Chicken salad is one of America’s most popular salads. Every day, restaurants in America serve thousands of dollars worth of chicken salad.
Chicken salad is an excellent way to use up your leftovers and make them more interesting.
There are many dishes that you can serve with chicken salad. But before we get to that, what exactly is chicken salad?
This is a salad that is made using chicken chops that have been highly seasoned. This chicken could also be shredded. Then the chicken is dressed using mayonnaise. You can go the extra mile and add mustard.
If you are not a fan of mayo, you can use your avocado to dress your salad. You can also dress using a yogurt, salad dressing, Miracle Whip, or cream cheese.
A chicken salad also has veggies that are crispy and fresh. You should also add red onions, bacon, hard-boiled eggs, celery, and sweet relish.
Mix all the ingredients to form your salad. You can serve this between 2 slices of bread as a sandwich or on a bed of lettuce. Sprinkle lemon juice to make it have a tangy taste.
You can add other things like grapes, apples, raisins, pecans, walnuts, almonds, mandarin oranges, cranberries, and grapes.
Chicken salads come in many forms. It could be spicy or sweet and savory, Asian-inspired, or something less traditional.
Whichever type you decide to choose, you can pair it with the following dishes.
Deep-fried potato chips
Growing up in an American home, you must have enjoyed a lot of deep-fried potato chips.
It is a more traditional way to make your potato chips, but we still love it so much. You can pair these delicious chips with any type of chicken salad.
If extra is your thing, then you can go the extra mile and sprinkle vinegar to your fried potato chips.
If you want to make your fried chips at home, you can get a perfect recipe by clicking here.
Cheese straws
Have you ever tried cheese straws with any of your salads? It is about time you did. Cheese straws are made using cheddar and butter.
If you are crazing a little of the “unhealthy” but comfort foods, then cheese straws are what you should get.
Do not worry. The chicken salad will provide all the healthy nutrients you need.
You can purchase it from restaurants or, better, make it your way at home. If you want to top it a notch higher, make sure they are a bit crunchy by following this recipe.
Coleslaw
Of course, you can serve chicken salad with coleslaw. Everything can be served with coleslaw. Everything goes with coleslaw. There are many variations of coleslaw.
Some are just so adventurous and unique they will have you eat and eat and eat.
If you try out things that are out of the ordinary, you will have a fantastic time trying out this recipe.
I prefer mine without mayonnaise since the chicken salad already has some. That is why I love this recipe very much.
Low-fat Potato chips
Who said potato chips could never be healthy? You can enjoy potato chips without feeling any guilt. These easy-to-make potato chips can be taken as a snack.
But if you want to make a complete meal out of them, you can pair them with the chicken salad.
These potato chips are also relatively thin, making them very easy and fast to microwave. You will get many nutrients from the potato chips and complemented with the salad, a fully balanced diet.
These potato chips are to die for. Check the recipe here to learn how to make these thin, delicious chips.
Bread
I can not think of any dish that would go wrong with bread unless it is bread with bread, which I honestly would enjoy since I am a bread fanatic.
Being a big fan, I have spent years trying to come up with the perfect bread, and I have never seen a recipe that works perfectly as this one.
The bread is soft, and airy just as we all love it. The crust is a little crunchy without being hard. Coupled up with a plate of chicken salad, it becomes divine.
Besides, the bread will make the meal complete as it will introduce carbohydrates into the meal.
You can decide to eat bread and the salad side by side or go the American way and take it as a sandwich. When creating the sandwich, you can add tomatoes, lettuce, and mustard. Do not add mayonnaise since it is already present in the salad. Mayo will also soak up your bread.
Check out this recipe for the perfect bread.
French fries
Is there anything in America that does not go with french fries? This is one of the most loved dishes in America.
If you want to kickstart your journey towards weight loss, then you can start pairing your french fries with chicken salad.
The fries bring this unbelievable contrast to the table because they are crunchy and hot. You can also have them spiced a little if you are one to do more.
Eat your fries by using their ads scoops to scoop the chicken salad. With this recipe, you can have french fries that are a bit more than the ordinary. They are spicy, crunchy, and to die for.
Vegetable sticks
If you are a vegetarian or one who prefers to eat clean, this combo will work best for you. You can take it with chicken salad as a snack or a complete meal during dinner.
You could have different kinds of vegetable sticks. You can try carrots sticks, celery, cucumber, zucchini, eggplant sticks, etc.
I like to pair my chicken salad with these delicious zucchini sticks. I love this recipe. If you used this recipe, your zucchini would transform from the usual average vegetable to something your family will talk about time and time again.
These zucchini sticks are so delicious you must try them out.
