Did you know…
Chicken salad originated in Wakefield, Rhode Island. Liam Gray, the founder of a local restaurant Town Meats, is said to have thrown together leftover chicken with grapes, mayo, and tarragon in the late 1800s. From that moment on, chicken salad became an American hit.
I personally love to use rotisserie chicken in my chicken salad because it’s so convenient and I have a Swiss farmer to thank for that. Swiss-born Roger Shuler was living in Lima, Peru in the 1950s when he, along with one of his cooks, came up with the idea to marinate younger chickens in a brine before slowly cooking them on low heat using al garrobo coals. This allowed Shuler to sell the younger chickens at a much faster rate before they died. Shuler would even offer an all you can eat option by the side of a highway for only 5 soles. That’s a little less than $2 today!
Shuler wasn’t the first…
However, the idea of slowly rotating meats on a spit over a heat source goes as far back to medieval Europe in the 14th century. Even with its medieval inspiration, the term “rotisserie” as used in the U.S. didn’t come about until the late 1900s. Around 1985, Boston Market created the concept of a rotisserie chicken that would effectively replace the popular home-roasted chicken.
Boston Market claims that the difference between a rotisserie chicken and the home-roasted version is the caramelization and moisture content. This ultimately leads to a better skin that simply can’t be easily replicated at home.
The perfect base for chicken salad
Rotisserie chickens ended up spreading across the country in grocery stores in the mid to late 1990s. Now, they’re a staple in virtually all grocery stores in the country. They also just so happen to be the perfect base for this chicken salad recipe.
How do you make chicken salad healthy?
The key to this healthy chicken salad is to swap out mayo for greek yogurt. Now, hear me out. The difference in taste is negligible, especially if you season it properly!
First off, you’ll need to debone your chicken. Then roughly chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
The fresh herbs, grapes and celery make this a super savory dish.
Next, dice your celery, tarragon, and grapes before slicing the whites of the green onions and finely dicing. Slice the remaining green onions and set aside.
Dice your avocado and mash in a bowl before squeezing the juice from half a lime and adding salt and pepper to taste.
Now it’s time to combine and assemble.
Throw all your diced ingredients into the bowl, add the greek yogurt and seasonings. Mix to combine well until evenly coated with the greek yogurt. Let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. While your chicken salad is chilling in the fridge, spread mayo or butter on your bread and let toast under the broiler of your oven or in a skillet.
After your chicken salad has had time to chill, grab your toasted bread and get ready to assemble the sandwich. This time I only included lettuce, tomatoes, and onions, but a slice of cheese, onions and bacon are also top tier topping.
Healthy Chicken Salad w/ Greek Yogurt
Ingredients
- 2 whole rotisserie chicken
- 4 stalks celery diced
- 3 stalks green onion chopped
- 1 tbsp tarragon chopped
- 1/2 cup purple grapes diced
- 1 cup greek yogurt plain
- 1 small avocado smashed
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tbsp onion powder
- 1/2 tbsp creole seasoning
- 1 large tomato sliced
- 1 loaf sourdough bread
Instructions
- Debone: Debone your rotisserie chickens and roughly chop them into bite-sized pieces. Set aside in a large bowl
- Dice Veggies: Dice your celery, tarragon and grapes. Then slice the green onion, separating the whites from the green pieces. Place in the large bowl holding the chopped chicken.
- Mash Avocado: Dice your avocado and mash in a small bowl before squeezing the juice from half a lime. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add to the large bowl with all your other ingredients.
- Combine: In the large bowl, add greek yogurt and the remaining seasonings. Combine well until everything is evenly coated with the greek yogurt. Then, set aside in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Prep Bread: While the salad is chilling, spread mayo or butter on your slices of sourdough and throw under your oven broiler or in a skillet.
- Put Together: After your chicken salad has chilled and bread has toasted, it's time to combine. Feel free to include your favorite sandwich toppings like lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cheese and bacon!
- Enjoy!
Notes
- To store, put the remaining chicken salad in an airtight container and refrigerate. This will last for 4-5 days if refrigerated properly.
- Depending on where you get your rotisserie chicken from, it will likely already have seasonings and salt cooked into it. When seasoning the chicken salad, taste regularly to ensure you have the right balance of flavors you’re looking for.
- If you aren’t looking to cut calories, you can easily swap the greek yogurt for mayo. Mayo adds a much fattier flavor that I prefer most days honestly.
- I highly recommend swapping out the sourdough bread for croissants if you have those available. My grocery store didn’t have any available this time around so I had to work with what they had.
