Rotisserie Chicken Salad - Easy Chicken Salad Recipe with Apples (2024)

FAQs

Why does my homemade chicken salad get watery? ›

Choose low-moisture ingredients whenever possible. Select boneless, skinless chicken breasts over thighs, and opt for low-sodium canned chicken when bulkier meats are called for. Soak up the moisture. Try toasting your nuts, fruits, or vegetables before adding them to the salad.

It's tempting to stir up a big batch so that we can enjoy leftovers for a few days. But how long is it safe to keep chicken salad on hand? The short answer is to store chicken salad in a sealed container in the fridge or cooler for no more than four days.

One rotisserie chicken equals about 4 cups of shredded chicken, both white and dark meat (skin not included). Typically, the average chicken would mean about 12 ounces of light meat and 8 ounces of dark meat (skin not included), which totals to about 1,037 calories.

To keep the chicken moist, pour a cup of chicken broth into the bottom of the dish. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and place it in the oven. Let the chicken roast for approximately 25 minutes. Remove the foil and let roast for an additional 5 minutes to crisp up the skin.

Overcooked or dry chicken

To ensure that your chicken salad tastes the way that it should, you should avoid using overcooked or dry chicken in your recipe. Unfortunately, as we cook chicken, the moisture of the bird slowly evaporates.

To offset the creaminess (and potentially wetness) of too much mayo, try adding in more of whatever crunchy element you were using. Celery and red onion are some of the most common ones, but you can also try chopped red peppers, bacon bits, carrots, cabbage, apples, chopped nuts, and more.

The biggest offenders for creating a watery salad are raw or cooked watery vegetables or ingredients that have not been dried after you've washed them. To ensure they're completely dry before adding them to the salad, you will want to pat them with a paper towel or a clean, absorbent dishcloth.

Most chicken salad dressings are a combination of mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. The rest of the flavor for this dish comes from ingredients like celery and fresh herbs.

Be extra careful with mayo-based foods, such as chicken salad or potato salad. They're only safe to eat for 3 to 4 days after they're prepared.

Bad bacteria can grow rapidly in the "Danger Zone," a temperature range between 40°F and 140°F, so always transport and store chicken salad in the refrigerator or a well-chilled cooler or lunchbox.

How can you tell if chicken salad has gone bad? ›

However, there are some universal signs you can look for to know if you should ditch the salad. If you see mold or any kind of growth on your chicken salad, or it has an off color, it's probably safest to throw it away.

The easiest way to shred a store-bought rotisserie chicken in a mixer is to do it as soon as you get home from the store, while the chicken is still warm. If the rotisserie chicken is cold or has been in the fridge, warm it gently in the oven or microwave before shredding it.

Yes, absolutely! Since rotisserie chicken is fully cooked and seasoned already, it can be eaten cold in many ways. I love to shred it up and add to salads and sandwiches.

Rotisserie chicken lasts for up to four days if cooked and stored correctly. Keep the chicken in an airtight container or zip-top bag, and do not consume leftover chicken if left at room temperature for an extended period of time (more than two hours).