Too hot to cook? Curried Chicken Salad

No-cook Curried Chicken Salad is a lively take on classic chicken salad, perfect for warm summer days. Recipe below.

IN TOO-HOT-TO-COOK SUMMER, this Curried Chicken Salad is an easy, delicious main course. You use leftover cooked chicken (or store-bought rotisserie chicken), so no need to turn on the stove. And you serve it chilled, perfect because summer also provides us with too-hot-to-eat days.

First, let’s distinguish between the curry powder used in this dish and curries in general. At its most basic level, a curry is a dish made with a sauce or gravy seasoned with a mix of ground spices. Curry dishes originated in India, but have spread throughout Southeast and East Asia, South Africa and the Caribbean.

According to Britannica, the foundation of many Indian curries is a mixture of onion, ginger, and garlic, “flavoured with several spices, typically including cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, fennel seed, fenugreek, mustard seed, black and red (cayenne) pepper, and turmeric. Other ingredients may include curry leaves, chilies, nutmeg, mace, poppy seed, star anise and bay leaves. Each region of the country has its own flavour profile.”

Curry powder, on the other hand, was a British invention. When Britain colonized India in the 17th century, officers at the East India Company took a liking to local dishes and wanted to take those flavors home with them to England. But they didn’t grasp the country’s culinary and regional nuances; the curry powder they created was a mishmash of various spices—absolutely not an authentic curry, but a flavorful spice blend in its own right.

Our favorite way to enjoy Curried Chicken Salad is on its own, with maybe a side salad. You can also serve it on bread or toast as a chicken salad sandwich. In either case, it is lively, deliciously complex and very subtly spicy, assuming the curry powder you use has red (cayenne) pepper in it.

Print Pin

Curried Chicken Salad

No-cook Curried Chicken Salad is a lively take on classic chicken salad, perfect for warm summer days.

Course Main Course

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 teaspoon curry powder (see Kitchen Notes)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• a generous grind of freshly ground black pepper
• 4 cups cooked chicken, chopped into small bite-sized pieces (see Kitchen Notes)
• 1/2 cup diced celery, or slightly more
• 1/3 cup sliced scallions

Instructions

• In a large bowl, mix mayonnaise, lime juice, curry powder, salt and pepper.
• Add chicken, celery and scallions. Stir until well combined. Taste and adjust flavors with more salt, if needed—our store-bought rotisserie chicken provided plenty of salt on its own. Cover and chill until ready to serve (extra time in the fridge will give the flavors a chance to meld together).

Kitchen Notes

Curry powder. This spice mix is a British invention, based on Indian curry dishes East India Company officers discovered during Britain’s colonization of India. Look for a curry powder containing cumin, coriander, turmeric, fenugreek, black pepper, red pepper, cardamom and ginger. Any other ingredients are a bonus. Or use whatever curry powder you have on hand.

Chicken. This dish is a great way to use store-bought rotisserie chicken. You can also use leftover chicken you’ve cooked, just nothing with a big-flavored sauce or marinade that would compete with the curry powder flavorings.

Raisins? Nuts? Some recipes call for these and other ingredients, including fresh grapes. We much prefer this simpler version. The celery adds a nice crunchy element, and the scallions add a bit of brightness, and that's all you really need.