Coronation Chicken Recipe

This coronation chicken recipe combines shredded chicken with a blend of spices and a crazy flavorful creamy dressing. The finished dish is loaded with yumminess, and it's perfect in/on everything from sandwiches to salads and more. Best of all though, is that it's so, so easy to make. In fact, from start to finish, this recipe will only take you 10 minutes to make.

The Best Coronation Chicken

If you've never heard of coronation chicken before, it's basically the best chicken salad recipe ever created. It combines cooked chicken with curry powder and an assortment of other spices, along with some crème fraiche and mayonnaise. Then, all of that deliciousness gets topped off with some sliced almonds for a little crunch. 

Not your average chicken salad, right?!

Something I love about this coronation chicken salad recipe is that it's super versatile. It goes really well on top of some greens, stuffed in a wrap, in a sandwich, or just eaten by itself.

What's even better than that though is how simple it is to make. Just 3 easy steps are all you have to follow to put it together.

Also, since it's such a breeze to whip up, I usually make an equally tasty side dish to go with it - like these green beans, this cornbread, or this red beans and rice recipe. 

Ingredients

Now, the ingredient list for this coronation chicken salad recipe looks a bit long, but I guarantee it's all mostly kitchen and pantry staples.

Anyway, here's what you'll need to make it:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoon onion, diced
• 1 small bay leaf
• 1 ½ teaspoon mild curry powder
• ¾ teaspoon double concentrate tomato paste
• 3 tablespoon red wine
• 3 tablespoon water
• ½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• ⅛ teaspoon brown sugar
• ¾ cup mayonnaise
• ¾ cup crème fraiche or sour cream
• ¾ tablespoon finely chopped apricots
• 1lb. skinless chicken breasts, cooked, shredded
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoon slivered almonds

Not too bad, right?

By the way, if you're getting the curry powder just for this recipe, it's well worth it since you can use it to make this curry shrimp next!

Ingredient Substitutions and Suggestions

Now, when I make this easy coronation chicken recipe, I always make it with the ingredients listed above because I think it tastes best that way. However, that doesn't mean you can't make some adjustments to suit your taste preferences or possibly save you a trip to the store.

For instance, if you don't have apricots, you can use apricot jam or even mango chutney instead.

If you don't have crème fraiche, you can use sour cream or greek yogurt.

And. if don't have curry powder, then you can use curry paste. Just remember, if you use the paste, you'll want to cut the amount in half since curry paste has a much stronger flavor.

As for the chicken, as long as it's plain cooked chicken, it doesn't really matter how it's prepared. I usually make poached chicken breasts the night before and then use the already-cooked chicken the next day to make this recipe. Sometimes when I don't feel like cooking, I'll even use pre-cooked chicken from a store-bought rotisserie chicken 

How To Make Coronation Chicken

I guarantee this coronation chicken recipe couldn't be easier to make for how fancy this recipe looks. I mean, Queen Elizabeth II ate it, so you know it's pretty darn fancy. 

Again, just 3 simple steps are all you have to follow to make it. Plus, 10 minutes is all it'll take for you to whip it up too.

With that said, let's stop wasting time and get cooking!

Step 1: Build The Sauce

First, you'll want to take out a large skillet, put it over medium high heat, and add some olive oil to it. Once the oil in the pan is hot, you can add the onion, bay leaf, and curry powder to it and then cook everything for about 2 minutes - stirring the ingredients around the pan as they cook.

Next, you can add the red wine to deglaze the skillet, followed by the water and tomato paste. Now you can add the lemon juice, sugar, and a dash of salt and pepper to the skillet and let everything simmer for 2 minutes until the dressing sauce has slightly reduced.

Step 2: Add The Mayonnaise And Crème Fraiche

As soon as the sauce reduces, you'll want to strain it through a sieve into a medium sized bowl. Then, you can add the mayonnaise and crème fraiche - or sour cream - to the bowl and stir it with the sauce until everything is well combined.

Step 3: Add The Chicken

Now that you have the creamy flavorful sauce prepared for your coronation chicken salad, you can add the cooked chicken and apricots to the bowl of sauce and mix everything together until the chicken is fully coated in the sauce.

Then, to finish up, you can add the slivered almonds to the bowl and gently fold them in. 

Finally, you can serve your finished coronation chicken on top of greens to make a salad, in sandwiches, in wraps, or all by itself.

Enjoy!

How To Store Coronation Chicken

This recipe for coronation chicken makes about 4 servings, so it's perfect for a big family lunch or dinner. But to be honest, my favorite part about this recipe is how good the leftovers are. So if you want to ensure you have some leftovers, I suggest making a double or triple batch of this recipe.

Speaking of leftovers, the amount of time you can store them depends on when you cooked the chicken. Cooked chicken will last in the fridge for up to 4 days, so that will determine how long you can keep the leftover coronation chicken.

Anyway, whenever you want to eat the leftovers, you can just take 'em out of the fridge and dig in!

FAQs About This Coronation Chicken Recipe

What is coronation chicken made of?

Traditionally, coronation chicken is made up of cold chicken in a creamy curry sauce. It is usually served alongside rice and veggies, but it also tastes great atop salads, in sandwiches, and in wraps.

Why is it called coronation chicken?

It is called coronation chicken because it was created as the main dish to be eaten at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. This dish is also referred to as "Poulet Reine Elizabeth" or Queen Elizabeth chicken.

Did the Queen have coronation chicken?

Yes, the Queen did, in fact, have coronation chicken. The coronation chicken served at the Queen's coronation banquet was made ahead of time so it could be served promptly after the official coronation. Considering it's quite popular today, it's safe to say it was a hit!

Wrapping It Up

Well, that's how to make coronation chicken!

I know this recipe is a bit out there regarding the ingredients used, but everything works so well together. It's really a simple chicken dish that's loaded with flavor and can be eaten in a variety of ways.

So, next time you want something with chicken but are tired of the same old recipes, try this one!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chicken coronation recipe as much as I/we do.

As always, if you make it, leave a comment below and let us know how it turned out!

More Easy Chicken Recipes

If you're in the mood for more easy chicken recipes, we have a ton on the blog that you can check out!

Give one of these a shot next:

• Oven baked chicken tenders
• Marry me chicken
• Pan fried chicken breasts
• Chicken divan
• Chicken hasbrown casserole

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