The Best Hot Chicken Salad
This is the best hot chicken salad recipe ever! It has shredded chicken on top, chopped celery, onions, almonds, a creamy sauce, and crushed potato chips! I love this recipe because you can use your food storage. Please remember that you don’t need to buy a special cookbook for meal prep using your food storage.
Here’s the deal: if you buy #10 cans, you substitute the veggie ingredients in your recipes with freeze-dried vegetables. If you have dehydrated vegetables, you can easily throw them in a soup or stew because they must be cooked to help rehydrate them. It’s all about cooking from scratch, which means using ingredients in your pantry or freezer. The same goes for canned chicken, ground beef, pork, turkey, etc. Life is so good when we only have to go to the pantry to fix a meal, right?
I wanted to share this hot chicken salad because I just went to a bridal shower, and the hostess served this recipe. I confess, I had two or three small helpings! It’s literally to die for, I promise. What’s interesting is that I remember making this salad years ago. Do you have recipes in the back of your cookbooks and suddenly start digging for them? Well, here is mine; I dug out of the cobwebs.
Cooking The Chicken
I cooked the chicken in my pressure cooker for about 20 minutes today since it was still slightly frozen. I just added one cup of water and set it on high. I grew up with my mom using a stovetop pressure cooker, so I was excited to get one when the electric units started showing up.
You may remember me telling you I took about six or seven classes from Chef Brad using a Fagor (now called Zavor) pressure cooker. I did purchase an Instant Pot but ended up giving it away. They are both good pressure cookers, but I prefer the Zavor based on its ease of use. UPDATE: Fagor is now Zavor, it’s awesome! Zavor Pressure Cooker
This is how the chicken breasts looked after pressure cooking them.
Shredding The Chicken
I shredded two cooked chicken breasts in my KitchenAid 6-quart stand mixer. It’s a powerful machine, but I didn’t want to burn up the motor by shredding more than two at a time.
The great thing about this hot chicken salad is that you can mix up the ingredients in the KitchenAid bowl by hand after you shred the chicken. You add the crushed potato chips to the top of the casserole right before putting it in the oven.
Hot Chicken Salad Recipe
- 4 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 3/4 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 10.5-ounce cream of chicken soup
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds (I used sliced almonds)
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1-1/2 cups coarsely crushed potato chips (I like the look of ruffled chips)
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Preheat oven to (350°F) = (176°C) degrees.
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Grease an 8 by 11-inch casserole pan.
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Combine the ingredients, except the crushed potato chips in a large mixing bowl. Mix well.
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Scoop the mixture into the greased pan and spread evenly.
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Sprinkle the potato chips over the mixture.
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Bake for 25-30 minutes until heated through. Serve it warm and enjoy.
Linda’s Dinner Rolls
You may want to make some homemade dinner rolls to eat with this yummy hot chicken salad!
- 4 Teaspoons SAF Instant Yeast
- 1/2 cup Water
- 2 Cups Warm Milk
- 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1-1/2 Teaspoons Sea Salt
- 4 Teaspoons Dough Enhancer
- 2 Eggs
- 6-7 Cups White bread flour Add 1/2 of the flour and then add more until the dough pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl
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Place all of the ingredients in order into your mixing bowl. Be careful with the eggs not to add the warm milk too slowly or you will have scrambled eggs.
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Add half of the flour and keep adding the rest of the flour until the bread dough pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl.
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Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise the first time for about an hour.
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Punch the dough down and mold it into small balls about 1-1/2 inches to 2 inches in diameter.
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Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise one more time about an hour or until double the size.
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Remove the plastic wrap and bake at (350°F)= (176°C) degrees for about 15-20 minutes on a greased cookie sheet. Do not overbake.
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They should be golden brown. I spread a little butter on the tops after baking so the rolls are soft on top. If you like a crispier top you can skip this step.
Final Word
I hope you try making this hot chicken salad for your family. It’s funny how old recipes pop up at bridal showers, neighborhood parties, or church get-togethers! I’ll be freezing this casserole in a few smaller containers for later. Don’t you love having a few meals in the freezer that you can reheat later? Life is good when we don’t have to go to the grocery store, right? Thanks again for being prepared for the unexpected. May God bless this world, Linda
I can’t wait to try this recipe!!! Looks easy and so delicious!
Hi Alli, thank you for the 5 stars, my friend! I think your family will LOVE it!! Linda
Sounds so good! On the menu for this week!!!
Hi Elaine, thank you for the 5 stars, my sweet friend! This recipe is one of our family’s favorites! Linda
This is one of my family’s favorite recipes! I always love and appreciate your step by step instructions! And the dinner rolls recipe pairs perfectly! Such a delicious dinner…..thank you sooo much!
Hi Camille, thank you for the 5 stars, my friend! I love easy recipes that taste delicious! I’m so glad you like it! Linda
What is “Dough Enhancer”? Thank you in advance
Hi Kathryn, that’s a great question. It’s actually optional when making bread, dinner rolls, or cinnamon rolls. It’s a baking ingredient that improves the texture of bread, dinner rolls, or cinnamon rolls. It improves the rising and proofing of your dough and therefore it makes them fluffy. Linda