Can you believe the 4th of July has passed, and there are only a few more weeks left until school starts? Where has the summer gone?
Well, if you ask the weather man, it is still going strong here. Man it is HOT! With all the heat, I’m sure many of you are like me…looking for some yummy recipes that don’t require the use of an oven or stove top!
Note – The links in this post are affiliate links meaning if you purchase after clicking on them, I will be given a small commission (at no additional cost to you). Learn more here about how I am (and am not) compensated, and thank you for your support of me and my family!
Enter Chicken Salad. It is so versatile. You can eat it on over lettuce, as a sandwich, in a pita, or even just on a cracker. And this particular recipe is very simple to whip up in just minutes since you don’t even need to cook the freeze dried chicken!
Or, if you already have a favorite chicken salad recipe, you can simply substitute the chicken called for with freeze dried chicken and cut your prep time (and heat) way down!
I have a lot of people ask me if freeze dried chicken actually tastes good…you know, like normal chicken? Trust me, try this recipe, and you will be convinced. It tastes just a good as a frozen chicken breast from your freezer that you cook up. 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!
All right, let’s get started! Gather all your ingredients.
Add 3/4 water to chicken, and stir well. This will need to sit for about 10 minutes or so to hydrate. You will want to stir it 3-4 times.
After chicken has hydrated (about 10 minutes), add celery and onions, and another 1 tablespoon of water to the chicken. Stir well and allow to sit for just 1 minute or so.
Place chicken mixture and all the other ingredients in a serving bowl. Mix well and serve!
A couple notes:
- I like my cranberries and apples a bit crunchy, so I don’t hydrate them before adding them to the salad. They hydrate a bit in the mayo and other liquid. If you want them completely hydrated, 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 a bit of both!
- If you have any of the ingredients fresh, you can use those instead of freeze dried.
- 2 cups [url href=”https://simplefamilypreparedness.thrivelive.com/freeze-dried-chopped-chicken.html” target=”_blank”]freeze dried chicken[/url]
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup [url href=”https://simplefamilypreparedness.thrivelive.com/catalogsearch/result/?order=relevance&dir=desc&q=celery”]freeze dried celery[/url]
- 2 Tbsp. [url href=”https://simplefamilypreparedness.thrivelive.com/freeze-dried-chopped-onions-1.html” target=”_blank”]freeze dried onions[/url]
- 1 Tbsp. water
- 1/4 cup freeze dried cranberries (and / or [url href=”https://simplefamilypreparedness.thrivelive.com/red-seedless-grapes-freeze-dried.html” target=”_blank”]freeze dried grapes[/url])
- 1/2 cup [url href=”https://simplefamilypreparedness.thrivelive.com/granny-smith-apple-slices-freeze-dried.html” target=”_blank”]freeze dried apples[/url], broken into small chunks.
- 2 tsp. [url href=”https://simplefamilypreparedness.thrivelive.com/salad-seasoning-blend.html” target=”_blank”]Thrive Salad Seasoning[/url]
- 1/2 cup mayo
- Add 3/4 cup water to [url href=”https://simplefamilypreparedness.thrivelive.com/freeze-dried-chopped-chicken.html” target=”_blank”]chicken[/url] and let sit for 8-10 minutes stirring frequently.
- Add [url href=”https://simplefamilypreparedness.thrivelive.com/freeze-dried-chopped-onions-1.html” target=”_blank”]onions[/url], [url href=”https://simplefamilypreparedness.thrivelive.com/catalogsearch/result/?order=relevance&dir=desc&q=celery”]celery[/url] and 1 Tbsp. water to [url href=”https://simplefamilypreparedness.thrivelive.com/freeze-dried-chopped-chicken.html” target=”_blank”]chicken[/url]. Mix well and let sit for 1 minute.
- Add cranberries (or [url href=”https://simplefamilypreparedness.thrivelive.com/red-seedless-grapes-freeze-dried.html” target=”_blank”]grapes[/url]), [url href=”https://simplefamilypreparedness.thrivelive.com/granny-smith-apple-slices-freeze-dried.html” target=”_blank”]apples[/url], [url href=”https://simplefamilypreparedness.thrivelive.com/salad-seasoning-blend.html” target=”_blank”]seasoning[/url] and mayo and mix well.
- Serve on a pitas (like [url href=”https://simplefamilypreparedness.com/homemade-pita-bread/” target=”_blank”]these homemade ones[/url]), or croissant, or roll, over lettuce or on a cracker!
Want More Food Storage Recipes?
If you’d like more (family approved) 100% food storage recipes, I have a recipe book that you can find here or by clicking on the image below.