Italian Chicken and Grape Salad Sandwiches

Chicken salad sandwiches always strike me as being complicated and taking a lot of time to prepare. They really are fairly fast and simple after all. I season the chicken breasts and throw them in a baking dish, then into the oven. I set the timer for 40 minutes and check the internal temperature when the timer buzzes. They’re usually about 160° or 170° and that’s fine.

From there I either let the breasts cool then dice up for the salad, or refrigerate them and dice them later when I’m ready to make the salad.  It’s the roasting of the chicken that takes the longest.  After that it’s easy going.  If you have leftover chicken from a roasted chicken meal, or pick up rotisserie chicken at the grocery store, it’s even quicker!

I thawed two chicken breasts the other day and with the hot weather recently, sandwiches and salads were on the menu.  I was going to have the breasts grilled by my P.S. and slice them for a nice big salad, but the weather didn’t cooperate.  We are often very windy here and the grill doesn’t like to stay lit when the wind is attacking it.  So into the oven the breasts would go.

Roast chicken with seasonings, cool and dice.

I set the oven for 350°F and let it preheat.  I lined a baking dish with foil for easy cleanup and placed the breasts in the pan.  Italian seasoned chicken was my craving.  I sprinkled the breasts with onion powder, oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  I just eyeballed it and had fun.

Use sweet red grapes

Into the oven went the pan and I set the timer for 40 minutes.  When the timer went off I checked the breasts’ temps and they were both just over 165°.  Perfect!  I let the pan set for about 15 minutes to allow the breasts to cool enough to dice up.

Halve grapes and add to bowl of diced chicken

I added the diced chicken to a container with about a cup of halved red grapes.

Chop green onions and add to bowl

I always have chopped green onions on hand so I threw a small handful, about 1/4 cup, into the bowl.

Add mayo and stir well

A cup up mayo followed, along with a good sprinkling of salt and pepper.  I stirred the chicken salad and was pleased.  Into the fridge it went for a few hours to chill.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Chill and serve on bread, buns or lettuce.

For supper I served the chicken salad in thin buns.  The chicken salad sandwiches were fresh and satisfying along with a new pasta salad I’d made.  I’d have to guess that this recipe makes about 6-8 sandwiches, depending on how full you like them.

Italian Chicken and Grape Salad Sandwiches

I’m looking forward to having the chicken salad for lunch and this time I want to have it on toasted bread.  I always like mixed chicken or beef salad sandwiches when the bread is toasted.  The crunchy contrast is nice.