Creamy Italian Grinder Chicken Salad Recipe Bursts With Flavor (15 Minutes) by Donna John

If you know me, you know I love sandwiches. Two of my favorite sandwiches are chicken salad sandwiches and Italian sandwiches. So when I saw a recipe for an Italian grinder chicken salad, my mind went numb for a minute. All the fixin's of an Italian grinder in a chicken salad? Sign me up.

This chicken salad recipe has all the flavors you would find in an Italian sandwich enveloped in a creamy, tangy dressing. The dressing is fantastic. Seriously, I will be making it as just a salad dressing going forward because it is the perfect balance of flavors.

Here is your shopping list for this creamy Italian-inspired chicken salad recipe: cooked chicken, pepperoni, another deli meat like turkey, ham or salami, banana peppers or pepperoncini, provolone cheese, red onion, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, red wine vinegar, juice from the banana peppers, dried oregano, garlic powder, salt and black pepper.

The high-protein chicken salad can be used as a sandwich filling, piled on shredded lettuce or served with crackers or potato chips. My bread of choice is a crusty baguette.

Cuisine: American / Italian
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or chopped (I used half a rotisserie chicken)
• 1/4 cup pepperoni, chopped (I used half of a 3.5-ounce package of pepperoni)
• 1/4 pound deli turkey breast, deli ham, salami or your favorite Italian meats, chopped (I used turkey breast)
• 1/3 cup chopped banana peppers or pepperoncini peppers
• 1/4 cup chopped or sliced provolone cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion

Dressing

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 - 2 tablespoons banana pepper juice (from the jar of banana peppers)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt and black pepper, to taste

Optional Ingredients

• chopped grape tomatoes
• chopped green onions

Here's how to make it: 

1. Put all the dressing ingredients into a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. (I didn't add much extra salt because the ingredients are already salty.)
   
2. Stir well to combine. Taste and add more salt, pepper or other ingredients to suit your tastes. Set aside.
   
3. Put all the salad ingredients into a bowl. (You could use green onion instead of red onion, or a combination. I used the meat from half of a rotisserie chicken, but you can use any leftover chicken meat or even cook a chicken breast, cool and shred.)
   
4. Pour the dressing over the top.
   
5. Stir well to combine.
   
6. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Pile on lettuce leaves, on toasted bread or serve with crackers or potato chips.
   

Recipe cooking times, nutritional information and servings are approximate and provided for your convenience. However, 30Seconds is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe, nor may you have the same results because of variations in ingredients, temperatures, altitude, errors, omissions or cooking/baking abilities. Any nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and it is up to the individual to ascertain accuracy. To ensure image quality, we may occasionally use stock photography.

Take 30 seconds and join the 30Seconds community, and follow us on Facebook to get recipes in your newsfeed daily. Food, fun, health, happiness.