Different chicken salad

March 11, 2016 9:20 AM

I make chicken salad frequently. I make it by mixing shredded chicken, chopped veggies, sometimes fruit (grapes, blueberries or oranges), seasonings, acid (lemon, orange, or fancy vinegar) and mayo. I experiment with seasonings A LOT, but they all end up tasting pretty much the same. I think this happens because the mayo dampens the flavor of the seasonings. Can you suggest a way to avoid this? I'd like to have 4-5 different chicken salads with distinct taste profiles.

I've tried all kinds of seasonings, including BBQ, chili powder, taco seasonings, sweet herbs (basil, majoram, tarragon, etc.), pizza herbs (oregano, Italian seasoning, etc.). They all taste more or less the same. Adding more of the seasoning makes it more flavorful to a point, but then it stops making a difference. Tasting the salads before and after I add the mayo has led me to conclude that the mayo is damping or deadening the flavor of the seasonings.

My most distinct flavor profile so far is: shredded chicken, chopped carrots, orange segments, Greek seasoning, black pepper and mayo. This tastes distinctly different from the others.

Can you suggest a recipe or approach that you think would taste distinctly different from what I'm already doing?

posted by OrangeDisk to Food & Drink (39 answers total)

How much mayo are you adding? Have you tried adding less?
posted by Carillon at 9:28 AM on March 11, 2016

Instead of mayo use salad dressing. Maybe this isn't strictly chicken salad--I don't know the rules about chicken salad--but I've made chicken salad before with things like blue cheese dressing or a lemon poppyseed or like a creamy italian thing and they've all been pretty good and distinctly not-same. (This was accidental, when one time coming home from the store to make chicken salad, opening the fridge, and doing one of those I could have sworn I had a full jar of mayo! things.)
posted by phunniemee at 9:29 AM on March 11, 2016 [4 favorites]

Make your own mayo so you can control the amount of salt and acid in it?

Put herbs and spices in the mayo until you have it tasting the way you want the chicken salad to taste, then add it to everything else.
posted by supercres at 9:29 AM on March 11, 2016 [3 favorites]

Tasting the salads before and after I add the mayo has led me to conclude that the mayo is damping or deadening the flavor of the seasonings.

I take this to mean you're not adding the seasonings to the mayo directly. Spice up the mayo itself!

My favorite curried chicken salad calls for all the seasonings to go into the dressing/mayo. The addition of toasted almond slivers or pine nuts can also enhance flavor.
posted by whoiam at 9:30 AM on March 11, 2016 [4 favorites]

My favorite is mayo, a little Dijon mustard, a dash of white vinegar, chopped Fuji apples, a little bit of diced red onion, and tarragon. The tarragon has a pretty distinct (and delicious) flavor so that's the game changer in this case. You might try mixing everything but the apples INTO the mayo before mixing with chicken; that way the flavors are more infused in the mayo rather than the mayo covering everything else up (I also always use less mayo than I think I need, to avoid sogginess).
posted by lovableiago at 9:30 AM on March 11, 2016

One of my favorite things to add to chicken salad is avocado. You can cut the mayo in half (or even less) and make up for the rest with mashed avocado. It's so very tasty.
posted by smich at 9:32 AM on March 11, 2016 [2 favorites]

My "go to" for flavourful is curry - try mixing a *lot* of curry and salt with the mayo, then tossing with the chicken, some toasted almonds, and some crushed pineapple - super tasty.
posted by dotgirl at 9:35 AM on March 11, 2016 [3 favorites]

Blend your spices/herbs with plain greek yogurt instead of mayo.
posted by headnsouth at 9:35 AM on March 11, 2016 [10 favorites]

Yeah, play with your mayo - maybe try eggless Just Mayo which is underseasoned to my palate, try greek yogurt (you can strain it more to make it thicker too) and sour cream, either entirely replacing the mayo or cutting it.

My favorite variations on chicken salad are:

-the classic, curry
-sweet, like your orange segments or grapes, strawberries, pineapple, pomegranate, apple. Also maple.
-mustardy (and you can keep it un-sweet and get sort of a deviled egg flavor, or sweeten it to be honey-mustardy)
-hot, sriracha and/or ancho or chipotle chili powder
-garlicky, hot or not
-blue cheesy, with or without grapes
-buffalo

For some of these, like the hot ones, you may have to make them a little too strong to start because they'll get murkier as they sit.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:37 AM on March 11, 2016

I would recommend simply combining your mayo-plus-seasonings well in advance so the flavours have more time to coalesce.
posted by axismundi at 9:43 AM on March 11, 2016 [2 favorites]

THIS is the best curried chicken salad. I often make it replacing the mangos with apples for more of a crunch.
posted by larthegreat at 10:03 AM on March 11, 2016

we had a big chicken (not caesar) salad recently with homemade caesar dressing and it was SOOOOOO good!!!
posted by supermedusa at 10:08 AM on March 11, 2016

If you have some dried spices that you want to use in your chicken salad, try blooming the spices in olive oil until they smell toasty, then whisking the olive oil into your mayonnaise.
posted by carrioncomfort at 10:08 AM on March 11, 2016 [1 favorite]

I use olive oil instead of mayo. That might help you.
posted by smashface at 10:26 AM on March 11, 2016

I like cream cheese in place of mayo.
posted by showbiz_liz at 10:29 AM on March 11, 2016

Try cream cheese, grapes, walnuts, and tons of fresh dill.
posted by showbiz_liz at 10:31 AM on March 11, 2016

Whole-grain mustard-- the stuff that's not much more than whole mustard seeds and vinegar. Use loads of it. Huge quantities. Add just enough mayo to bind.
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:37 AM on March 11, 2016

This is my favorite chicken salad recipe. I used a regular Indian curry blend from the grocery store and granny smith apples. Sometimes I'll add extra raw onion or key lime juice for more flavor.

