Chicken Salad Two Ways

I L-O-V-E chicken salad.  I might eat it every day if it were up to me.  Sadly, it's not up to me, so I don't.  But, I do make it as often as I think I can get away with, and chicken is on sale at the grocery store! 

The Chickens of Podunk are mighty glad that I go to the grocery store for my chicken! 

The secret to my chicken salad is I start with cream cheese.  I'm a big fan of cream cheese, and the chicken sticks together better too.  No falling out of the bun here!  Start with an 8oz block of softened cream cheese - I usually forget, but 30-45 seconds in the microwave will soften it right up.

Then the chicken.  DD#1 and DD#3 went garage sale-ing with me yesterday, and so while we were gone, I had chicken breasts cooking in the crock-pot on low (7-8 hours on low). When I got home yesterday, I put the chicken in the fridge to cool until today.  That make whipping this together a 10 minute dish! 

First, I put about 3" of hot, soapy water in my sink for finger rinsing.  I hate chicken grease on my fingers, and this little trick keeps my from using those greasy fingers to turn on the water and then having to clean the faucet! 

Remove the skin and the bones from the chicken breasts (rinse fingers in soapy water).  You can certainly use boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead so you can skip this step, but that is almost always alot more expensive, so I will remove the skin and bones.  Plus, the cats will love me later.

Once you have remove the skin and the bones, dice into chunks.  The size of the chunks are a personal preference... I like it chunky, so my chunks are about 1". 

Add to the softened cream cheese...(you will have to trust me here, it's under the chicken!). Then add about 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp seasoned salt, 1/3 cup diced celery and 1/3 cup diced onions.  I was out of celery and the last onion was sprouting (desperate need to go to grocery store) so you will not see these in my chicken salad.  I may use this as an excuse to make it again later this week!

Stir well to combine.  Now, here is where the two ways comes in.  Put 1/2 of chicken mixture into another bowl.

  To the bowl on the left, I add about 3 tbsp of hot sauce or wing sauce.  We like Frank's Redhot sauce.  Any brand will do.  Feel free to add more if you like the heat.  Stir well. 

To the bowl on the right, I add a heaping tablespoon (out of the silverware drawer, not the official measuring devise) of mayo and a couple squirts of horseradish sauce.  Then I stir with the tablespoon to combine. 

Serve on croissant rolls (our favorite) but any bread or bun will do.  I serve the buffalo chicken salad with cheddar cheese and lettuce (here again...missing the lettuce... must go to grocery store) and sometime a squirt of ranch dressing.  I serve the plain chicken salad with a slice of swiss cheese, lettuce, and sometimes a slice of tomato. 

Yummy and versatile chicken salad! 

If you have or create other versions, I would love to hear them!  I'm working on a Spicy Thai Peanut version right now and will let you know.

Recipe

1 1/2 - 2 lbs cooked chicken (skin and bones removed)

8 oz softened cream cheese

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp seasoned salt

1/3 cup dices celery

1/3 cup dices onions

Stir to combine. 

To make Buffalo Chicken Salad, add:

3 tbsp hot sauce or wing sauce

Serve on bun, croissant or bread with cheddar cheese, lettuce and a squirt of ranch dressing.

For plain Chicken Salad, add:

Heaping tbsp mayo

3 tbsp horseradish sauce

Serve on bun, croissant or bread with swiss cheese, lettuce and tomato.