Curried Chicken Salad with Coconut
Picnic Time-
In our house, we love day trips! Out in the islands where we live, our favorite day trip involves going somewhere that requires a ferry ride. Why not take a cruise any chance you get? When we venture out, I will usually pack us a picnic to take along. Curried Chicken Salad with Coconut is most often in the basket. It’s simple, delicious, and loaded with veggies, coconut, cashews, and dried cranberries! It hits all the marks: texture, crunch, spicy, sweet, and a little tang from the red onion. It’s so good!
This recipe also makes a terrific meal prep lunch for your work week. Add a scoop on top of some greens, put it in a sandwich, or use in a wrap. Just make it over the weekend, and you’ve got lunch all week!
Recipe Tips and Hints
For this recipe, I sprinkled just a little salt on each side of the chicken breast, and put it in the slow cooker on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4 hours. Once it’s done, just shred with two forks and assemble the rest of the recipe!
You could also boil a large pot of water and add the chicken, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes (pull out a piece and use two forks to pull the breast meat apart and check that the center is cooked). I don’t recommend this method, as it does not have as much flavor.
Here is another alternative: use 4 skin on bone in breasts and sprinkle with a little salt, and roast in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes until cooked, and remove the skin and bones and shred. I like the slow cooker method because the day before I want to start eating this, I can let the chicken cook all day, and assemble the salad that evening, and let it sit in the fridge overnight.
You can certainly do this! All you need to do is remove skin, take the meat off the bone and shred it. This is also a time saver if you really don’t have time to cook chicken yourself!
If you like, coconut can be left out of the chicken salad. I have made this both ways and it’s just fine without it. If you’re going for the coconut, I recommend unsweetened.
You could use dried currants, golden raisins, or purple raisins if you don’t want to use/ can’t find dried cranberries.
Yellow curry powder is usually found in either medium or mild varieties. I used mild, so if you are using medium and don’t want it too spicy, I would advise using less of it.
Serving Suggestions
Don’t leave out the sour cream in this recipe, it really helps cut the mayonnaise flavor and allows the other ingredients to shine. I love this on good whole wheat bread with lettuce and fresh tomato. A great big scoop of this on top of fresh greens is really nice, and it’s also great in wraps. I have even used this as a dip for carrots and other fresh vegetables. It would be great on crackers too. If you’re taking this on a picnic, my Asparagus and Arugula Flatbread with Creme Fraiche would be a nice pairing.
This keeps well for about 5 to 7 days in the fridge in a tightly sealed container. If you are packing this for a picnic or day trip and you will be out for several hours, I advise throwing away any excess at the end of the day when you get home and not trying to put it back in the fridge. Even with ice packs in an insulated container, there is still the risk of spoilage.
If you made this recipe, please leave a rating or comment below and share with your friends on social media. Happy Cooking!
Print
Chicken Salad with Curry and Coconut
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup Mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup Sour Cream
- 2 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Yellow Curry Powder
- 1 clove Garlic, pressed
- 2 pounds cooked Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
- 1/2 cup Unsalted Cashews, roasted or raw
- 1/2 cup Carrot, grated
- 1/3 cup shredded Unsweetened Coconut
- 1/3 cup Dried Cranberries
- 1/3 cup Celery, diced (about 1 stalk)
- 1/3 cup diced Red Onion
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the mayo, sour cream, salt, yellow curry powder, and pressed garlic. Stir well to combine.
- Chop the red onion, celery, and dried cranberries, shred the cooked chicken, and grate the carrot.
- In a large bowl, combine the shredded chicken, cashews, grated carrot, shredded coconut, dried cranberries, celery, and red onion. Toss with a wooden spoon or your hands to mix.
- Add the dressing to the large bowl and stir until the dressing is well incorporated with the salad ingredients. Keep refrigerated until ready to use. Serve over salad greens or on sandwiches.
Notes
See post for suggestions on cooking the chicken.
Mild or medium yellow curry powder may be used.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 506
- Sugar: 7
- Sodium: 1002
- Fat: 34
- Saturated Fat: 9
- Unsaturated Fat: 23
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 12
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 38
- Cholesterol: 116
Thank you for sharing with us – I’m featuring you this week when the next to Grandma’s house we go link party starts!
Thank you for the feature!
I have never thought of putting coconut in my chicken salad (though I have used grapes or apples or other sweet fruits before!) I bet that is delicious. I love coconut.
This looks absolutely delicious! I will definitely give it a try! Stopped by from Senior Salon Pitstop.
You are so talented & creative, Amy!! This recipe sounds like it’s totally yummy & I’m looking forward to trying it!!
Thank you Peggy, I hope you enjoy it!