You might also experiment with using different parts of the chicken in different recipes. I prefer breaking down a whole rotisserie chicken or cooking several thighs, but if you want mute the chicken flavor you could use breasts.
posted by Hermes32 at 10:52 AM on March 11, 2016

Going 50/50 with mayo and plain (not Greek) yogurt is good.
posted by briank at 10:52 AM on March 11, 2016

I'd try combining your mayo with greek yogurt or sour cream to see if those better compliment the other flavorings. You could also add other moist condiments in lieu of mayo: mustard, tomato paste, chutney, salsa, etc. If you miss the richness of mayo, you could add a teaspoon or two of olive or canola oil. If you want to add additional flavor, then you could make that oil something like sesame, walnut, etc.
posted by annaramma at 10:58 AM on March 11, 2016

Mayo doesn't overcome sriracha--possibly because of a similarly oily texture? I'm happy with just shredded chicken, mayo and sriracha, honestly, but I could easily see chopped celery or onion in there.
posted by dlugoczaj at 11:03 AM on March 11, 2016

A recipe for a mayo-free italian chicken salad.
posted by lizbunny at 11:06 AM on March 11, 2016

It starts with the chicken. Simmer your chicken with fresh sage and thyme, sprinkled with a healthy dose of marjoram, cumin, and turmeric. Throw in 4 or 5 whole carrots.

Once it is done, take it off the bone and then, instead of mayo, mix it with the chicken broth. I like my chicken salad like a spread so I use my mixer to turn it into a lovely paste. I do it while it is hot, adding lots of chicken broth (and salt to taste) just until it's a little watery. It solidifies once it is chilled. Using the good stock takes the flavor to a whole new level.
posted by myselfasme at 11:13 AM on March 11, 2016 [2 favorites]

Also consider swapping in for some of the mayonnaise sour cream or Greek yogurt.
posted by Carillon at 11:59 AM on March 11, 2016

The May 2006 issue of Cook's Illustrated has a few non-mayo chicken salads with different flavors. "Thai-Style Chicken Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing", "Spanish-Style Chicken Salad with Roasted Red Pepper Dressing", and "Chicken Salad with Asparagus and Sun-Dried Tomato Dressing". I've made the Thai-style one a few times and it's pretty good. (The CI website's an option for finding these, as is your public library's website, and probably somebody's reposted them somewhere for free as well.)
posted by asperity at 12:00 PM on March 11, 2016 [1 favorite]

I add mango chutney, a little curry powder and chopped dried fruits to my basic Mayo based chicken salad. Super tasty!
posted by jennstra at 12:03 PM on March 11, 2016 [1 favorite]

Good flavor ideas above. Have you tried roasting the chicken? Gives it so much more flavor than poaching, although I do like myselfasme' suggestions quite a bit too.
posted by areaperson at 12:23 PM on March 11, 2016

Simplify, simplify, by dropping mayo and seasonings for pesto.
posted by furtive_jackanapes at 12:25 PM on March 11, 2016

Often, when I find myself adding a ton of flavors to something and thinking "This is still bland as fuck," the answer is more salt — sometimes much more than you'd expect, and definitely more than you'd add with a saltshaker at a restaurant.

That goes double for things that you eat at room temperature or cold — you need to salt them a good bit more aggressively than things you're going to eat hot.

Not saying for sure that that's your problem, but add it to the list of things to try. (Especially if the Greek Seasoning in your favorite recipe has salt or MSG as one of the ingredients.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 12:54 PM on March 11, 2016 [5 favorites]

I accidentally added some fennel seed once and have stuck with it since. It has a slight minty flavor that lightens the dressing for me. I also use a mixture of homemade aioli and dijon mustard.
posted by monologish at 1:32 PM on March 11, 2016

Try the mayos that are already seasoned, like chipotle mayo or Lemonaise.
posted by lakeroon at 1:52 PM on March 11, 2016

You can also make your own mayo in 2 minutes* with a cup or jar and a stick blender. This would allow you complete control over your ingredients, which would be completely integrated into the mayo. That way you could use, for example, a much more pungent vinegar instead of the lemon juice, or incorporate raw or roasted garlic, add sriracha or peppers, etc.

*This recipe asks for a yolk, I often just use the whole egg. They mayo is very slightly looser that way. If you want a stiffer mayo, you can go down to 2/3 or 3/4 cup oil.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:01 PM on March 11, 2016

Hummus instead of mayo, but it will probably call for adjusting what else you add to it. I can't stand mayo, so I mix hummus with tuna all of the time to sandwichize it.
posted by mollweide at 3:24 PM on March 11, 2016 [1 favorite]

Curry (with raisins and shredded coconut) and pesto are my two go-to's for amping-up flavor in something like chicken salad. Not together, of course.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:40 PM on March 11, 2016

I came to say curry powder, but also hummus is good in the place of mayo.
posted by i_am_a_fiesta at 5:08 PM on March 11, 2016

try this - a couple spoons of mayo, dijon mustard, squeeze half a lemon, and chopped capers and garlic. really amazing.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 11:40 PM on March 11, 2016

I like greek yogurt, tarragon, and chopped walnuts. You can half and half mayo and yogurt if you like.
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 7:33 AM on March 12, 2016

I came here to post the same Italian chicken salad as lizbunny.
posted by zorseshoes at 9:14 AM on March 12, 2016

Every Grain of Rice has a couple of recipes for chicken salads based on flavored oil. Here's one:

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/02/fuchsia
posted by yarntheory at 7:28 PM on March 13, 2016