This avocado chicken salad is all about textural contrast. Crunchy almonds, creamy avocado, sweet grapes, tender chicken. It all comes together in this new take on an old classic.
My mom used to make a variant of this chicken salad, with grapes, mayo dressing, and crunchy almonds. I gather it was somewhat of a classic from the old country (coronation chicken, anyone?)- my mom made it for fancy brunches and lunches, for company, that kind of thing. It always seemed kind of retro to me, even in the 80s and early 90s. Old-fashioned food. This is probably because my small Midwestern town didn’t have anything close to a deli, and all sandwiches in my world were made with cold cuts or peanut butter and jam (not jelly!). I was a stranger to salad-sandwiches and sandwich fillings, even of the tunafish variety, until pretty late in life.
I’m glad I gave this one another go. It’s delicious, keeps well in the fridge for a day or so (possibly longer, but it’s never made it that far in my house), and comes together in a few minutes. Perfect for so many occasions, I’m definitely going to make it again. And it would be amazing with chickpeas, for the vegetarians or vegans out there. Think: picnics. School lunches/work lunches. Quick dinners at the end of I-don’t-want-to-cook days. Brunch. Fancy brunches where your kids will look askance at the strange salad you have produced. And we come full circle.
- 1 cup of chopped chicken
- 1 chopped avocado
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 cup of red grapes, halved
- 3 stalks of celery, diced
- ⅓ cup toasted sliced almonds
- ⅓ cup of chopped parsley
- Salt and Pepper
- a squeeze of lemon or apple cider vinegar (optional)
- Mix everything, going easy on the salt if your mayo is salty already. Taste, and add a squeeze of lemon or vinegar if you like, or if you want a looser dressing.
Ruth
September 27, 2017 at 8:18 amDefinitely going to give this a try looks delicious! I’ll let you know how it goes xxx
Laura
September 27, 2017 at 9:01 amOoh, excellent. I hope you guys like it. Let me know how it goes!!