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. 

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.

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)

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.

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.

More Curry Favorites:

• Curried Tempeh Salad
• Tuna Curry Bowl
• Shakshuka
• Curried Pumpkin Soup
• Curried Chickpea Bowls

More Protein Salads:

• Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad
• Tuna Salad
• Vegan “Chicken” Salad
• Avocado Egg Salad
• Turkey Salad
• Tuna Egg Salad
• Salmon Salad