Dill Pickles
I am not a fan of basic meals. I believe eating is an experience and should be enjoyed as much as possible. That is why you should try dill pickles with your salad chicken. Talk about heaven in a meal!
Your dill pickles should be a little spicy, just for that edgy kick, crispy and dilly. The good thing is you can make a lot of the dill pickle and store it in the refrigerator, and it will last close to 1 year.
If you want to make the kind of dill pickles that will have your family ask for more and more, then check this recipe. It is easy to follow and straight to the point.
Green salad
Salad with salad sounds a little bit much, right? But that is not true. A green salad together with chicken salad means a lot of protein with even more vegetables. This will make your doctor very happy.
One of the tastiest green salads I have ever taken had lettuce, hazelnuts, olive oil, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, vinegar, and black pepper.
I dare call it the best green salad because I have never tasted such perfection in a salad. If you want, you can get the recipe from here.
Combine it with chicken salad and enjoy a highly nutritious meal.
Macaroni salad
This pasta salad was created to be taken with chicken salad. This delicious combo tastes so right like they were made for each other despite the type of macaroni salad you decide to make.
However, this particular recipe stood out the most for me.
It consists of Pasta, Celery, Red Onion, Sweet Pickles, Hard-Boiled Eggs, Red Bell Pepper, and Dressing. Check out the recipe here if you would love to try it at home.
Wild rice
There is something spectacular about wild rice. I will never be able to pinpoint it. Everything about it is magical. From the attractive color to the die for flavor, the taste, everything is perfect.
I never knew it could get better and even more perfect until I served it with chicken salad. My family and I finished our plates in a few minutes, and everyone asked for a second serving. I have never seen them eat that much.
If you want your family to experience this heaven, try the recipe that I used that day.
Soup
Soup is my comfort dish. I have to admit I can make and eat soup at any time of the day without feeling the slightest bit of guilt. The soup goes with everything, and chicken salad is no exception.
We serve salad cold. Therefore you will need something hot too, especially during winter, to warm you up or after a tiresome day at work.
There are two main ways you can serve the soup with chicken salad. You could either serve the salad as the main dish or serve the soup as the main dish. Whichever way you pick, it will still work.
One of my favorite soups is butternut soup, but the egg-drop soup will also work great. If you do not take eggs, then you can try other types of soup.
Corn soup
This corn soup recipe is genius. Every time I make it at home, it takes me back to the days when I was young, and my grandma used to make it for me. It has that nostalgic effect. Check the recipe here.
Cucumber soup
Some people do not like cucumber soup. This could maybe be attributed to the mild taste of cucumbers. However, with this recipe, I promise to change your mind.
This recipe yields cucumber soup that is creamy, a bit crispy, light as we all love it, and delightful!
Mushroom soup
Has mushroom ever gone wrong with anything? Chicken salad is no exception. Chicken and mushrooms were meant for each other. Try this fantastic recipe.
Creamy tomato soup
This soup is comfort food. It is one of the first soups that I ever made, and over the years, I have perfected the art of making it.
That is why I know a good recipe when I see one, and this one it is.
To give it an extra kick, you can add fresh basil and a half teaspoon of cayenne. This soup is to die for. Take it as a side to the chicken salad.
Try out this recipe.
Black bean soup
Chicken salad and soup were meant to be. This nutritious soup is no different. The soup is savory and sweet with a bit o some tanginess. I have never tasted such a hearty soup.
Pairing it with chicken salad gives you an experience that I can only describe as bliss. Pure bliss. With this recipe, I guarantee you will never try any other soup again.
Bacon Potato soup
It is interesting how much creative Americans have gotten in the kitchen over the years. The first time I tried this soup, I was skeptical until I had my first spoonful.
I do not know what was better, the potato soup or the flavourful smoky bacon in it.
It was creamy, with just enough cheese, and next to it was chicken salad. Ah, this deliciousness is incomparable. You have got to try it.
You can get this at a restaurant, but why do that when you can easily make it at home? This is the recipe that I discovered later that works great. Stick to it to the latter to get the perfect potato bacon soup.
French onion soup
I cannot pinpoint what it is about french onions that make everything it is in taste divine. This is also true in the french onion soup.
This soup tastes so good when done right. It also tastes good when you take it as a side to a chicken salad.
French onion has this memorable gooey flavor that contrasts the cold and somewhat crunchy texture of chicken salad, making the contrasts an incredible experience for your palette.
Check out the recipe here.
Final thoughts
You can serve chicken salad with anything. You can pair it with soup, bread, other salads, potatoes, etc. Whatever you decide to pair it with, ensure you use the right recipe, and you will enjoy your meal.