This easy cold curry chicken salad recipe is packed with cashews, cooked diced chicken, curry, raisins, celery, and lime.
Curry chicken salad with cashews is hands down one of my favorite "take and go" recipes for a day at the beach, park, or mountains.
Serve this cold cashew curry chicken salad recipe with crackers, chips, on its own, or over a salad.
Curry Chicken Salad with Cashews is Versatile
The ingredients for curry chicken salad are versatile and interchangeable.
In the instructional video, I substituted sweetened cranberries because I was out of raisins. Another option would be fresh grapes.
Don't have cashews? Cool, try almonds, pecans, or pistachios instead.
Don't have lime? Use lemon juice instead or a little vinegar or skip it all together.
Don't like mayonnaise? Cool - trade it out for yogurt.
Don't want to cook the chicken? Cool - buy a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. Only have chicken thighs? Perfect - those will work too.
Want to take this curry chicken salad up a notch? Add a spoonful of fruit flavored chutney like Major Grey's Mango Chutney to the top as a garnish. Or add some fresh fruit like grapes or finely chopped mango.
Vegetarians can substitute tofu or quorn in place of chicken for a vegetarian inspired curry salad.
What Kind Of Curry For Curry Chicken Salad?
Use any kind of curry that you like for this cold chicken salad. There are so many options. Try not to get caught up in the options and just pick one.
Ground curries have different heat levels. Most of them are mild. If working with a hot curry powder adjust the amount down a little bit.
Initially this looks like a lot of ground curry for the cashew chicken salad but it mixes in beautifully and tastes amazing.
Cashew Curry Salad Can Be Made in Advance
Make this cashew curry chicken salad recipe ahead of time. The dried fruit (raisins or cranberries) and the cashews will become soft with time, but they taste really good marinated in the curry mayonnaise.
However, if you want crunchy cashews and drier fruit than stir those ingredients into the salad right before serving.
Pro-Tip: Making rice or soup later? Save the water you boiled the chicken in and use that as a weak broth to flavor other things. Chances are it's better than most store-bought chicken broth anyway.
Cold Curry Chicken Salad Recipe FAQS
Yes! The chicken has to be cooked first before adding any of the other ingredients.
Yes! Make cashew curry chicken salad with your favorite dairy free alternative or use Greek yogurt if you don't like mayo.
Serving Suggestion
Serve this Curried Chicken Salad recipe with complementary dishes like:
You May Also Like
If you like this Cashew Curry Chicken Salad dish you may also like these cold summer salads:
Things In My Kitchen:
- Teak cutting board - My go-to board. It's solid, holds juice run-off, and comes from sustainably managed plantations. It also has a stellar recommendation from Cook's Illustrated.
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Cashew Curry Chicken Salad
EatSimpleFood.com
This easy curry chicken salad recipe is packed with punch: roasted & salted cashews, curry, raisins, celery, and lime. Hands down one of my favorite "take and go" recipes
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 5 1x
- Category: Main Dish / Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Indian / American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb chicken breast
- 3 celery stalks, diced
- ¼ cup red onions, diced
- ⅓ cup raisins
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 cup cashews, roasted & salted
- 2 Tbsp ground curry powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 cup mayonnaise
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a little sea salt.
- Add chicken to boiling water for ~ 5-8 minutes (depending on thickness) or until chicken is done & juices run clear (165F).
- Remove from heat, drain, and allow to cool. Basically, you need to cool these guys down before making the salad.
- Dice or pull apart the cooled chicken breast and place in a large bowl.
- Add remaining ingredients to bowl and stir.
- Add more mayonnaise until your desired creaminess. Add salt to taste.
- Serve with crackers, on sandwiches, over crispy romaine lettuce, or just eat by the spoonful. Be happy. Beckie
Notes
- Making rice or soup later? Save the water you boiled the chicken in and use that as a weak broth to flavor other things.
- Don't want to cook chicken? Cool - use a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store.
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