Traditional Chicken Salad with Currants and Walnuts is my favorite chicken salad recipe. Many, many years ago, I bought a chicken salad from my neighborhood grocery store deli and just fell in love with the combination of flavors. I asked their secret and they told me sour cream in place of some of the mayonnaise. So, I went home and tried to recreate it. Through trial and error, I came up with this version, which isn’t at all like the grocery store deli’s version (there’s no sour cream), but I think it’s even better!
What do I love about my traditional chicken salad with currants and walnuts? Here’s a list:
- it’s creamy, but not overwhelmingly “mayonnaisy” (I know; that’s not a word!)
- it has chunks of chicken instead of shredded chicken, so you are sure to get the flavor of chicken in every single bite
- it has a satisfying crunch from the addition of walnuts and celery
- it has a bit of a spicy “bite” from the red onion
- and, a bit of sweetness from the currants
With a delicious melding of flavors when served on a favorite whole grain bread or on a bed of field greens, traditional chicken salad with currants and walnuts is a “nod” to traditional chicken salad, but updated with non-fat Greek yogurt and light mayonnaise. It is so good, you will not miss the full-fat version!
I make this with chicken breast tenders that I “poach”. You can make it with rotisserie chicken, but I don’t think it’s as good. It’s easy to “poach” frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts! Here’s my recipe: Poached Chicken Breast Tenders.
I poach several pounds at a time and keep them handy in the refrigerator for quick lunches and dinners. I not only use them in this chicken salad recipe, but I use them for many other lunch and dinner recipes. At the end of this post, I’ll provide links to the other recipes already on this site that use Poached Chicken Breast Tenders.
In the photos above, notice all the yummy ingredients melding together: chunks of white meat chicken encased in a creamy base with little bits of red onion for spice, celery and walnuts for crunch and currants for sweetness. On my nutty whole grain bread, a mouthful of deliciousness in every savory bite! And, this recipe just gets better with every successive day…make it the day before serving and refrigerate overnight for the full impact of the fusing of flavors!
Here’s the recipe:
Traditional Chicken Salad with Currants and Walnuts
An updated version of a traditional classic made with non-fat Greek yogurt and light mayonnaise. Delicious and satisfying!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 8 poached chicken breast tenders, chopped (about 3 chicken breast halves)
- 1/4 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup light mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup walnuts halves, coarsely chopped
- 2 stalks of celery, washed, trimmed and finely diced
- 1/4 small red onion, peeled and finely diced
- 1/3 cup currants
- 8 slices favorite nutty whole grain sandwich bread
Instructions
- Add Greek yogurt and mayonnaise to a mixing bowl and mix to combine.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight to blend flavors.
- Spread a generous portion on 4 slices of sandwich bread and top each with the remaining slices of sandwich bread.
- Cut in half and serve.
Notes
Makes about 2 cups of chicken salad.
Tootles,
Related Posts:
(other recipes made with Poached Chicken Breast Tenders)
I have fresh red currants from a few bushes I have- do youb use fresh currants? And which color/variety of currants? Thank you! Looking forward to trying this recipe
No, I’ve never used fresh currants. I’ve never seen them in the grocery store. I use dried currants called “Zante Currants” and they are made by SunMaid. Hope this helps! Thanks for dropping by!
I’ve never had fresh currants. If you try this recipe with fresh currants, let me know how they turn out!
Nice recipe! I have red currants that I am looking to use with chicken salad- do you use red or black currants?
I use dried currants called Zante Currants. They are black dried, but on the box they look to be dried from red currants.
I used black currants. Hope you like the recipe!