Apricot-Nut Chicken Salad Sandwich with moist chicken, dried fruit, and nuts in a creamy mayo-yogurt dressing. Bursting with flavor and crunch, it makes for a filling lunch or midday snack.
What to do with last night’s leftover chicken roast? Turn it into a scrumptious chicken salad sandwich!
Chock-full with moist chicken, dried apricots, crunchy cashews, crisp celery, plump raisins, and green onions, it’s perfect for brown bag lunches and is sure to make you the envy of the breakroom. This sandwich is bursting with so much flavor and texture; it’s like a party in your mouth!
What Can You Add to Chicken Salad?
Chicken salad, at its basic, is traditionally made with chopped or shredded cooked chicken, mayonnaise, and seasonings.
I find the hint of sweetness from the dried apricots and raisins plus the crunch of cashews and celery in this recipe work well with the savory flavors of the chicken and mayo-yogurt dressing, but you can certainly add extra mix-ins if you like. Here are a few suggestions:
- seedless grapes, pineapples or apples (tart Granny Smiths!)
- red or sweet onions
- dried cranberries
- candied walnuts or pecans
- cucumbers or sweet peppers
- roasted green chilis or pepperoncini, seeded and chopped
- fresh or sun-dried tomatoes
- chopped pickles or sweet relish
- fresh basil, dill or mint
- BACON!
- cajun spice, jerk seasoning or curry powder
This chicken salad sandwich recipe is easy to pull together and so versatile! It’s a fantastic filling for wheat bread, croissants, tortilla wraps, or pita pockets but it’s also great as a spread for crackers and crostinis. Watching carbs? Add it to green salads or wrap in crisp green leaf lettuce!
However way you enjoy, it makes for a satisfying lunch, midday snack or appetizer.
How Many Days Can You Keep Chicken Salad?
With its many delicious uses, you’ll hard-pressed to have leftovers, but in the SLIM chance you do, the salad should last for 2 to 3 days in the fridge. As it is high in protein and has mayo, I won’t recommend keeping for more than 72 hours.
If packing it for on-the-go lunch or serving for a picnic, keep the temperature at 40 F or below by setting the container on ice. Discard if it has sat at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
This sandwich filling is a great use for leftover rotisserie chicken or roasted turkey but for extra moist meat, try poaching! The delicate cooking technique in which the chicken is gently simmered in liquid and aromatics keeps the chicken from toughening and adds flavor as well.
How to Poach Chicken Breast:
- Wash chicken and drain well.
- In small, heavy-bottomed pot, arrange chicken breasts in a single layer. Add water, quartered onions, smashed garlic cloves, bay leaf, salt, and peppercorns.
- Bring to a boil, skimming scum that floats on top. Lower heat, cover, and cook in a barely a simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes or until thermometer inserted in the thickest part of chicken reads 165 F.
- With a slotted spoon, remove chicken from heat and allow to cool to touch. Coarsely shred chicken and chill in the fridge to cool completely.
Want more light lunch ideas? This chicken quesadilla with caramelized onions and gouda cheese is the bomb!
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked chicken breast meat, coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
- 1/4 cup celery, chopped
- 2 tablespoons unsalted cashews, chopped
- 2 tablespoons green onions, chopped
- 2 tablespoons raisins
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons plain yogurt
- salt and pepper to taste
- 12 slices wheat or white bread
- 6 leaves green leaf lettuce
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine chicken, dried apricots, celery, cashews, green onions, and raisins Stir to distribute.
- Add mayonnaise and yogurt. Season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Spread chicken salad evenly over bread slice. Place lettuce over filling and top with remaining bread slice. Repeat with remaining bread slices and filling.
Nutrition Information
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
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