Smoked Chicken Salad

by Sabrena Cantu January 04, 2021 3 min read

Smoked Chicken Salad

Chicken salad may be simple, but the taste is far from basic!

Here's what you'll need:

The Chicken

Chicken is the most important part of chicken salad. There are many ways to prepare chicken: you could use breast only, thigh only, boil it, bake it, and even grill it. I find you get the most flavor by cooking a whole chicken, and to cut down cook time, spatchcocking it. 

To spatchcock a chicken, use very sharp kitchen shears and cut out the spine of the chicken. Then, turn the chicken breast side up and press down against the breast to break the breast bone. Remove the breast bone and the chicken will now lay completely flat. Next, season the chicken with salt and pepper. I don't put the skin in the chicken salad, therefore, I prefer a simple salt and pepper mixture on the chicken. In the end, the crispy skin makes for a nice snack!

To make this chicken, I used the Traeger Ironwood 650 with B&B Post Oak pellets. Smoke the chicken at 350°F for 1 1/2 hours or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Once the chicken is cooked, let it rest while you get the other components together.

The Process

In a pan, cook 4-5 slices of bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan and add 1 whole jalapeño. Let the sides of the jalapeño blister and remove from the pan. (The jalapeño does not need to fully cook. You want the skin to blister for easy removal, and the jalapeño will have a slightly tender but still crisp texture.) Let the jalapeño cool, and then, remove the skin and the seeds from the inside. Finely dice the jalapeño. 

Finely dice 2 tablespoons of white onion and 3 tablespoons of celery. Chop the bacon as well. Shred the chicken by hand or with a fork. In a bowl, mix together the shredded chicken, bacon, celery, onions, and jalapeños with 1 cup of mayonnaise and 1 1/2 teaspoons of Southern Hospitality BBQ Rub. Add 1/4 teaspoon of salt and pepper as well. Refrigerate for at least an hour or until ready to eat.

Smoked Chicken Salad

Prep Time: 1 hour 45 minutes    Chill Time: 1 hour

Amount

Ingredient

1

Whole Chicken

4-5 strips

Bacon

1 

Jalapeño

2 Tbsp

White onion, finely diced

3 Tbsp

Celery, finely diced

1 cup

Mayonnaise

1 ½ tsp

Southern Hospitality BBQ Rub

¼ tsp + more for seasoning

Salt and Pepper

  1. Spatchcock the chicken by removing the spine and breastbone. Season with salt and pepper.
  2. Smoke chicken at 350°F for 1 ½ hours or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Let the chicken rest while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
  3. In a pan, cook 4-5 strips of bacon. Once cooked, remove the bacon from the pan and blister 1 jalapeño in the bacon grease. Let the jalapeño cool for a minute, and then, remove the skin and seeds from the inside.
  4. Finely dice the jalapeño, 2 tablespoons of white onion, and 3 tablespoons of celery. Chop the cooked bacon as well. Then, pull the meat from the chicken and shred with your hands or a fork.
  5. In a bowl, combine shredded chicken, bacon, jalapeño, onion, and celery with 1 cup of mayonnaise and 1 ½ tsp Southern Hospitality BBQ Rub. Add ¼ tsp salt and ¼ tsp of black pepper. Let the chicken salad cool in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or eat as is.

 

Sabrena Cantu
Sabrena Cantu


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