A unique and flavorful chicken salad that makes a quick main dish wrapped in lettuce or tortillas, appetizers spooned on crackers, as well as sandwiches.
Okay, friends, I'm on a cooked-chicken roll here it seems! I'm just loving being able to use cooked chicken meat from a rotisserie chicken or slow cooked whole chicken for quick and delicious meals! Whether it's Chicken Caesar Wraps, Chef's Salads, Chicken-Spinach Frittata, or Chicken-Lime Lettuce wraps, our family pretty much loves everything I make with cooked chicken.
Well, guess what? Today's recipe also uses one of our other favorite combos: cranberries & feta cheese (as seen in this Broccoli Slaw, and pretty much every other green salad we eat...) and uses our garden preserves in the form of canned chutney. Double love!
Cranberry-Feta Chicken Salad with Chutney Dressing
Or should I say "triple love" since this cranberry feta chicken salad tastes fantastic! Seriously, it's so good that we found lots of ways to use it for meals - lunches, dinners and appetizers. We ate it wrapped in lettuce, as soft 'tacos' and spooned onto crackers - but of course a classic way to eat this chicken salad would be between two pieces of Soft 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread, too.
I used this rhubarb chutney salad dressing to bind the chicken salad together, but I substituted a peach chutney I made last year for the rhubarb. It adds a great sweet-savory flavor to the dressing that's complimented by the sweet cranberries and salty feta. I think it would also be fabulous made with our addictive tomato chutney - which I plan to try soon!
Chutney is one of those preserves that I often get blank looks from when I mention it to people - and the number one question I get is, "what do you use that on/for?"
If we're talking addictive tomato chutney the answer is "everything!" - think ketchup for adults - and most other chutneys are wonderful on any grilled or roasted meat, frittatas, and of course with Indian-style curries. But I'm happy to add another way to use our flavorful, garlicky, slightly spicy chutney - this yummy chicken salad.
Cranberry Feta Chicken Salad with Chutney Dressing
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 2 cups cooked shredded chicken*
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 onion diced
- 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives or parsley
For the dressing:
- 1/4 cup chutney Spicy Rhubarb, Addictive Tomato or chutney of choice**
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon sriracha sauce to taste, optional
- 1/3 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Combine the salad ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
- In the bowl of a food processor or blender, mix all the dressing ingredients except the oil. Add the oil in a stream while the machine is running until all the ingredients are completely mixed.
- Pour about half the dressing over the salad ingredients and stir well (keep the remaining dressing in the fridge to use on other salads).
Notes
- Add to lettuce cups or tortillas with chopped lettuce and drizzle a bit more dressing over top.
- Serve with crackers as an appetizer.
- Use as a sandwich filling.
- Top a bowl of chopped lettuce and broccoli for a main-dish salad and use any leftover dressing to dress the whole salad.
Nutrition
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