Roasted Jalapeno Chicken Salad

Roasted Jalapeno Chicken Salad

It’s the first week of November & my jalapeno pepper plants are still producing up a storm. Just a few days ago, I filled up 2 grocery bags full. I have been using them in all sorts of ways… jalapeno poppers for the freezer,  pickled jalapenos, candied jalapenos, roasted jalapenos…. And now I’m going to stop reciting all the ways I’m using them because I feel like Bubba in Forrest Gump with his shrimp.

Roasted jalapenos have so much flavor – I absolutely love them. I’ll roast a few at a time sometimes for individual recipes since it’s so easy to do so – but when I have a whole mess of peppers like I do right now, I’ll roast a bunch at once for the freezer. How I do this is pretty simple. I line a baking tray with a wire rack & place the jalapenos on top; then broil on the top rack in my oven for about 6-8 minutes on each side til the skins blacken. As soon as they’re done, I immediately take my tongs and pop them all into a ziploc bag & seal it up. Let it set for about a half hour – then using gloves, slide of the jalapeno skin. It comes off super easy at this point. De-seed if you like (or partially de-seed) – I prefer to keep all my seeds & membranes in there ‘cus I like it hot 😉 You can use it in any recipe at this point (like these Roasted Jalapeno Grilled Cheese Sandwiches or these awesome Patty Melts… or scroll down for this recipe haha).

roasted jalapenos

When I freeze them, I pack them into ice trays & pour in just a little olive oil so when it freezes, it’s held together nicely. Once frozen, just pop them out of the ice tray & store in plastic freezer storage bags. This makes it super easy to portion out what you need for recipes.

One of the things I really enjoy making with them is this Roasted Jalapeno Chicken Salad. Or, since Thanksgiving is coming up – I’ll be making a good bit of Roasted Jalapeno Turkey Salad pretty soon with all those leftovers 😉

Roasted Jalapeno Chicken Salad

It’s got the right amount of heat and the right amount of crunch – two key factors in a fantastic chicken salad recipe if you ask me. A lot of folks put celery in their chicken salad & if that’s something that cranks your tractor – you go on ahead with that. But me? No thank you. Celery is not my friend. My crunch factor is a bit on the nutty side you can say. I like to use a combination of toasted pecans & toasted slivered almonds. I love the flavor & the crunch that they both add to any chicken salad recipe. SO good!

Roasted Jalapeno Chicken Salad

Roasted Jalapeno Chicken Salad

Ingredients

  • 2 cups chopped cooked chicken meat
  • 1/2 cup mayo or more depending on taste
  • 1 small onion diced small
  • 1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds*
  • 1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans*
  • 2-4 roasted jalapenos chopped *
  • salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Best after it has been refrigerated for a couple of hours.