Coronation Chicken Salad, Properly Made

It must have been shortly into my second term at Le Cordon Bleu (10+ years ago now!) that we took a break from glazing meat in shiny reduction sauces to learn a traditional coronation chicken. But this version was nothing like the one I grew up with. The coronation chicken of my childhood consisted primarily of whacking some curry powder into mayo along with some halved grapes and calling it a day.

The real version of the dish - created by Le Cordon Bleu chef Rosemary Hume along with Constance Spry for Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953 – was more thoughtful. It was born out of necessity for a cold dish - the coronation location didn’t come with a kitchen. But it still had to be excellent.

Although in class I assumed we were on yet another French tangent, it turns out the coronation chicken wasn’t that different from the other reduction-style sauces we had been working on. It starts, as many French sauces do, with slowly sweated shallots, wine and stock reduced down into something rich and savoury before apricot jam and cream brighten it. Trust the French to faff around with a sauce. But in this case (as with most of their reduction-style sauces) the time pays off.

Why I love it.

I consider myself a modern cook – I’m not typically one to turn up to your house with a tray of devilled eggs. But I will show up – and regularly do – with a tray of coronation chicken canapés.

It’s highly batchable and travels well for hosting. It makes a perfect sandwich filling, lettuce cup topping, or picnic salad and is generally a crowd pleaser. Not once have I put it on a canape menu for a catering event and had the client take it off.

But I’ll always return to my variation on the classic recipe I learned so many years ago in culinary school. Let’s be real: there is only so much mayo a person can take (sorry Brit’s in the room, but it’s true) and I love that the bright sauce on this version isn’t 100% mayonnaise. I tweak my recipe by swapping in yoghurt but otherwise it’s fairly close to the original.

I made some last week for a picnic. The kids were thrilled with finger sandwiches and I - a coeliac forever trying to balance my disdain for gluten-free bread with my desperate need to eat what everyone else is eating - happily ate mine as a salad. A cream cheese and cucumber salad doesn’t hit quite as well.

This week I encourage you to take 30 minutes to make this coronation chicken salad. Like most dishes, the homemade version bears very little resemblance to the ultra-processed supermarket tub. And then the choice is yours: will you wedge it between two pieces of sourdough? Will you eat it as is? Will you top it with some avocado and chili oil?

Seventy + years on, I think Rosemary and Constance got it right - and I’m glad my French mentors made me to learn why.

Here is the recipe.

Coronation Chicken Salad

Prep time

10 min

Cook time

20 min

Total time

30 min

Serves

6

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts or 6 boneless chicken thighs

• 2 cups + 3/4 cups chicken stock, divided

• 1 shallot, finely diced

• 2 garlic cloves, finely diced

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tbsp tomato paste

• 1 tbsp curry powder

• ½ cup white wine

• ½ cup Greek yoghurt

• 2 tbsp mango chutney or apricot jam

• Juice of ½ lemon

• 2 spring onions, finely sliced

• A handful of sultanas

• Sea salt and black pepper

Preparation

1. Step 1

   Place the chicken into a saucepan with the chicken stock and a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a very gentle simmer and cook for 15–20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and pulls apart easily with two forks. Remove the chicken from the stock and shred while still warm.

2. Step 2

   Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a low heat. Add the shallot and garlic and cook gently for 8–10 minutes until soft and sweet but not coloured.

3. Step 3

   Stir through the tomato paste and curry powder and cook for another minute.

4. Step 4

   Pour in the white wine and let it bubble away until reduced by half.

5. Step 5

   Add the chicken stock and continue simmering until reduced by roughly half again. You want the sauce to taste concentrated and savoury rather than watery.

6. Step 6

   Remove the pan from the heat and allow the sauce to cool for 10–15 minutes. The sauce should feel warm rather than hot before you stir through the yoghurt, mango chutney or apricot jam and lemon juice.

7. Step 7

   Season well with sea salt and plenty of black pepper.

8. Step 8

   Fold through the shredded chicken, spring onions and sultanas.

9. Step 9

   Allow to cool and flavours to infuse for about 30 minutes before eating.