Chicken salad is a relatively simple entree for lunch and dinners. Each person can cater a recipe the way they want it, and it goes well with many side dishes, too. Whether you’re looking to have a filling lunch or an easy dinner, you’re likely to want appetizers along with your chicken salad too.
What Goes with Chicken Salad?
The classic dish that is chicken salad can be flavorful or bland, depending on how you like it. Regardless of the ingredients in your chicken salad, there’s one thing we can all probably agree on– the side dish should be savory.
A great side dish for a chicken salad would be a salad. The crunch complements the salad and add-ins and dressing make for a flavorful appetizer. Another idea is kettle chips, or deep fried potato chips. Kettle chips can be bought at grocery stores, or made at home. To make kettle chips, thinly slice potatoes and soak them in vinegar, then fry them.
A pasta salad or plain macaroni is another option to eat with your chicken salad. Both are hearty dishes, but also delicious. For something lighter, try a soup or pickles. Soups that pair well with a chicken salad can include French onion soup, or other soups based with vegetables like cucumber or potato.
What to Serve with Chicken Salad Sandwiches
A chicken salad sandwich is the perfect blend of carbs and veggies, and crunchiness and softness. Something rich and savory is necessary for an appetizer. This could include a green salad, a fruit salad, or veggie platter.
For a more plain chicken salad sandwich appetizer, you can never go wrong with a baguette. A cheese platter would more than suffice too, or chips and dill pickles again. Anything that can be served with a chicken salad, will also work with a chicken salad sandwich.
What Goes with Chicken Salad Croissants?
What makes this dish different, obviously, is the croissant. Croissants are dense in texture, so you might want something lighter to go along with it. A Caesar salad or any soup would tie the meal together perfectly. As for drinks, a sweet iced tea would be scrumptious.
What to Put Chicken Salad On
Chicken salad can be served in a variety of ways. Turning it into a croissant or sandwich are some more conventional approaches. You could also scoop the chicken salad onto some pita bread and renew your recipe.
Another option is a chicken melt. Spread the chicken salad on buttered pieces of bread and prepare it the same way you’d make a grilled cheese. A chicken salad wrap would also work, by scooping your ingredients into a tortilla.
As far as toppings, preferences differ. Many people like to smother their chicken salad with mayo, and others prefer something spicy like hot sauce. Vinaigrette dressing is another mouth-watering topping for a chicken salad, or variation of a chicken salad.
What Side Dishes Compliment Chicken Salad?
Since chicken salad is a classic lunch dish, other lunch dishes compliment it wonderfully. Often, a blander approach is taken with entrees that are bursting with flavor. This might include crackers, kettle chips, or a veggie platter.
Savory side dishes are also a great option to eat with chicken salad. A cheese platter or pickles work well. Various soups go well with chicken salad too, and the different textures compliment each other to fill your stomach and taste buds.
What to Do with Leftover Chicken Salad
If you ate with your eyes before your mouth, you probably wound up with leftovers. In the fridge, chicken salad will last for three to five days. If you don’t see yourself eating it before then, chicken salad lasts pretty long in the freezer.
If your chicken salad has been sitting out for more than two hours, you’re probably better off ditching it, as that is plenty of time for bacteria to grow. But If it is stored properly in a sealed container, chicken salad can last up to three months in the freezer!
One thing to keep in mind is that hard boiled eggs don’t do well in the freezer, so if that was an ingredient in your recipe, you’re better off not freezing it. Leftover chicken salad also proposes an opportunity to repurpose the meal entirely. You can turn your chicken salad into a melt, wrap, or sandwich.
Conclusion
Many appetizers go with the tasty, classic, meal that is a chicken salad. Potato-based appetizers work great, like kettle chips or cream of potato soup. Various soups work well with chicken salad too, as well as salads, lettuce or fruit. For a more filling approach, cheese platters with crackers are perfect too. The flavors of a chicken salad are complemented perfectly with many classic appetizers.
