To me, chicken salad is one of those underrated dishes that I don’t realize how much I enjoy it until I actually make some at home. I don’t even think to myself, “you know what? Let me make some chicken salad right now!” but honestly, I should do it more often. Because this particular batch was so good! Growing up, I didn’t really eat much chicken salad (we were more of a tuna salad household) so it wasn’t until my college years when a longtime friend introduced me to it when we were roommates. My take on her recipe is simple.

I used a leftover chicken breast from a whole chicken I smoked and a few fridge staples for this salad. If you don’t have smoked chicken, that’s totally fine. You can easily just used a roasted or poached chicken breast. As for the spice? I use Picamás salsa brava. It’s one of my absolute favorite hot sauces and I’m always able to find it at my local Latin market. Use what you like, but if you can find this sauce, please get it. You can’t miss its vibrant green color and it’s so delicious on literally everything. Let’s get to assembling!

Spicy Chicken Salad

Serves: 2

Cook time: 15 minutes

1 large cooked chicken breast, smoked and cubed

1 celery stalk, small dice

1/4 red onion, small dice

2 green onions, thinly sliced

3 tbsp roasted sunflower kernels

3 tbsp dried cranberries

1 tbsp spicy brown mustard

3 tbsp Duke’s mayonnaise 

Pinch kosher salt, to taste

Pinch cracked black pepper

3 fresh thyme, stemmed and roughly chopped

Picamás salsa brava, taste to your liking

Crackers or toasted bread, for serving

In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients and fold everything together with a spoon or silicone spatula. Taste and adjust seasoning and hot sauce to your liking and serve on your favorite toasted bread or in a wrap.

¡Buen provecho!