Summer

Warm Chicken Salad

July 24, 2013
4.3
13 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Serves 2
What You'll Need
Watch This Recipe
Warm Chicken Salad
Ingredients
  • 4 fingerling potatoes, scrubbed clean
  • Salt
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 3 cups red leaf or Bibb lettuce, cleaned and dried and torn into large bite-sized pieces
  • 1 cup shredded leftover roast chicken (make the chunks as delicate or as rustic as you like)
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
Directions
  1. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil and salt the water generously. Simmer the potatoes until just tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the potatoes from the pan and let them cool.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk the vinegar with a few big pinches of salt and pepper to taste. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking constantly. Taste and add more salt if you like.
  3. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, slice them into 1/2-inch rounds. Arrange the lettuce on a small platter.
  4. Put half the vinaigrette in a medium saucepan and set it over medium heat. Once it is hot, add the chicken and potatoes to the pan. Cook, turning everything over gently with a spatula every couple of minutes, until the chicken is warmed through, and both the chicken and potatoes are crisp around the edges.
  5. Drizzle a few spoonfuls of the remaining vinaigrette over the lettuce and then arrange the chicken and potatoes over the top. Sprinkle the chives over everything and serve immediately, with the remaining vinaigrette on the side.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • AntoniaJames
    AntoniaJames
  • Mae
    Mae
  • Leslie McDonald
    Leslie McDonald
  • ariane baayens
    ariane baayens
  • ECMotherwell
    ECMotherwell

35 Reviews

AntoniaJames April 3, 2022
I made this last night using Molly Wizenberg and Brandon Pettit's red wine vinaigrette, a Genius recipe here on Food52: https://food52.com/recipes/29020-molly-wizenberg-brandon-pettit-s-red-wine-vinaigrette Sensational. I buy two or three rotisserie chickens per month (yes, per month), we eat this salad that often. Except for in the dead of winter when the mercury is hovering around zero degree Fahrenheit here, this is one of our favorite meals, year round. ;o)
 
AntoniaJames May 17, 2021
Also delicious with leftover grilled pork tenderloin. The thick end is always too rare when the rest is cooked perfectly, so it's perfect for this. I cut into into bite-sized pieces and added them to the pan after the potato slices had had a chance to crisp up. I had a few sprigs of thyme - the first this spring from the garden - so I chopped the leaves and threw them in, along with the sliced chives (also from the garden), while cooking the potatoes. Great ROI of time, this one. ;o)
 
girlwithaknife May 4, 2021
Excellent overall. A few modifications: first, I steamed the potatoes instead of boiling. I used the vinaigrette only for frying up the chicken and potatoes. Then for the salad itself, I added to the vinaigrette a bit of Dijon plus some mayonnaise. The Dijon paired wonderfully with the potatoes. Next time I would halve the amount of potatoes and substitute with avocados for even creamier texture.
 
whym February 25, 2022
I made the salad using your modifications, and just wanted to say it was so so good! I added a smidge of honey to the mayo-dijon vinaigrette and it was delicious. This salad really hits the spot-- a nice balance of creamy and tangy, rich and fresh.
 
AntoniaJames April 28, 2021
A keeper - I've even put it in my Keepers collection.
I often have this excellent vinaigrette on hand (also a keeper!) https://food52.com/recipes/2560-maple-syrup-and-dijon-vinaigrette which work well with this salad. If I have it on hand, I add a bit of fresh dill, chopped, or parsley. My husband summed it up last night: "This is really a great salad." It's one of my favorite ways to use rotisserie chickens. If I haven't used the drippings in the container for something else (I often use them to make gravy), I add them to the dressing.

I highly recommend this, which has been a favorite - a real go-to in summer, especially when my herbs are flourishing -- since the recipe was first published. ;o)
 
AntoniaJames April 28, 2021
One more thing . . . . I typically keep medium sized Yukon gold potatoes on hand, not fingerlings. To speed things up a bit, I slice the potatoes and microwave them with a couple tablespoons of water and a good pinch of salt, for 6-7 minutes, before proceeding.

The time it takes for the potatoes to cook corresponds roughly to the time needed to pull the roast chicken, to prep the other ingredients I usually add (cucumbers, beets I've already roasted, toasted nuts, etc.), and to wash the lettuce.

I can put this salad on the table in 10-12 minutes when not interrupted. ;o)
 
Linda D. August 8, 2019
Thank you for this delicious warm salad recipe that comes together quickly with a rotisserie chicken for a satisfying lunch for two. I sprinkled dried dill overall because I did not have fresh chives on hand. Yum!
 
anne April 22, 2019
This simple, hearty salad earned rave reviews from the whole family. Thankfully, I doubled the recipe for the four of us because my husband and teenage son each had three servings. I used a rotisserie chicken, added avocado and thinly sliced scallions, and omitted the chives.
 
anne April 24, 2019
Shallots, not scallions!
 
