Curry Chicken Salad with Melon & Almonds

This flavorful chicken salad recipe comes from my Grandmother. It’s loaded with water chestnuts, grapes, melon balls and almonds for a refreshing take on a classic. The addition of a little lemon complements the curry powder and kicks up the flavor of this fruit-laden salad while the slivered almonds add a nice crunch.

Curry Chicken Salad with Melon & Almonds

Key Ingredients in This Recipe

• Chicken – This recipe just calls for chopped, cooked chicken because its a flexible recipe. While I typically use shredded, cooked chicken breasts in this recipe, rotisserie chicken or leftover roasted chicken can be substituted easily.
• Soy sauce – I use reduced sodium soy sauce so that I can control the amount of salt in the recipe, adding more if needed.
• Curry powder – This versatile earthy spice blend is made from coriander, cumin, fenugreek, cassia, peppercorns, curry leaves and turmeric. Not all curry powder is created the same since they often have regional variations.
• Water chestnuts – Water chestnuts aren’t actually nuts, they are a vegetable grown underwater. They get their name because of the resemblance to chestnuts. I add them to the salad for their crunchy texture.

How to Make This Curry Chicken Salad Recipe

1. Mix the mayonnaise. In a small bowl stir together the mayonnaise, curry powder, lemon zest, lemon juice and soy sauce until combined.
2. Combine the chicken salad. In a large mixing bowl stir together chicken, water chestnuts, grapes, celery and mayonnaise mixture. Season with salt and pepper then gently mix in the melon balls and almonds.
3. Refrigerate. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.

Tips and Tricks for This Recipe

• It’s easy to make a batch of the chicken salad in the beginning of the week and bring it for an easy work lunch. When I make big batches of things for weekday meals I like to switch up the sides and methods of serving to keep it interesting.
• This chicken salad can be served in lettuce wraps.
• Try serving it over a simple green salad with olive oil and vinegar dressing or on a sandwich.
• If you don’t have time to cook the chicken you can always use shredded rotisserie chicken for a shortcut.

Other Recipes to Try

If you enjoy this recipe, I recommend checking out some of these:

• Mesclun Greens and Poached Chicken Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette
• Chicken Salad with Sliced Almonds and Raspberry Vinaigrette
• Chicken Salad Bagel Sandwich
• Za’atar and Herb Chicken Salad Pita

Curry Chicken Salad with Melon & Almonds

By Kylie Mazon-Chambers

No ratings yet

Rate this Recipe

Print Pin

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 0 minutes mins

Serves 6

Grocery List

Make It Easier

Customize To Me

Add us as a Google Trusted Source

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

US Customary – Metric

Ingredients:

• ▢ 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• ▢ ½ teaspoon curry powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• ▢ 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ▢ 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• ▢ 2½ cups chopped, cooked chicken breasts
• ▢ 1/3 cup chopped canned water chestnuts
• ▢ 1 cup halved seedless grapes
• ▢ ½ cup diced celery
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ▢ 2 cups medium melon balls, cantaloupe and honeydew
• ▢ ½ cup slivered almonds, I use Diamond of California Almonds

Instructions:

• In a small bowl stir together the mayonnaise, curry powder, lemon zest, lemon juice and soy sauce until combined.
• In a large mixing bowl stir together chicken, water chestnuts, grapes, celery and mayonnaise mixture. Season with salt and pepper then gently mix in the melon balls and almonds.
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.

Nutrition:

Calories: 260kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 45mg | Sodium: 325mg | Potassium: 524mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 113IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 37mg | Iron: 1mg

DID YOU MAKE THIS?

TAG ME ON INSTAGRAM TO BE FEATURED ON MY STORIES! @cookingwithcocktailrings