In our household we tend to cook Indian, Mexican, and Thai food a lot since those are flavors both me and my husband like but sometimes I get a craving for good ol’ classic American lunch food. In high school I practically lived off of chicken salad sandwiches and this one really hit the spot. It is creamy with crunchy vegetables and balances all the subtle flavors perfectly.
Also feel free to play around with the whole spices and vegetables you have at home, its almost impossible to mess this up. This isn’t a super quick recipe but it is an easy and great make ahead recipe. You not only get a delicious chicken salad at the end of this to use in salads and sandwiches but you also get some really flavorful chicken stock to use in other recipes.
Spicy Chicken Salad Recipe
Creamy, and fresh chicken salad with bright flavors.
Ingredients
- 6 whole chicken tenders
- 4 crushed garlic cloves
- 1/2 onion cut into quarters
- 1 whole star anise
- 4 whole black pepercorns
- 4 whole white pepercorns
- 1/2 stick of cinnamon
- 1 spring of thyme
- 4 cups of water
- 1/4 onion diced fine
- 6 small sweet peppers diced fine
- 4 Thai chilis minced (omit if you don't want it spicy)
- small handful of chopped parsley
- 1/2 cup of mayo
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a pot place chicken, onion, garlic, star anise, black pepper, white pepper, cinnamon stick, thyme, and water.
- Heat everything at medium heat and gently cook until all the chicken is tender and cooked through.
- Strain the stock and place aside for use later in other recipes.
- Discard the vegetables and whole spices, they have done their job and imparted all their flavor.
- Cool the chicken down and shred.
- In a mixing bowl add chicken, diced onion, sweet peppers, parsley, mayo, minced Thai chilis salt, and pepper.
- Add mayo and mix well. Refrigerate for use later in sandwiches and salads.
Notes
This is a very versatile recipe and can be added or omitted from based on your own tastes.
Save the liquid from boiling the chicken and veggies, it is delicious to cook rice in or make soups with.
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