Mae November 15, 2017
Wow...I changed almost every ingredient in this recipe so it's probably not fair to share a review, but it was so good that I want to share! I used parsnip instead of potato, escarole instead of lettuce, and roughly mashed chickpeas instead of chicken. This salad was seriously so good! I love the idea of cooking the (in my case) parsnip and chickpeas in the dressing. Such a simple dressing, but so delicious. I used a stick blender to emulsify the oil into the vinegar, and got it nice and creamy.
 
Leslie M. August 22, 2017
wow, this is such a keeper! I made this last night with leftover grilled chicken (removed skin but still very spicy with paprika/ancho/pepper rub) & small fingerling Klondike potatoes. Added chopped shallots, crumbled bacon, & halved grape tomatoes, dribbled extra dressing over that, all on a bed of fresh salad greens. Delicious! Cooking the chicken & sliced spuds in the dressing was inspired. Will make this again - also a great way to use up leftover bits (e.g., half a shallot, 3 strips of cooked bacon).
 
girlwithaknife August 21, 2017
Simple but surprisingly good. The potatoes make this salad very satisfying for dinner. My shortcuts for a weeknight: preboil water in an electric kettle, precut the potatoes then steam them, then after frying the potatoes and chicken, deglaze the pan and add drippings to the dressing. I added some basil I had around. Hubby wanted seconds! Next time I would add some thyme to the pan and mustard to the dressing for some different flavors.
 
Anne B. August 13, 2017
I made this salad for dinner last night. I used my French Vinegrette (which has dried mustard in it) on the salad and it was delicious! A new favorite that will be on the menu again and again!
 
jenniebgood August 9, 2017
Just saw Merrill & Amanda on the Today Show yesterday(Today...yesterday...that sounds weird, huh?) promoting this recipe. You both have a great screen presence and your inclusiveness of your audience, making people feel like they can do anything in the kitchen, is a tribute to your success.
 
AntoniaJames April 7, 2017
I posted a similar comment to Amanda Sims' post on Cobb salads a while back. It occurs to me that readers of this recipe might find the same suggestion helpful here.

May I respectfully suggest that a rotisserie chicken works quite well in this recipe? Let me explain.

You know how rotisserie chickens come in plastic boxes with little grooves on the bottom? Those grooves catch all the yummy herbs and brown bits from the chicken, not to mention the juices. Take the chicken out and put it on a cutting board, preferably one with grooves of its own around the edges to keep the juices from running away, and remove as however much meat you need for the salad. Then slosh about a half cup of nearly boiling water into the bottom of the chicken container, loosening any extra bits that are holding tight and dissolving any gelatin that's formed from the chicken juices. Drizzle a bit of that fragrant, warm liquid over the chicken and (this is key) toss the rest, along with any juice from the cutting board, with the greens and a good drizzle of olive oil. You could also use some of it in the dressing for the potatoes.

Either way, the key is to toss the lettuce while the juices are just a little hot.

In the words of the late, great Judy Rodgers, "Try this." ;o)
 
ariane B. January 5, 2017
so good.
 
Baywife June 2, 2015
This was very tasty. I added crumbled bacon and avocado at the end of the chicken/potato sauté. Hard to go wrong with bacon!
 
ECMotherwell May 25, 2015
This recipe is EXCELLENT, and is the perfect next step for roasted chicken leftovers (which in my case were from Merrill's spatchcocked roasted chicken, yum). Because my husband was suspicious of a dinner salad being hearty enough (and because I had them on hand) at the end I tossed in some fresh corn, cherry tomatoes, and some olives. Fantastic!
 
Kaede S. December 21, 2014
This recipe has become a regular in our house. My husband and I love roast chicken (such an easy weeknight dinner!) but neither of us are crazy about dark meat. We're enjoying it in this salad though.
 
tnevins October 27, 2014
I roast a chicken specifically to make this salad. I pair it with the mint-pistachio pesto on the side and it is lovely.
 
Rkelly3042 April 16, 2014
I have made this salad often. It is my definition of comfort food. I gotta admit I have used the already roasted chickens from the grocery. Tonight I am using " crack" potatoes instead of boiled or steamed-can't wait for dinner time!
 
M.McAwesome November 18, 2013
Just devoured this! Made with leftover turkey from early Thanksgiving.
 
cayt September 11, 2013
Hmm. Was just thinking about salad Nicoise, then came across this nicoise-ish salad. Might try this with good canned tuna, instead of chicken; wonder how it would take to the crisping?