Until I started collecting community cookbooks I had no idea that hot chicken salad existed. I thought it was some weird thing someone came up with until I started seeing it over and over again in many different books from different regions and I finally googled it.

It’s basically what it sounds like–chicken salad but warmed up. One difference is that it often has some crunchy ingredients like nuts that can be in cold chicken salad but aren’t as ubiquitous as they are in the hot varieties.

My favorite part of the holidays is coming up with leftover recipes. It really brings me joy to come up with new ways to use up food like turkey, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce. You can, of course, swap chicken breast for turkey breast in pretty much any recipe so that’s what I did for this. Turkey is a little stronger tasting than chicken which I think helps it hold up to a creamier dish like this one.

I didn’t change a ton in this recipe–I made it into one 8×8-inch pan instead of individual ramekins because I wasn’t serving it at a luncheon and didn’t need individual portions. I used sliced almonds instead of chopped because I thought it was better to bite down on a thin slice of almond than a hard, bone-like crunchy bit. Instead of grated onion, I used slices of red onion. It’s less dainty but I found the flavor to be a bit punchier. I added some dry mustard and cornichons to give it some depth of flavor.

I wasn’t sure if I’d like this but it was pretty good! I’ve always wanted an excuse to top something with potato chip crumbs and this was my chance. I think the key was having some bold flavors in the mix in addition to the different textures from the celery, meat and almonds. I don’t think it would be as good without the pickles, mustard, and Swiss, that added the savoriness it needed.

It was a difficult recipe to take a picture of on a dark autumn night! It is very beige but the pickles and red onion helped a little.

Hot Turkey Salad

updated and adapted from Mrs. John Dale Showell III (Ann)’s recipe for Hot Chicken Salad appearing in Ocean City Museum Society Cookbook 1982, Ocean City, Maryland

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 6

Ingredients

for the salad:

2 cups cubed cooked turkey breast
pinch salt
freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon ground mustard
2 stalks celery thinly sliced
½ red onion quartered and thinly sliced
8 cornichons, sliced
1 cup . toasted bread cubes I toasted 2 slices of white sandwich bread and cubed it
¾ cup. mayonnaise
¼ cup sour cream
⅓ sliced almonds toasted
juice and zest of one lemon

for the topping:

½ cup shredded Swiss cheese
½ cup lightly crushed potato chips I used regular Utz

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly butter an 8×8 inch baking dish.
In a large bowl, mix together all of the salad ingredients until all ingredients are evenly distributed. Spread in the baking dish. Level out with the back of a spoon.
Sprinkle with cheese then potato chips.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until warmed through and bubbly.

Notes

You can use chicken breast instead of turkey breast.

updated and adapted from Mrs. John Dale Showell III (Ann)’s recipe for Hot Chicken Salad appearing in Ocean City Museum Society Cookbook 1982, Ocean City, Maryland