Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado Tortilla Bowl Recipe
September 16, 2025
Chicken sandwiches – gatherings, picnics, lunches! Recipe
By no means underestimate the facility of nice chicken sandwiches! Glorious platter for gatherings, picnics and work lunches. My secrets and techniques? Recent dill, a handful of walnuts and shred the chicken actually finely utilizing a stand-mixer or electrical beater. Sure, actually.
If you happen to’ve ever questioned why these chicken sandwiches from “that connoisseur deli” are so coveted and command such excessive costs, the reply lies not simply within the secret mixture of elements for the filling but in addition within the texture of the chicken.
“It’s so delicate and simply melts in your mouth!“, buddies have noticed.
The key? Shredding the chicken tremendous, tremendous finely, till it’s principally crumbly, utilizing a stand-mixer. This makes the chicken sandwich filling delicate and creamy since you don’t have chewy chunks of chicken in it.
No stand-mixer? No worries! Use a hand-held beater or slightly endurance and your arms. 🙂
Mayonnaise plus bitter cream
And the second secret in fact is the sauce! You need it to have loads of creamy sauce however not be too oily and weighed down with mayonnaise. My trick is to make use of each mayonnaise (for flavour and richness) and bitter cream (for creamy goodness with much less oil).
Right here’s what goes in my chicken sandwiches. And earlier than you say it, let me acknowledge that I ignored the obvious ingredient for sandwiches – BREAD! 😂
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Chicken – I exploit retailer purchased chicken for ease. Bonus: The flesh is seasoned throughout.
Selfmade roast chicken – If you happen to’re a greater particular person than me, make your personal brined roast chicken (the brine will infuse the flesh with salt like retailer purchased rotisserie chicken).
Chicken breast – I desire to make use of a complete chicken so that you get a superb mix of chicken (breast, lean) and darkish meat (thigh, leg, wings – juicier and extra flavour). However in the event you desire to make use of simply chicken breast, use my Foolproof Poached Chicken Breast (ensures juicy breast) and toss the shredded chicken with 1 teaspoon of salt earlier than mixing the sauce by way of.
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The bread (which I forgot to image!) – The standard bread is delicate white sandwich bread. For fellow Australians – sizzling tip: Bakers Delight. The white sandwich bread, customary slice, is finest for finger sandwiches. Smooth however not sooooo delicate that the filling squishes the bread.
And naturally, the bread of alternative isn’t set in stone so be happy to make use of no matter bread you need!
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Mayonnaise – I at all times use complete egg mayonnaise which is creamier, smoother and has higher flavour than mayonnaise that’s not labelled “complete egg”. The reason being as a result of whole-egg mayonnaise has extra egg in it.
My favorite mayonnaise model is S&W, adopted by Kewpie. Hellman’s is nice too albeit slightly sweeter. I discover different manufacturers (particularly non whole-egg mayonnaise) too candy and/or too vinegary and/or missing in (good) flavour. I stay in Sydney, Australia, and you will get all these manufacturers at on a regular basis giant grocery shops.
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Bitter cream – Secret ingredient! Utilizing this implies we are able to have loads of tasty sauce in our chicken sandwich filling with out it being overly greasy from utilizing simply mayonnaise. Yogurt will also be used however bitter cream is my choice as a result of it’s creamier.
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Walnuts – The traditional nut addition in “connoisseur deli-style” chicken sandwiches. I feel a part of the enchantment, aside from the trace of nutty flavour, is that it provides a little bit of a lot wanted texture within the in any other case very creamy filling.
Greatest substitute – cashews, macadamia nuts or pecans. Else, depart it out.
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Recent dill – One other ingredient that makes this “connoisseur deli-style”! Beautiful trace of recent flavour. No different herb will present the identical flavour so in the event you don’t have it / prefer it, simply depart it out. (Parsley can be utilized for a little bit of inexperienced color however gained’t add flavour).
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Pickles – For probably the most delicate contact of tang within the filling. Use your favorite pickles. You can even substitute with capers.
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Celery and inexperienced onion – Provides background freshness within the filling and the celery additionally provides texture. Whereas inexperienced onion might be substituted with purple onion or eschalots (French onions / US: shallots), don’t skip the celery! It actually makes a distinction.
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Onion, garlic, salt, pepper – The seasonings for the sauce. I exploit onion and garlic powder somewhat than recent as a result of they’ve a clean earthy flavour which is what I’m after for the sauce.
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Lemon juice – For a contact of freshness within the sauce. Substitute with vinegar.
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Dijon mustard – Extra flavour!
Nothing ground-breaking right here. The one trick is shredding the chicken as finely as you’ll be able to. The finer it’s shredded, the creamier the chicken filling which is what units deli-style chicken sandwiches other than the remaining!
As I discussed earlier, a stand-mixer will make quick work of this. Hand-held beater additionally works. Else, your arms and a few endurance!
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Shred the chicken as finely as you’ll be able to. It takes about 1 minute on medium pace utilizing a stand-mixer utilizing the paddle attachment (not whisk, it will get all caught up within the wires). A hand-held beater may also work however will take a bit longer. Else, use your arms.
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Combine sauce elements in a bowl till clean. Use a whisk, if wanted.
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Pour sauce over the chicken with remaining Filling elements (walnuts, celery, inexperienced onion, pickle, dill) and blend till mixed.
At this stage, you need to sneak in a style check and marvel at how delicate and creamy the chicken sandwich filling is!
