Baked Chicken Salad

Baked Chicken Salad

This retro recipe is the stuff dreams are made of. Baked Chicken Salad has all the right flavors and textures. Tender chicken, savory onions, creamy cream of chicken soup and the crunchiness of potato chips, slivered almonds and buttered ritz cracker crumble. Serve this chicken bake with warm dinner rolls and fruit cocktail.

This recipe is a gift from my late Mother In Law who was an amazing cook. I had shared a few weeks ago, on my Facebook page about my Mother In Law. When Rose was on hospice, that she gifted me her cookbook. This book is a binder filled with Rose’s personal recipes and recipes she clipped and saved from others throughout her years.

Warm Chicken Salad?

When I first read the title of this recipe I was unsure. All i kept imagining was HOT mayonnaise and that was not for me. After reading through the recipe you will see that the ingredients are more for a chicken baked then a “salad”. Ingredients like: cream of chicken soup, onions, celery etc. Intriguing! I could not be more pleased with how this recipe came out. The full, printable recipe for this Baked Chicken Salad is at the end of this post. The taste and texture of this entire dish was fantastic. This dish has the essence of chicken salad, but in baked casserole form.

Potato Chip Base

Crushed Potato chips, paired with slivered almonds, melted butter and diced celery make up the base for this Baked Chicken Salad. As this bakes, the chips get crispy, the celery softens slightly, but still has some crunch. Additionally, the slivered almonds add a nutty crunch. If you have a nut allergy, you can still make this by omitting the almonds. It will still be delicious. I highly recommend adding them, as they add a great layer of flavor.

Make Ahead For Convenience

Rose’s recipe calls for making the cooked chicken mixture ahead of time and allowing it to sit overnight in the fridge. This allows the flavors of the onions, lemon juice and soup to meld together. I made this and just allowed the mixture to set up for a few hours. It was still delicious, but I will leave it to sit overnight to see the difference next time.

Assemebles Nicely

This is a beautiful bake that assembles nicely. I will be adding this dish as a “take them a meal” dish. This is a dish I bring to people in times of need like after experiencing a loss, having just had a baby or having a sickness. It is the ultimate comfort food. Rose recommended serving this with fruit, jello and dinner rolls. That is the way I served it yesterday and it was delicious.

Yield: 8 servings

Baked Chicken Salad

Print

This retro recipe is the stuff dreams are made of. Baked Chicken Salad has all the right flavors and textures. Tender chicken, savory onions, creamy cream of chicken soup and the crunchiness of potato chips, slivered almonds and buttered ritz cracker crumble. This chicken bake was just perfect served with warm dinner rolls and fruit cocktail.

Ingredients

• 3 Cups Cooked Cubed Chicken Breast (I simmered 3 breasts in some chicken broth, let it cool and cubed it)
• 1 1/2 to 2 cans of cream of chicken soup
• 1 tablespoon of dried minced onions
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 bag of thin potato chips (I used an 8 ounce bag of Lay's) you need about 4 cups crushed chips (ish) *I did not really measure, you just need enough crushed chips to cover the bottom of the baking dish and it can be as much as you prefer for the base. Mine were about 1 inch high.
• 1/2 cup of slivered almonds (can be omitted for nut allergies, but adds great texture)
• 1 cup of FINELY diced celery
• 20 ritz crackers
• Grated Parmesan Cheese
• Black Pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon of Paprika (sweet or hot)
• dried parsley

Instructions

1. Combine the cooked chicken, soup (use 2 cans for a more creamy sauce) onions, lemon juice, paprika, couple of shakes of black pepper, some dried parsley, about 1/2 tablespoon. Do not use salt as there is enough salt with the other ingredients.
2. Mix the above well and cover and into the fridge overnight. If you are in a pinch this can be made after sitting 4 to 6 hours, but overnight is best.
3. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 450 degrees.
4. Crush your bag of potato chips, you don't want a very fine crumble but you don't want large sharp ridges. Combine the chips with the almonds, diced celery and 1/2 cup of butter melted. Spread this out evenly in a 9 x 13 inch pan.
5. Spread the chicken and soup mixture evenly over the potato chip mixture.
6. Take the ritz crackers and crush them up, then melt the 2 tablespoons of remaining butter, toss well to coat.
7. Spread the crackers across the top of the chicken mixture. I added a sprinkle of black pepper and parsley to the top. Sprinkle the whole top with the parmesan cheese. You do not have to measure the cheese, just add as much or as little as you like.
8. Bake for 30 minutes. Please note that every oven is different. The first time you make this, keep an eye on it so that it doesn't burn. Everything is cooked in this dish when you assemble it, so you just need it to crisp up and bubble up all together.
9. Serve with dinner rolls, fruit salad and/or jello

Another Retro Recipe

If you enjoy this recipe from my Mother In Law, I have posted another recipe of hers called Secret Ingredient Hamburgers that are absolutely delicious!

Chicken Spread

A second great retro recipe is this Chicken Spread that is perfect for parties and beach and boat days!