Fruity Chicken Salad

Have you taken the Chick Fil A versus Popeyes Chicken Sandwich challenge?  Yea, I know - I'm super late to the game but ... better late than never.  And, because I'm not one to pass up a good old fashioned chicken sandwich debate - I decided to test these two delicious sandwiches for myself. 

Last week I bought one Chicken Fil A original chicken sandwich and one Popeyes original chicken sandwich.  I brought them both home and shared them with my taste tester.  (After 27 years of marriage, he's gotten really accustomed to being a guinea pig for my food experiments.)  😅  He never complains and he has less than discriminating tastes BUT - he's got a lot more experience in the fried chicken sandwich world than I do.  🍗 

You can't live in Georgia without being exposed to a Chicken Fil A chicken sandwich at some point so this was not the first time I've tasted a sandwich from Chick Fil A.  This was, however the very first time that I'd ever purchased or tasted a Popeye's Chicken sandwich.   ​

The Popeyes chicken sandwich is pictured on the left and it's clear that this was the larger sandwich in every way.  If you look closely at the picture of the sandwiches cut in half, you might notice that the chicken in the Popeye's chicken sandwich is less compressed than the Chicken Fil A chicken breast.  I could actually see the juices in the Popeye's chicken.  👀

More importantly - Which sandwich tasted better?  That's a loaded question.  I preferred the flavor of the Chicken Fil A chicken sandwich but the texture of the Popeye's sandwich.  The Popeye's chicken not only looked, but also tasted less processed and slightly less salty than it's counterpart.  I felt like there was way too much mayonnaise on the Popeye's sandwich though and if I ordered another, I would order it without any mayonnaise at all. 

As for my taste tester  - he liked both sandwiches.  There were no complaints about either one.  (And not even a crumb left on his plate.)  I accept full responsibility for that.  He's learned that it's usually in the best interest of our marriage to keep his opinions about his dinner to himself.  🤣When I pressured him to choose one, he hesitantly admitted that he preferred the Popeye's chicken sandwich slightly more - mostly because it was bigger.  😅

The most ironic part of this whole experiment is that unless it's for "research purposes", I probably won't order or eat another fried chicken sandwich for a really long time. 😬 I'm more of a grilled, baked, poached and broiled chicken sandwich kind of girl.  So why didn't I pick the two most popular grilled chicken sandwiches to taste and compare?🤷🏻‍♀️

The reality is that the chicken salad world is much more in my comfort zone than a fried chicken sandwich.  Even though I don't blog it very often, I make a lot of chicken salad.  I start with my basic recipe and then I throw in whatever ingredients I have on hand to create unique chicken salad creations.  Today, I decided to recreate a delicious chicken salad that I had at our local chicken salad chain restaurant.  Hope you enjoy.

Fruity Chicken Salad
1/2 rotisserie chicken, shredded
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
2 teaspoons dry Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
2 Tablespoons chopped pecans
handful of red grapes, halved
1/2 fuji apple, chopped
​1 stalk celery, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

Shred chicken with hand mixer.  

Combine all ingredients in bowl. 

There's nothing specific about this recipe.   A handful of this and a pinch of that.  That's the way that chicken salad is.  A little of this and a little of that.  I'd love to hear about your favorite chicken salad creations.  Send me your recipes.  

Ciao!