Curried Chicken Salad Salad | The Modern Proper (2024)

May 21, 2024

The 1980’s knew a thing or two about delicious food, and one of the things that decade knew was that a big dose of curry powder is just what chicken salad needed to become interesting again.

Photography by Gayle McLeod

Salad-Topper, Sandwich-Filler, Or Straight-From-The-Bowl Snack

The 1980’s knew a thing or two about delicious food, and one of the things that decade knew was that a good sprinkle of curry powder is just what classic chicken salad needed to become interesting again. Dotted with just-sweet-enough golden raisins, tender chicken pieces and crisp celery are coated in a vibrant yellow, curry powder-spiked dressing. We love it in a sandwich, and straight out of the bowl, but our favorite way to eat it just might be on top of a big green salad. Thus, we’re sharing this curried chicken salad recipe as a curried chicken salad SALAD! For more chicken salad goodness, try our Chicken Salad!

What Makes This Curry Chicken Salad Healthy?

Regular chicken salad—the kind with tons of mayo—doesn’t exactly fall into the category of “health food”. But this flavorful curry chicken salad recipe is super duper healthy (and delicious, too). Here’s why:

1. Instead of a classic mayonnaise-based chicken salad dressing, our chicken salad recipe uses plain Greek yogurt as its creamy based. Rich and tangy, yogurt is a much healthier choice than mayonnaise, but still makes for a nice creamy chicken salad.
2. Curry powder! While Greek yogurt is a great sub for mayo, it (obviously) does taste a little different. Adding big flavor—hello, curry powder—helps to make up for the swap!
3. Chicken breast! Simply cooked, boneless, skin breast is about as healthy as you can get. Filling, protein-packed and low-fat, it’s a no-brainer health food and it makes up the bulk of this simple salad.

Curry Chicken Salad—Simple Ingredients, Big Flavor.

Here’s everything you’ll need to make this healthy curry chicken salad recipe at home:

• Cooked chicken breast. You could shred it off a store-bought rotisserie chicken, or you can easily cook it yourself. Poached is our favorite simple method.
• Celery.
• Scallions.
• Golden raisins. Raisins can be weirdly divisive, so we’ll just include this little caveat right now—if you hate raisins, you can leave them out! This chicken salad will be no less delicious. The inclusion of grapes or raisins in curried chicken salad is classic, but we’re not sticklers. You do you!
• Plain Greek yogurt. Full fat Greek yogurt will make the chicken salad extra creamy, but if you’re trying to really limit fat or calories, use low fat.
• Lemon.
• Honey.
• Cayenne pepper.
• Curry powder.

How To Make Curry Chicken Salad Salad:

As we mentioned, our very favorite way to serve curried chicken salad is over a big green salad. The creamy, meaty, spiced chicken salad, speared onto a fork along with a lightly dressed bite of crisp lettuce? That’s basically our ultimate perfect lunch food, right there. Here’s how to put it all together:

1. Make the curry chicken salad. Here’s a secret: chicken salad is really, really easy to make. Pretty much just dump and stir. If it seems dry, add a little extra yogurt.
2. Whisk together the salad dressing. We’ve gone for a simple combo of rice wine vinegar, honey and oil—the light sweetness of the honey and rice wine vinegar echo the flavors in the curry chicken salad and are delicious over simple greens.
3. Assemble! Gather your greens, tomatoes and cucumbers. Scoop some chicken salad on top, and dress! Dig in.

Tools You’ll Need:

• Some mixing bowls.
• Salad spinners rock.
• Sharp knife.

More Easy Salad Recipes:

Having salad for lunch somehow became synonymous with “depressing”, and we’d really like to change that conversation. Salad can be GREAT. Healthy, fast, easy—salads are a brilliant thing to have for lunch, and they don’t have to be boring in the slightest. Here are a few of our faves:

• Vegan Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
• Broccoli Salad
• Chicken Waldorf Salad
• Kale Caesar Salad

Chicken Salad For Lunch! Chicken Salad for Dinner! Chicken Salad for ALL!

Did you try this chicken salad salad recipe? Or did you make it into a curry chicken salad sandwich? However you tried it, did you love it? Let us know! Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!