Spicy Chicken Salad

The seasonings in this recipe mimic the famous Nashville hot chicken. If you’ve ever had Nashville hot, you know it’s best served alongside some classic slices of dill pickle, which makes it a natural pairing with our zesty Dill Pickle Chopped Salad Kit. This salad features a blend of green leaf lettuce, cauliflower, kale, green and red cabbage, dill pickle-seasoned brioche crouton crumbles, feta cheese, and a cool, creamy dill pickle ranch.

And while we wish there were some way to magically include a fresh, piping-hot batch of Nashville hot chicken to enjoy with this salad kit, it’s up to you to prepare that part. But that’s okay — the extra effort on your end is more than worth it. In just 15 minutes, you can whip up your own Nashville hot chicken that is perfectly at home on top of the dilliest salad in the land.

Total TIME:
30

SERVINGS:
2

CREATED BY:
Kalefornia Kravings

Ingredients

For the spicy chicken tenders:

1½ lbs chicken tenders
1 Tablespoon cayenne pepper
2 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder

For the salad:

1 Taylor Farms Dill Pickle Chopped Salad Kit
1 large avocado, chopped
Dill pickles, chopped
Red onion, sliced thin

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a large baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
Whisk the cayenne, honey, apple cider vinegar, chili powder, paprika, and garlic powder together in a bowl. Place the chicken tender in a large plastic bag and pour the sauce in with them. Shake the bag until all of the chicken tenders are fully coated.
Place the coated chicken tenders in your prepared baking dish and bake for 15 minutes.
While the chicken is cooking, pour all the salad kit contents into a large serving bowl. Add your chopped avocado, dill pickles, and red onion and toss the salad with the dressing from the kit. Set aside.
Once the chicken is done, cut it into cubes or slices and top it over your salad just before serving.

Where Did Nashville Hot Chicken Come from?

We’re glad you asked: Nashville. Thanks for reading!

Okay, but really, before being popularized nationwide, it did originate in Nashville, and the story behind it is certainly… interesting. According to lore, the idea behind this deliciously hot (and red) chicken was the result of a vengeful girlfriend in the 1930s attempting to get back at her boyfriend, Thornton Prince III, who had a bad habit of being out all hours of the night and pretty much doing whatever he wanted. One morning, after a particularly late night of (alleged) debauchery, Prince awoke to the smell of chicken that his girlfriend had lovingly prepared. After biting into it, he realized that it was essentially doused in cayenne pepper and other spices as a form of revenge for his behavior.

Unfortunately for Prince’s girlfriend, he enjoyed his “punishment” a little too much and decided she was actually onto something. Prince and his brothers created their own recipe based on that fateful morning and later opened the BBQ Chicken Shack café in Nashville, which was later renamed Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack by his great-niece, who still runs the local chain to this day.

See all of our recipes for Salads with Chicken.