 🙂 Let me know how it turns out if you try it!

  5. 5 stars
    Absolutely delicious! I love how the curry kicks the flavor up a notch while still tasting like chicken salad. My husband even requested it again!

    1. Woo!! So glad you loved this salad, Kaitlin. Thanks for coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it. 🙂

  6. 5 stars
    In an effort to eat a more wide variety of foods instead of the same lunch everyday, I decided to give this a try and it’s wonderful! I don’t like eating a heavy lunch because it makes me tired for the rest of the day, and this was light and energizing!

  7. 5 stars
    This was super easy and unbelievably delicious. I used a rotisserie chicken and avocado mayo. Served over a bed of spring salad. My husband is vegetarian so I’m going to try it using smashed chickpeas instead of the chicken. I coarsely chopped raw cashews which I think adds a great texture to the salad.

    1. Yay!! So pumped this curry chicken salad was a hit, Paul! Thanks so much for trying it out and coming back to leave a review. It means so much to me!

  8. 5 stars
    So tasty! I swapped Greek yogurt for mayo and did sliced almonds instead of cashews. Served over romaine lettuce cups for a felicitous light lunch!

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