Creamy Chicken Salad Appetizers and Finger Sandwiches 

Creamy Chicken Salad Recipe for Sandwich Appetizers

The chicken salad recipe is a creamy sandwich filling that is a great recipe for serving crowds.

Make delicious chicken salad appetizer sandwiches for banquets, receptions, and picnic potlucks. 

Get 3 tips to help you save time on your most important day by making chicken salad ahead of time with this easy classic chicken salad recipe.

Ready to make the best chicken salad? View Full Recipe

Keep reading to get helpful tips to cook for a crowd and make mini sandwiches ahead so you can enjoy more time with family and friends.

What Are Chicken Salad Puffs?

Chicken salad puffs are a great way to serve a large or small crowd because of the bite-size pieces and no crumbly mess factor. Puffs are the bite-size shell that is made from a classic French recipe called choux. 

Choux dough is piped and baked into many different types of desserts Like cream puffs, eclairs, and even sandwiches like this recipe. 

A favorite way to serve chicken salad is with mini puff which is a nice change from mini croissants.

Ingredients

Chicken breasts cooked and diced or use a whole rotisserie chicken.

Crunchy celery diced

French dressing

Mayonnaise

Fresh parsley finely chopped. I like to use either curly or flat-leaf parsley.

Quick Tip for Substituting fresh herbs, use 3:1 golden ratio (3 teaspoons fresh herbs = 1 teaspoon dry herbs).

Tools

• Chef knife
• Cutting board
• Large bowl
• Medium mixing bowl
• Baking pan or sheet
• Wooden spoon or silicone spoon spatula
• Measuring cups and spoons

3 Time-Saving Tips To Make Chicken Salad Ahead of Time: 

One Week Before: order sandwich shells to be picked up the day before the event or make ahead and freeze. Remove from the freezer the day of and bring to room temperature before making chicken salad.

One Day Before: Cook and prepare the chicken ahead of time or diced rotisserie chicken

Day Of: Thaw chicken and mix all ingredients together for chicken salad. One or two hours before serving, fill the sandwich bread with chicken salad. Place in paper serving cups on a tray, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

How to Cook Tender Chicken Breast with 2 Ingredients

The rule of thumb is to use the juice of one whole lemon for every 2 pounds of chicken breast meat plus 1 tablespoon of salt. Add chicken to a large glass or plastic container that will fit in your fridge.

Poor lemon juice and salt over chicken and generously coat each piece of chicken for great flavor.

Refrigerate overnight for best results or if you’re in a hurry chill for at least three hours. 

Spread marinated chicken on a baking sheet in a single layer. Olive oil is optional but always a good idea to drizzle a little over the top before baking. 

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes at 350°F or until chicken is completely cooked in juices run clear. 

Cool chicken and dice it to be about a ½ inch cube add a little salt if needed.

How to cook a whole chicken: Marinate whole chicken overnight with the juice of one lemon and 1 tablespoon salt. Bake breast side up in a baking dish at 350°F for one and a half hours or until juices run clear.

Set up your cutting board with a sharp knife and two bowls. One bowl is your discard pile and the other is the chicken for this recipe.

Start by removing the skin, and place in the discard bowl. 

Next, gently remove the meat from the bone separating lite and dark meat from tendon or fats. 

Lastly, chop the chicken into 1/2 inch pieces, return to the bowl to make the rest of the chicken salad.

One whole medium size rotisserie chicken will be about 3 cups of diced chicken, just enough for this recipe. 

Make-Ahead Tip for an easy and delicious chicken salad. Marinate and cook the chicken two days in advance. Refrigerate until ready to use or freeze for up to three months in an airtight container.

Mini chicken salad puffs are small puff shells that are perfect finger sandwiches. Serve at parties, wedding receptions, and bridal showers.

The recipe makes 6 cups of creamy chicken salad and fills 6 dozen small puff shells.

Mini slider buns with chicken salad are an easy fun snack for birthday parties and outdoor BBQ.

Chicken salad croissant sandwiches make a great sandwich for office parties or brunch.

Chicken salad pinwheel appetizers are a lighter way to serve chicken salad. Thinly spread chicken salad onto flour tortillas, roll up, place bamboo picks 1 inch apart, and slice. Serve for wedding or baby showers with a variety of other fresh fruit, and cheese kabobs.

Can you freeze chicken salad? I wouldn’t recommend freezing chicken salad because the vegetable starches will break down and become watery which will make sandwiches soggy. Instead, follow the directions to make ahead of time.

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