Hot Chicken Salad is a retro favorite that makes a quick and easy family meal. This is southern comfort food at its best with a creamy chicken filling and crunchy potato chip topping.
It only takes a few minutes to get this casserole prepped for the oven. Start with 4 cups of cooked chicken. You can use all chicken breast meat or use the meat off of 1 rotisserie chicken for ease. You could also use turkey instead of chicken. This is a great recipe for using up leftover Thanksgiving turkey.
The chicken gets mixed with a cup of mayonnaise, a can of condensed cream of chicken soup, a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice to perk the flavors up, celery, grated onion, chopped water chestnuts, shredded cheddar cheese, and slivered almonds. It’s super creamy but the celery, almonds, and potato chips add lots of crunch.
What I love about this recipe is it turns one of my favorite lunches, chicken salad, into a warm, comfort food meal that’s perfect for fall weather.
Hot Chicken Salad is a super creamy and rich casserole so you’ll want to keep the portions small and serve it with a green salad.
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Hot Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked diced chicken
- 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
- 1 tablespoons grated onion
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 (10.75-ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 (8-ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
- salt
- 1 1/2 cups coarsely crushed potato chips, plain or ruffled
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 11X7-inch casserole dish.
- Combine all ingredients except salt and potato chips in a large bowl. Stir well.
- Taste the mixture and add salt to taste. You will probably want to add between 1/4 and 1/2 teaspoon depending on the saltiness of your chicken and your preference for salt level.
- Transfer mixture to prepared pan. Sprinkle crushed potato chips on top.
- Bake 25 minutes. Serve warm.
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I have been making this recipe for years for my extended family. The only difference. I add not over cooked rice with extra chicken broth to keep it moist.
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Look very delicious! I like it! The instructions in your post very useful with me! Thanks your post!
my husband loves chicken and he always demands to new taste with chicken. It is nice concept to make a salad.
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Frozen Hot Chicken Salad, What will the Cook time be in the Oven