The Extra Ingredient That Gives Chicken Salad A Little Kick

Chicken salad is made to be bland. This is not a bad thing! Some of the world's most beloved foods are bland in their otherwise unadorned forms. White rice. Tofu. Mashed potatoes. Heck, most potatoes. They're meant to be plain, enjoyed by many on their own, or as supporting characters to more flavorful accompaniments. The same goes for chicken salad. It's typically made with mayonnaise, for goodness sake. Yes, you can, say, slice in some jalapeño for a little heat, add a bit of radish for zesty crunch, or fold in the freshness of cilantro. You can even dress up the mayo with a bit of bacon fat. But those would typically be additions, rather than the norm. Not to mention all the washing and chopping required for those particular upgrades. Instead, there is one ingredient that can zhuzh up your chicken salad in about one second: Hot sauce.

Now, if you, like us, already put hot sauce on practically everything, keep up the good work! For everybody else, yeah, just put hot sauce on, or in, your chicken salad. This is truly the easiest, zero-clean-up, no-brainer way to give that bland chicken the extra bit of bite you might prefer. You can even get a cute little Cholula key chain to keep it fire (but, literally, closer to mild), on the go.

Out in the world, when faced with a chicken salad, you can simply splash some hot sauce across the top like you would with any old condiment. Applying it to the bread, rather than the salad, will end in a better cling, however. And at home, you can mix it right in for total distribution. The chicken salad will assume the hue of whichever sauce you choose, so just keep that in mind in the unlikely event your luncheon has a color theme.

Different hot sauces will also perform in different ways, particularly depending on your other ingredients. Consider Buffalo wings, for example, which are typically served with celery. Those wings are often made with Frank's Original Red Hot Sauce. So a few dashes will have a similar effect in your chicken salad, particularly with that celery in the mix. Verde varieties will amplify any herbs, or bring a bit of perkiness all on their own. Sriracha mingles so marvelously with mayo that the combination is its own whole thing, which also brings a little sweetness. And if it's a simple heat you seek, good old Tabasco does the trick every time.