Vegan Curry Chicken Salad
One of the best ways to amp up a Chicken Salad, or anything for that matter, is to add some Curry Powder! If you think Vegan Chicken Salad is boring you gotta try this spin on an old classic.
Okay so maybe I didn’t eat a lot of Chicken Salad before going vegan, but when I did, it was usually Curry Chicken Salad! Honestly, I feel like adding curry powder is almost a cheat code for flavor in a lot of cases.
It’s flavorful and bold, and slightly addictive! I’ve been eating it straight from the fridge like a goblin all week!
vegan curry chicken salad ingredients
Jackfruit or Tofu – This is the base, you can use either one, or a mixture of both! I personally like the texture and flavor of jackfruit, but I love Tofu too! You’ll need 2 cups of them.
Make sure to get the young jackfruit in brine and not syrup! You can rinse it and chop it up, I don’t get rid of the seeds or anything. You can chop it up as fine or chunky as you like depending on what kind of texture you are going for.
For the Tofu, I will use Super Firm, the kind that’s vacuum packed. If you can’t find that, Extra Firm will work, but you’ll want to press it for at least 30 minutes.
Then I’ll just cube it up into bite size pieces, and then tear them in half. This will give them a rougher surface that will hold onto the dressing. You can also just tear them off with your hands and make them totally rough all over! A 1 pound block of Super Firm should get you about 4 cups of cubed tofu.
Whether you use Tofu or Jackfruit, we will be cooking and seasoning them first. This is to infuse some flavor, but also to dry them out a bit. Water is the enemy of chicken salad, so anything we can do to reduce that will help us avoid chicken salad soup!
Obviously you can use any vegan chicken you want. Seitan, tempeh, or store-bought stuff would work fine too. Soy Curls should work too!
Vegan Mayo – For the mayo, I would suggest starting with at least 1/4 cup and adding more until it’s at your desired creaminess. I ended up using 1/2 cup.
For something a little lighter, you can sub out the mayo for some unsweetened vegan yogurt. Try to get something with a bit of tang to it. I like the Forager brand yogurt for this.
- Spices – Obviously we need some curry powder in here! I’m also adding a touch of cumin, garam masala and turmeric!
- Fresh Veggies – I like using red onions, celery and garlic for some added bite (both texturally and flavor wise)
- Herbs and Acid – We’ll be adding some cilantro and lime juice into the mix!
- Nuts & Fruit – Add whatever nuts and fruit you like! Or leave them out all together! I like golden raisins and cashews for this recipe.
- Chutney – I call for Mango Chutney, but if you can’t get any, don’t sweat it! This will be tasty without it!
Now that said, feel free to season this as you wish, you can certainly add or subtract things for sure!
other variations!
I also have some variations on this recipe! Check out the Classic Chicken Salad!
As well as the Gochujang Chicken Salad recipes too!
handy dandy video here!
other recipes you might like…
storage
Keep in the fridge in Tupperware for 3 days. Though if you’re like me it’ll all be gone the same day you make it! You can also double or triple the recipe and have Chick’n Salad for days. The flavors get better the next day in fact!
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Vegan Curry Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups Chopped Jackfruit or Cubed Tofu
- 1 tsp Nutritional Yeast
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Dressing
- 1/2 cup Vegan Mayo (or unsweetened vegan yogurt)
- 2 tsp Curry Powder
- 1 tsp Ground Cumin
- 1/4 tsp Garam Masala
- 1/4 cup Diced Celery
- 1/4 cup Diced Red Onion
- 1 – 2 Tbsp Lime Juice
- 1 Tbsp Chopped Cilantro
- 2 cloves Minced Garlic
- 2 Tbsp Mango Chutney
- 1/4 cup Golden Raisins
- 1/4 cup Chopped Cashews
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Drain and wash off jackfruit. Chop up to your desired consistency. If using tofu, cube it up into bite size chunks. You can tear them in half or just tear off chunks from the block for a rougher texture.
- In a skillet over medium heat and a little oil, cook the jackfruit or tofu for about 6-8 minutes. Season with the nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste, and anything else you might want. Remove from the heat and let cool completely.
- Combine all the ingredients for the dressing. Season to taste! Add more of anything you like!
- Then combine the dressing with the tofu or jackfruit. Season to taste again! Refrigerate for 30 minutes if you can, but enjoy on a sandwich, with some lettuce or crackers, or just eat it with a spoon!
The curry chick’n salad was to die for. I cut the vegan mayo in half with vegan yogurt and didn’t have any chutney (but now I do). It was still fabulous. Texture was spot on. I am going to try the gochujang one next. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Awesome, so glad you dug it and hope you enjoy the Gochujang as well!