Cha-Cha Chicken Salad

18 Reviews
ADD YOUR REVIEW
Photo: Beth Dreiling; Styling: Rose Nguyen
Prep Time
20 Mins
Chill Time
8 Hours
Yield
Makes 6 to 8 servings
By Patricia Greene, Murfreesboro, Tennessee
June 2007
RECIPE BY Southern Living

Impress your guests with this creamy chicken salad that's pressed into a mold and inverted onto a cake stand. Press chopped almonds into the side and surround the chicken salad with fresh herbs and fruit for an over-the-top presentation.

 

Ingredients

  • 1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 teaspoons curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 6 cups chopped cooked chicken
  • 1 (8-oz.) can crushed pineapple
  • 2/3 cup orange-flavored sweetened dried cranberries
  • 1 cup chopped roasted, salted almonds
  • Garnishes: fresh herbs, blackberries, raspberries, sliced peaches

How to Make It

Step 1

Whisk together cream cheese and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in chicken, pineapple, and cranberries just until blended.

Step 2

If desired, spoon mixture into a plastic wrap-lined 8-inch round cake pan; cover and chill at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours. Invert chicken salad onto a cake stand, and remove plastic wrap. Gently press chopped almonds onto sides of chicken salad. Garnish, if desired.

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Ratings & Reviews

homecookingOCMD's Review

Coop19
May 14, 2013
GREAT! Try some orange or tangerine zest in the cranbarries sprinkled with som of the juice or soaked..gives that great orange hint..and you can control the orange flavor!! Fresh herbs using just thyme and a little Rosemary works great.(.even a touch of ground sage). PARSLEY! Will always give a fresh herb taste without altering the other flavors..since it was asked..also other molds work great..small individ..for smaller group seated lunch!but GREAT RECIPE

Annie32's Review

elenashaw
April 29, 2013
Made this for a luncheon at work served with pita chips, it was a huge hit! I could not find orange cranberries so I used regular dried cranberries and added 2 tsp of dried grated orange rind. I used 1/3 fat free cream cheese and low fat Duke's mayo. The only other thing I did differently than directed was to mound the chicken salad in bowl, leaving room to put the crushed almonds around the sides, then pressed out the mound to create the coating before it was unmolded. It turned out beautiful and delicious. Will definitely make again.

zukzul1's Review

keddy1221
February 27, 2013
N/A

firmdeb's Review

musicmom3
July 27, 2012
Absolutely delicious and so pretty!! Had to substitute Pomegranate Cranberries and next time will add a few green onions...but delicious as is!

1heidi's Review

user
July 20, 2012
N/A

bpassino's Review

JenniferM
May 22, 2012
Sounds so great. I have just one question. Do you drain the crushed pinneapple or put in the whole can with the juice? Thanks.

Kathihodges's Review

firmdeb
May 16, 2012
Made it last night. I used the blueberry-flavored cranberries and it added a unique flavor. I used 1/2 the cream cheese and light mayo. I used regular, sliced almonds (without toasting) and it was crunchy and good.

elenashaw's Review

bpassino
December 01, 2011
N/A

ZEBRA000's Review

1heidi
August 26, 2011
I used the regular cranberries and soaked them in orange juice overnite. They plumbed up and tasted just like orange Great recipe

user's Review

Annie32
June 24, 2011
This was a good recipe. It didn't make as much as I had expected, and I am not a huge fan of curry. I thought i'd try to recipe since there wasn't a lot of curry in the recipe, but it was still pretty strong for me. The rest of my family liked it, though.