Apple and Toasted Pecan Chicken Salad
Take chunks of tender chicken, fold in a big scoop of creamy mayonnaise then toss in crisp, sweet apples, toasted pecans and plump, little currants. It’s both lightly sweet and a touch salty - perfect to highlight those savory bites of chicken.
Equipment
- Large stockpot
Ingredients
- For the poached chicken:
- 2 large chicken breasts, with skin on, bone in, about 2 pounds
- 2 tablespoons rice or white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- Water to cover
- For the chicken salad:
- 2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded
- ¾ cup chopped apples
- ½ cup toasted chopped pecans
- ½ cup currants
- ½ to ¾ cup mayonnaise
- 2-½ teaspoons sugar
- ½ to 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
Instructions
- For the poached chicken:
- Place the chicken in a large stockpot along with the vinegar, sugar, peppercorns, bay leaves, and kosher salt. Pour in enough water to cover the chicken.
- Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook with the stockpot partially covered until the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear, about 45 to 60 minutes.
- Remove the stockpot from the heat and let the chicken rest in the cooking stock for an additional 30 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter and let rest until it’s cool enough to handle. Pull the meat from the bone and shred.
- Makes 4 cups shredded chicken.
- For the chicken salad:
- Toss the shredded chickeninto a large bowl along with the apples, pecans, currants, and ½ cup of the mayonnaise.
- Add the sugar, ½ teaspoon ofthe kosher salt, and black pepper. Stir until well blended, adding the remainingmayonnaise and kosher salt if needed.
- Keep refrigerated.
Notes
The recipe for poached chicken uses 2 pounds of chicken and will yield you about 4 cups of chicken. You can cut the amount to 1 pound or freeze the extra for later.