Treat yourself with our recipe for Smoked Chicken Salad – a BBQ-style twist on a classic. With a delicious mix of smoky flavors, it's a classic comfort food that will take you back to those family dinners. Enjoy it between two slices of bread, atop a salad, or with your favorite crackers!
WHAT YOU'LL LOVE
- Spatchcocking the chicken before it goes on the smoker flattens the whole bird into one even layer, so the breasts and thighs cook more evenly side by side
- Loosening the skin without removing it lets the Ranchero seasoning reach the meat directly underneath, while the skin still stays intact to protect the meat as it smokes
- Chilling the smoked chicken before dicing it firms the meat up, making it much easier to cut into clean, uniform cubes than working with chicken straight off the smoker
- Grating the apple rather than dicing it distributes its sweetness and moisture evenly through the chicken salad, rather than leaving isolated chunks of fruit
Smoked Chicken Salad
Tom Jackson
Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users
Category
Entree
Cuisine
American
Servings
2
Prep Time
30 minutes
Cook Time
3 hours
Calories
515
This one goes out to all moms out there! Smoked Chicken Salad is our barbecue inspired take on one of those classics that moms all over used to make. Whether you’re eating chicken salad between two slices of bread, over the top of a salad or for dipping crackers and veggies, it’s delicious comfort food that always takes us back. Happy Mother’s Day!
Ingredients
- 1 (4 lb) whole chicken
-
Cattleman’s Grill Ranchero Seasoning
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
-
2 tbsp Kozlik’s Dijon Classique
- 1/2 cup cashews crushed
- 1/2 cup Fuji apple, grated on a box grater (large)
- 1/4 cup green onion, sliced
-
1/4 cup Kansas Flavor Bread and Butter Jalapeños, minced
-
Noble Saltworks Hickory Smoked Salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
Directions
- Build a fire in your Yoder Smokers Loaded Wichita Offset Smoker using a chimney full of lump charcoal. Feed the coal bed with splits of Kiln Dried Apple Wood. Stabilize the temperature at 250ºF-300ºF.
- Prepare the chicken spatchcock style. Cut along either side of the backbone of the chicken to remove the backbone.
- Loosen the skin from the surface of the meat, all over, but do not remove the skin completely. Season under the skin and all other surfaces with Cattleman’s Grill Ranchero Seasoning.
- Place the bird skin side on the grates of the smoker. Smoke until the internal temperature reaches 160ºF in the breasts, and 175ºF in the thighs, about 2.5 hours.
- Remove the chicken from the grill and allow and place in the refrigerator to cool, about 20 minutes.
While the chicken cools, combine the mayonnaise and Kozlik’s Dijon Classique mustard in a medium/large sized bowl and whisk.
- Add the crushed cashews, grated apple, green onion and Kansas Flavor Bread and Butter Jalapeños to the bowl with the mayonnaise and mustard.
- Remove the chicken from the refrigerator. Remove the skin from the chicken. Pull the meat from the bones. Discard the bones. Dice the meat into 1/2”-3/4” cubes.
- Add the cubed chicken to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Season with the Noble Saltworks Hickory Smoked Salt and fresh cracked black pepper, to taste.
Recipe Note
Recipe FAQ
Why spatchcock the chicken before smoking it?
Removing the backbone and flattening the bird into one even layer means the breasts and thighs sit at a more consistent thickness, helping both parts cook more evenly side by side on the smoker.
Why loosen the skin from the meat without removing it completely?
Loosening the skin gives the Cattleman's Grill Ranchero Seasoning direct access to the meat underneath, while keeping the skin in place still protects the meat from drying out during the 2.5-hour smoke.
Why chill the chicken in the refrigerator before dicing it?
Letting it cool and firm up first makes the meat much easier to cut into clean, uniform 1/2" to 3/4" cubes than trying to dice chicken that's still warm and soft straight off the smoker.
Why grate the apple on a box grater instead of dicing it into small pieces?
Grating distributes the apple's sweetness and moisture evenly throughout the chicken salad, rather than leaving isolated chunks of fruit that would concentrate the sweetness in just a few bites.
Does pulling the breasts at 160°F mean they're fully cooked?
Not quite — this recipe's own directions pull them at 160°F, but poultry needs to reach 165°F throughout (the thighs at 175°F are fine). Continue smoking until the breasts reach at least 165°F rather than stopping at 160°F.
How indoor-friendly is this recipe?
2 out of 5 — the chicken salad itself comes together easily on the counter, but the low, extended offset smoke that flavors the chicken is difficult to replicate without an actual smoker.
Recipe Highlights
Spatchcocked shape: Promotes even cooking across breasts and thighs.
Loosened-skin seasoning: Seasons the meat directly while skin still protects it.
Chilled pre-dicing: Makes cutting clean, uniform cubes easier.
Grated apple: Distributes sweetness and moisture evenly.
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Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 9.25 oz
- per serving
- Calories
- 515
- Carbs
- 6 grams
- Protein
- 66 grams
- Fat
- 22 grams
- Sodium
- 390 milligrams
