Make all three recipes: Cranberry Pecan, Classic and Avocado Ranch Chicken Salad all from one batch of chicken. Perfect for game day and picnics!
Guess what?!
IT’S BASEBALL SEASON!!
And for this baseball loving family, that means we are SUPER-DEE-DOOPER excited!
New spring uniforms picked out – check!
New helmets ordered – check!
FUNDRAISER! FUNDRAISER! FUNDRAISER! – check! check! check!
Practices & games scheduled for the next 4 months – check!
Super cute embroidered baseball mom bags done – check!
Family vacation carefully planned around team schedule – check!
Color coordinated soft coolers, cleaned and ready – check!
Swamp butt from now until the end of summer - check!
Matching folding chairs permanently resided in SUV – check!
Sunflower seeds in EVERYTHING - check!
Life switches into a new gear for our family during baseball season and one thing that means for this baseball mom is carefully planning, preparing and packing food for the two-day tournaments that we play in. It doesn’t take long for everyone to get sick of soggy sandwiches and punky hot dogs so that means I have to step up my game.
My favorite thing to do is make a variety of chicken salads. I cook one big batch of chicken then divide it up between my three favorite recipes (from top to bottom):
Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad
Classic Chicken Salad
Avocado Ranch Chicken Salad
Once I whip up my chicken salad trilogy I store them neat and clean in these GladWare® containers. They’re the perfect size to accommodate my chicken salad and they seal up nice and tight so I don’t have to worry about them staying fresh (and safe!).
This 3-pack is literally perfect for this! It was like Glad® designed these JUST. FOR. ME. and my chicken salad prowess! 😁
When it's time to go, I toss my containers in the cooler with tortilla-style wraps, sweet Hawaiian dinner rolls and good ol’ white bread then let everyone make their own sandwich when it’s time to eat. Done and done!
Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad
3 large chicken breasts, cooked and chopped (see note)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Combine mayonnaise, thyme and salt a bowl and mix well. Stir in chicken, pecans and cranberries. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Classic Chicken Salad
3 large chicken breasts, cooked and chopped (see note)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
Combine olive oil, mayonnaise and remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Stir in chicken. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
This is just my basic recipe. Feel free to add whatever you like! Sometimes I add chopped boiled eggs, relish and/or diced onion.
Avocado Ranch Chicken Salad
3 large chicken breasts, cooked and chopped (see note)
1 large avocado, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup ranch dressing
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Combine ranch dressing, mayonnaise, salt and garlic powder in a bowl and mix well. Stir in chicken and avocado. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
I also like to add chopped red onion but don’t when I’m taking this to games because most of the kids don’t like raw onion. I consider it a miracle that some of them like the avocado!
Note:
If you’re making more than one of the recipes above, just cook your chicken all at once. Duh, right? Place chicken in a large pot, add enough water to cover chicken, season liberally with salt (and anything else you like – I often toss in a few bay leaves and black peppercorns). Heat until simmering then cook, covered, for 20 minutes at a soft simmer. Do not let the chicken boil or it will dry out and be tough. Remove from heat and let chicken cool in the stock. Freeze that yummy chicken stock to use later!
You might also enjoy this recipe for Asian Chicken Cranberry Salad!
PRINTABLE RECIPES
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Glad Food Protection. The opinions and text are all mine.
Keep up with my latest shenanigans and recipes by following South Your Mouth!
Like, Share, Pin & Tweet to keep the wheels turning!
Love me some chicken salad! I have never thought to add avocado! But, since we love it too along with the ranch dressing I will be trying this recipe real soon! Thanks and have Blessed Day!
ReplyDeleteTry Beau Monde seasoning with these(in place of plain old S&P).esp the pecan one
ReplyDeleteThe chicken salad recipes sound good and easy to make. Personally, I don't care for the round plastic bowls. For me, the square or rectangular ones fit better for storage, just my preference.
ReplyDeleteI use the rectangular containers too! I just love the way these round bowls stack in my soft cooler with room on the side for bread and wraps! Everything fits like a glove :D
DeleteThank you for the chicken salad ideas - even tasty recipes get old, and we need some new inspiration! I never boil chicken anymore since I started roasting it. I trim up a big family pack of boneless chicken breast (often on a Sunday, to prep for the week ahead), lay them out in a 9x13. I drizzle on olive oil, season as I wish, cover with foil and roast at 300 for about an hour or so. Cool and shred them in my stand mixer. This shredded chicken is soooo good, and can be used so many different ways. I save the broth too!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recipes, will be making very shortly ..... the deli here charges 8.99 lb for plain chicken salad, while delicious, way to expensive on a small income. Like the idea of 3 different types also :-D Thanks again, Pam
ReplyDeleteThese would be so yummy as an appetizer stuffed into small cream puff shells or into a larger cream puff shell for a luncheon! Yum yum.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea to split a batch of cooked chicken across a few different recipes. Love that!
ReplyDeleteEarlier this week I used jazzed up the traditional chicken salad with a good few dashes of curry powder into the mayo and added some raisins. Hubby complained that he only had one sandwich to eat instead of two!
ReplyDeleteAs others I,too, love the idea of making 3 variations and the time savings. Thanks so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteIt's dilicious!Thank you very much in advance, for your lovely recipes.
ReplyDelete- Json Converter
I like to prep ahead. Even just cooking all the chicken and freezing it (in the containers)so it's ready to go and thaw as needed.
ReplyDeletei like cranberry pecan chicken salad. click
ReplyDeleteHow many servings are each recipe? Also, for the Avocado Ranch if I'm making for the next day should I wait to add the avocado so it doesn't brown?
ReplyDeleteI'd say each will make about a dozen sandwiches. The avocado doesn't brown! I guess there's enough acid in the mayo to keep it fresh and green which is awesome! And the air-tight containers help too!
DeleteDon't like mayo so won't be using these recipes. The old old Better Homes and Gardens cookbook has a recipe more to my liking
ReplyDeleteLOL well alrighty then :o)
Deletelol ;)
DeleteWell, then there's that.
DeleteMy mother in law was the best chicken salad maker ever. Everyone always wanted her to make it for them. She cooked a whole chicken, pulled the meat off and cut it with scissors into a bowl. She used half Hellman's mayo and half Miracle Whip, diced celery, lemon juice, salt/pepper and started mixing until she got the taste just right. She has passed on now and I try my best to make her chicken salad but it just doesn't taste like hers.
ReplyDeletesounds great. I like the pecans and cranberries although I often substitute dried cherries. Unfortunately for me, my husband prefers simply chicken cut up, with miracle whip, and sweet relish. Occasionally I can include some chopped up celery and a hard boiled egg. I plan to try your first 2 but sub. miracle whip. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good style, friend! Try yourself as a creative writer.You can definitely earn something!
ReplyDeleteCan't decide which version to make first but I'm leaning toward the cranberry pecan recipe. I've never added dried thyme to chicken salad and I'm curious how it will affect the taste. One of my favorite chicken salads was at a restaurant in Little Rock, AR and it had cashews and fresh parsley in it. Thanks for sharing your family's recipes.
ReplyDeleteWhy do some people just have to say something rude to someone who is just trying to help us all learn something new. Can't they just keep their opinion to themselves? I love your site. I have gotten so many good recipes from you. Thank you for all the time it takes to do what you do.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Brenda :o)
Delete