10 Minute Freeze Dried Chicken Salad

Chicken salad is one of the most simple, filling, and creative foods you can make. A perfect snack – or meal, this recipe features freeze dried chicken goodness making it perfect for emergency use.

As with all my freeze dried recipes, most of the ingredients in this recipe for chicken salad come from Thrive Life foods.

If you already have a favorite chicken salad recipe, you can simply use that and swap out the fresh chicken with freeze-dried. This will cut down on the prep time and of course no cooking will be needed!

But, does freeze dried chicken taste good?

One of the most common questions I get is whether or not freeze dried chicken taste good. Or, does it taste like “normal” chicken.

The answer is 100% yes.

If I gave you a taste test, you may have a hard time knowing which is fresh or freeze dried chicken.

Try this recipe and you will be convinced.  It tastes just a good as a a cooked frozen chicken breast from your freezer.  Remember, freeze dried chicken is simply cooked & frozen chicken that has had the water removed. 

When you add that water back, bam!  You have fresh chicken again without having to turn on the oven!  Freeze dried chicken is one of my very favorite items to have on hand for those nights when I just completely forget to thaw out the chicken.

And Thrive Life brands have no GMOs or artificial flavors. It can also last up to 25 years, which is why it is a staple in my emergency food pantry.

All right, let’s get started!

Freeze Dried Chicken Salad Recipe

This simple recipe is just a few base ingredients, you can customize it any way you would like.

Total time to make it is about 10-15 minutes. So, you can use this as a last minute dish for unexpected guests or a simple pre-dinner snack. Best part of this recipe? No cooking required!

Ingredients

• 2 cups freeze dried chicken
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup freeze dried celery
• 2 tablespoons freeze dried onions
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/4 cup freeze dried cranberries and/or grapes
• 1/2 cup freeze dried apples
• 2 teaspoon Thrive Salad Seasoning
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup almonds

Instructions

1. Add 3/4 cup water to the freeze dried chicken, let sit for 8-10 minutes stirring frequently
2. Add onions, celery, and 1 tablespoon water to chicken
3. Mix well and let sit for 1 minute
4. Add cranberries or grapes, apples, seasoning, and mayonnaise to chicken mixture and stir well
5. Refrigerate if you would like your salad to have a nice chill

Add 3/4 water to chicken, and stir well. This will need to sit for about 10 minutes so the chicken can rehydrate. You will want to stir it 3-4 times.

After chicken has hydrated (about 10 minutes), add celery and onions.

Add another 1 tablespoon of water to the chicken. 

Stir well and allow to sit for about 1 minute.

Add cranberries, almonds, and apples and stir.

Below are a few additional notes about the recipe to help you make it your own.

• I like my cranberries and apples a bit crunchy, so I don’t hydrate them before adding them to the salad because they hydrate a bit in the mayo and other liquid. If you want them to be less crunchy, add them to the chicken mixture before the celery and onions with about 2 tablespoons of water, and let it sit for 2-3 minutes.
• You could easily replace the cranberries with freeze dried grapes, or add both!
• If you have any of the ingredients fresh, you can use those instead of freeze dried.