The One Ingredient You Should Never Add To Chicken Salad
Chicken salad is a versatile and delicious dish that's easy to whip up: Simply mix chicken, creamy condiments, seasonings, and any other ingredients you desire to create a wonderfully quick and delicious meal. Making chicken salad is even easier if you already have cooked or leftover chicken in the fridge. It also offers a tasty and delicious way to use up leftover meat.
However, there are a number of mistakes everyone makes with chicken salad that should be avoided to achieve the best taste and texture. It's important to ensure the chicken meat doesn't end up being too tough or dry. While there are several different ingredients that work well with chicken salad, there are a few that should be avoided completely. It's best to stick with white meat for the best-looking and best-tasting chicken salad. Don't add dark meat, as this will make the salad look and taste off while also negatively affecting the texture.
For the best chicken salad, forgo dark meat
White and dark meat have chemical differences. The red coloring in meat is caused by a type of protein called myoglobin. Chicken thighs and drumsticks have more coloration than chicken breasts because they have a higher concentration of this protein. This darker shade may be off-putting in chicken salad, particularly when you're serving it to guests.
However, the differences between white and dark meat in chicken salad go beyond aesthetics. White meat is milder than dark meat, making it better for adding other flavors like mayonnaise, fruits, and acid. Dark meat has a stronger chicken flavor. While dark meat is ideal for roasting and eating warm, it's much less suited to chicken salad.
In addition, dark meat tends to be fattier than white meat. While this adds more flavor, it also affects the texture of the cut. People who have eaten leftover fatty meats cold may know that they can easily become chewy and rubbery, which is not the texture most people would like for their chicken salad. It's ideal to use leaner chicken breasts when making chicken salad.
Tips for preparing white meat for chicken salad
White meat is better suited to chicken salad; however, leftover chicken meat can often become dry or rough. Wet cooking methods, such as poaching or boiling, allow the chicken to retain more moisture, making it juicier and less dry. It's essential to let the chicken rest after cooking, as this will allow the liquid to stay in the cut rather than seep out. It's also important to let the cold chicken come to room temperature before using it in a salad.
When chicken is cold, the liquid within it takes on a gelatinous form. Letting the chicken warm up a bit will make it juicier and less tough. Though white meat takes a bit more consideration to cook well, it is ultimately the better choice for chicken salad. Dark meat is not particularly this dish. Next time you purchase or cook a rotisserie chicken, eat the chicken thighs warm and save the blander breast meat to dress up in a salad.