This is a recipe for Perfect Amish Hot Chicken Salad and it definitely lives up to its name. With a combination of crunch and tender chicken, this is an outstanding salad. Unlike cold deli salads, this one is best served hot. You can enjoy this by itself in a bowl, or spooned onto a slice of bread. Either way, it’s really delicious.
Delicious Amish Hot Chicken Salad is positioned as something for lunch, but I’d say it would make just as good of a supper, if you paired it with something else like corn on the cob or, well, my favorite, Brussells Sprouts. Either way this is an easy hot chicken salad recipe that is a staple of Amish potlucks. In many ways it is more like a hot chicken salad casserole. The chicken mixture is full of flavors that are perfect on sandwich bread, crackers, a tortilla wrap, or just your plate!
One of the superb things about this salad is just how easy it is to make. The most difficult thing would be chopping up the celery and the onions, but I’ll admit to being lazy on this one, I just bought pre-chopped in the grocery store. Ditto for the chicken. If you buy all the stuff pre-chopped it can be assembled in 10 minutes.
Cold salads, like tuna salad and chicken salad, aren’t as common in Amish homes for one obvious reason. Can you guess what it is? Most Amish homes don’t have refrigerators. Some do. There are plenty of Amish homes that have gas refrigerators, both among the New Order and the Old Order Amish. However, traditionally, these groups haven’t had them, gas refrigerators are more recent developments, so the idea of cold salads just hasn’t caught on because there is no way to really keep them chilled. And with many of them being mayonnaise-based, It just wouldn’t do having a salad sitting out for days on end. But as more and more Amish get refrigerators, cold salads will catch on.
Now, leftovers of this Delicious Amish Hot Chicken Salad (if you have any!) should be chilled and then just microwave it when you are ready to eat the leftovers or warm it in the oven for a few minutes.
🙋 FAQ
Historically, the Amish have not had easy access to refrigeration, because the vast majority of Amish don't have electricity. Over the past twenty years, you are seeing more and more Amish adopting the use of gas-powered refrigerators, as an acknowledgment of food safety and storage. Prior to this trend, some Amish would rent freezers and refrigerators (some still do) from non-Amish people and they would keep food stored there.
I love the addition of potato chips, they crisp up nicely as you bake it and you come out with these
After the potato chips crisp up, take out of the oven and spoon onto some bread to eat, or just eat it by itself. Either way, you'll love it. I made this for my parents and they were wild about it. In fact, my mother said she was going to make it for her bridge group (that is the ultimate compliment!)
As you can see the blend of colorful crunch with the chicken really makes for an appealing salad. The Amish recipe that I used calls for "salad dressing" in the ingredients, so I just used a store-brand Miracle Whip knock-off. So use something like that, or, if you are like me, and use Miracle Whip interchangeably with mayo, you can use mayo. In addition to just serving on bread, I think this would be fabulous stuffed into a flat bread.
Variations
You can chop in some green onions for some crunch and color. Some people add rice to the chicken salad mixture, but that's not my favorite addition.
Oh, also, on the red onion. SIGH, I skimmed the recipe and I added one cup of red onion. The recipe called for 2 teaspoons. Oddly, I didn't feel like the salad was overpowered with onion, so I think the creator of the recipe didn't care for onions much. So I am just leaving it up to you. Just add an amount that feels right to your taste. Add as much or little salt and pepper as you like. Just make sure you use a large bowl when you are mixing it all up!
One more thing, I used pre-cooked, cubed frozen chicken for speed's sake and used it in the recipe. That worked great. If you are using uncooked chicken, I'd recommend at least cooking it part way before adding it into the casserole. You could also buy a rotisserie chicken and chunk the chicken off it. Leftover salad can be stored in the refrigerator. I'd not recommend the freezer, this doesn't freeze and thaw well.
This recipe comes to us, by the way, from a Miss Byler in the Amish settlement of Rexford, Montana, one of my favorite places! While most Amish don't have bridal showers or baby showers, this is hot chicken salad is popular at these types of events among the non-Amish.
🥙 Delicious Amish Hot Chicken Salad
- 2 cups chopped, cubed chicken
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup chopped red onion
- 1 ½ cup shredded cheese
- ½ cup slivered almonds
- Red onion
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 cup salad dressing
- crushed potato chips
📋 Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Mix all ingredients and spoon into a 2-quart casserole dish.
- Sprinkle crushed potato chips on top.
- Bake for 20 minute and serve warm.
🥗 More Amish Salads
Ultimately Refreshing Fruit Salad
📋 Full Recipe
Delicious Hot Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken cooked and chopped
- 1 cup celery chopped
- to taste red onion chopped
- 1 ½ cups shredded Cheddar cheese
- ½ cup slivered almonds
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 cup salad dressing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Mix all ingredients and spoon into a 2-quart casserole dish.
- Sprinkle crushed potato chips on top.
- Bake for 20 minutes and serve warm.
Katnryn Mathews
What kind of "salad dressing" does this recipe use? Or does it not matter? I like French dressing or Thousand Island, but I don't know how that would work with this recipe. Probably Miracle Whip would be better.
Kevin Williams
I used a Miracle Whip knock-off, I think that would be best, but Thousand Island is intriguing as a choice, if you try it that way, let us know how it turned out!