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Butter the bread. This not solely supplies additional flavour however a safety barrier so the sauce of the chicken filling doesn’t soak into the bread.
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Unfold the filling on the bread, from edge to edge.
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Reduce off crusts – I sometimes don’t minimize the crust off sandwiches however for chicken sandwiches, I do if I’m making them for different individuals. Partly so they give the impression of being neat – suppose Excessive-Tea finger sandwich model – and in addition as a result of then you definately get the complete impact of the delicate creamy chicken filling with simply delicate white bread. No powerful crust getting in the way in which of the consuming expertise!
PS You understand full effectively the crusts get eaten proper? Loads of chicken filling makes its method to the crust!
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Reduce in half on the diagonal, or into rectangles, then line them upon a platter!
TIP: If you need actually neat edges, refrigerate the assembled sandwiches for a minimum of 2 hours earlier than slicing. It will make the filling agency up and makes it simpler to chop neatly. I didn’t do that for the sandwiches pictured on this publish. You understand that endurance isn’t my best advantage!
I really like a superb sandwich, and these Chicken Sandwiches fee very, very extremely in my books. As a bonus, the filling retains effectively for 3 days and the assembled sandwiches, whereas finest made recent, are nonetheless 90% pretty much as good the subsequent day (the bread softens with time). Actually, the sandwiches on this publish had been my dinner and breakfast for two consecutive days – and I used to be very joyful about it!
And as I discussed within the opening, I’m sharing this recipe with vacation gatherings in thoughts. Take it to your workplace Christmas occasion. A picnic with buddies. A day trip on the seaside.
Or, you possibly can go actually loopy and have them for lunch! 😱 Reside life on the sting! – Johnsat x
PS If you happen to do make these for a gathering, inform me under in the event that they had been the primary meals to go! #NotCommpetitiveAtAll 🤭
Ingredients
- 500g/ 1 lb cooked chicken meat from 1 large store bought roast chicken (Note 1)
- 1 celery stem , sliced 3mm/0.1″ thick then into 0.5cm/0.2″ pieces
- 1 green onion stem , finely sliced
- 3/4 cup walnuts , roughly chopped (Note 2)
- 3 tbsp finely chopped cornichon/dill pickle
- 1 1/2 tbsp finely chopped dill (Note 3)
- 2/3 cup whole egg mayonnaise (S&W best in Aus, Note 4)
- 2/3 cup sour cream (sub full fat yogurt)
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice (sub white wine or cider vinegar)
- 1/2 tsp onion powder (or more garlic powder)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder (or more onion powder)
- 3/4 tsp cooking/kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- Salted butter , for spreading on bread
- 20 slices white sandwich bread, day-old, (or more slices for less filling) (Note 5)
Instructions
- Shred the chicken as finely as you can. The best method is using a stand-mixer. Just put the meat in the bowl with the paddle attachment and mix on medium speed until it's really finely shredded (~ 1 minute). Else use a handheld beater or your hands.
- Mix the Sauce ingredients in a bowl until smooth – use a whisk if needed.
- Pour Sauce over the chicken. Add remaining Filling ingredients. Stir until combined.
- Spread bread with butter. Spread with Filling (see below for amount).
- Remove crusts if desired (for the authentic "gourmet" experience!) and cut in half. (Tip: For really neat cuts, refrigerate sandwiches before slicing so Filling firms up).
- Serve on platters littered with green fluffage, if desired!
- Chicken filling per sandwich:– Deli standard (recommended): 100g / 1/2 cup (makes 10 sandwiches)– Very generous: 130g / 1/2 cup (makes 8)– Everyday lunchbox: 80g (1/3 cup) (makes 15).
Notes
1. Chicken – It’s ok! You can use store bought roast chicken! Bonus: The flesh is seasoned all the way through. Make your own – use this Brined Roast Chicken.
If using homemade plain cooked chicken, toss 1 teaspoon extra salt through the shredded chicken. Use my Foolproof Poached Chicken Breast recipe. Cool, then roughly shred into large pieces with hands before blitzing in stand-mixer.
No scales? 500g/1 lb chicken once finely shredded is just shy of 4 cups, lightly packed (ie don’t jam it in to measure).
2. Walnuts is the classic nut addition for “gourmet deli-style” chicken sandwiches and adds a touch of special. Love how it softens and melds into the filling. Best subs: cashews, macadamia nuts or pecans. Else, leave it out.
3. Dill is also another secret ingredient that makes these “gourmet deli-style”. No other herb will provide the same flavour so if you don’t have it / like it, just leave it out. (Parsley can be used for a bit of green colour but won’t add flavour).
4. Mayo – S&W is best in Australia. Kewpie is the next best, followed by Hellman’s. I find others too sweet, too vinegary – who me, fussy? 🙂
5. Bread – Hot tip for Aussies: Bakers Delight white sandwich bread sliced standard thickness (not extra thick) is best for softness but not so crazy soft it gets squished! Best to get it the day before so it’s not quite as soft, makes it easier to spread the chicken on it.
6. Filling amount – It’s a rich filling, don’t need to go crazy with it.
1/2 cup (100g) per sandwich is generous and makes a filling sandwich, even for someone with a “robust” appetite like myself! Makes 10.
Normal lunchbox size sandwich – 1/3 cup (80g) is sufficient, makes 15.
Mega sandwich – pile on as much as you want!
7. Storage – Keeps for 3 days in the fridge, assembled or filling only. Filling flavour gets even better overnight!
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