Chicken

Spicier Curry Chicken Salad

by:
October  4, 2022
4.4
7 Ratings
Photo by Rocky Luten
  • Prep time 10 minutes
  • Serves 1 for lunch (a few times)
Author Notes

My curried chicken salad is much spicier, thanks to a heaping tablespoon of curry powder and a pinch of cayenne pepper (but adjust according to the spiciness of your curry powder). Lots of crunchy celery goes in (because I love celery), along with halved red grapes for sweetness.

To serve, I love to make sandwiches to take to work (or to the park), or I'll pack it in single-serving plastic containers to eat throughout the week in Gem Lettuce cups or just simply on a plate with diced avocado. Whichever way you slice it, it's a pretty darn good solo lunch. —Eric Kim

Test Kitchen Notes

Featured in: I Finally Learned to Love Chicken Breasts, Thanks to My Slow Cooker. —The Editors

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Ingredients
  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and chopped into bite-size pieces
  • 2 tablespoons finely diced shallots
  • 1/4 cup diced celery, plus 1 tablespoon chopped leaves
  • 1/2 cup halved red grapes
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice, or to taste
  • 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon curry powder
  • 1 pinch cayenne pepper
  • 1 pinch sugar
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • White sandwich bread or Little Gem lettuce cups, for serving
Directions
  1. In a large bowl, stir together the chicken, shallots, celery, celery leaves, grapes, lemon, mayo, curry powder, cayenne pepper, sugar, salt, and pepper until fully incorporated. Let sit in the fridge for a couple hours (or overnight) before eating. Tastes better that way, for some reason.
  2. Serve between sandwich bread or in lettuce cups.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

Eric Kim was the Table for One columnist at Food52. He is currently working on his first cookbook, KOREAN AMERICAN, to be published by Clarkson Potter in 2022. His favorite writers are William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and Ernest Hemingway, but his hero is Nigella Lawson. You can find his bylines at The New York Times, where he works now as a writer. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @ericjoonho.

9 Reviews

Linda D. February 15, 2021
Made it again today, Eric. Double the grapes-yummy!
Linda D. January 28, 2021
Made the recipe exactly as written. Absolutely fabulous! Thank you, Eric!
FrugalCat March 17, 2020
I'm not a curry fan but I made it with Taijin chili seasoning.
Alison July 9, 2019
So simple yet so good. Letting it sit in the frig is key.
Eric K. July 10, 2019
Yay!
Rhonda35 April 23, 2019
Very good chicken salad! I subbed clementine orange sections for the grapes and used rotisserie chicken, but otherwise followed the recipe. I liked the spicy kick of the dressing contrasted with the sweetness of the oranges.
Amanda E. April 9, 2019
I was skeptical about this recipe and I’m glad to admit I was complete wrong. The chicken was perfect. It took 2 hours to cook, instead of an hour and a half (I’m sure the cooking time varies by cooker).I also didn’t have to flip it. Chopped some of it up and added it to an already made Thai Red Curry Sauce. Perfect!
Alli April 8, 2019
This was delicious! I subbed dried, raw tofu for a vegetarian version and it was great.
Eric K. April 8, 2019
That's wonderful. I'm fascinated by the tofu idea...