A non mayonnaise-based herb dressing makes this chicken salad special. It’s the perfect hot weather dinner or lunch.
Chicken Salad With A Twist
If you’re looking for a chicken salad that’s a bit out of the ordinary, this may be the recipe you’re looking for.
First of all, this is not a mayonnaise-based dressing. It’s also chock full of flavor because of fresh herbs–one I just love with chicken.
The salad also has interesting textural differences. One is the choice of salad greens and the other is seeds. To pull it all together, there’s a hint of bacon too if you want it. While I love bacon, I decided to leave it out of this, but the choice is up to you whether to use it or not.
A Cup Of Lettuce
Ideally, the chicken salad should be nestled in a lettuce leaf that forms a cup.
This recipe originally came from Mary Berry so it used British ingredients. She used little gem lettuce and the best way I can describe this is that it’s like a midget romaine. You could use romaine if you wish because it does have the right shape for this but it’s large. Therefore, you’d have to plan that one leaf filled with the chicken salad is one serving.
Instead of romaine, I opted for Boston lettuce. While is not as firm as romaine or little gem, it’s the proper size and the leaves form a natural cup shape.
The addition of a small amount of arugula (aka rocket) adds another textural layer and a deep earthy flavor. Arugula is my favorite salad green since I find it’s taste very interesting.
Tangy Dressing
Personally, I love mayonnaise. However, not everyone does so here’s a salad dressing that doesn’t contain any!
The base of the dressing, if you didn’t already guess, is plain yogurt. I used a full-fat plain regular yogurt, but I imagine you can use Greek yogurt as well. In fact, it may be a better choice since it’s not so liquidy.
The very best part of this dressing is the herb flavoring–tarragon. Please use fresh tarragon as it makes all the difference. Chicken pairs so well with it’s taste too. If you haven’t tried it, please do–with any chicken recipe. Try my 20-minute chicken in tarragon butter sauce and you’ll see how wonderful it is!
The Recipe
Chicken Salad Lettuce Cups
Ingredients
Dressing:
- 10 oz plain yogurt
- ½ lemon juice only
- 1 tbs chopped tarragon leaves
- 2 small green onions finely sliced
- 1 tbs Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp white wine vinegar
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the salad:
- 3 large chicken breasts cooked and diced small
- 6 slices bacon cooked and diced
- 1 head Boston or small Romaine lettuce
- 5 oz package arugula rocket in Europe
- 2 small avocados sliced
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds toasted
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- To make the yogurt and tarragon dressing, measure all of the ingredients into a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cooked chicken to the dressing and coat in the mixture. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for 2 hours, or overnight.
- Arrange two or three lettuce leaves closely together to make a cup shape on a large platter. Top with some arugula leaves. Repeat, so that you have six cups of lettuce arranged in a circle to look like a wreath.
- Spoon the chicken salad on top. Arrange the avocado on top of the chicken. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and bacon pieces (if using). Season with salt and pepper and serve.
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