Forget Rotisserie — Chicken Salad Is 10X More Flavorful With This Trader Joe's Find

Packed with lean poultry protein, chicken salad is a versatile staple of picnics, deli sandwiches, and more. Using rotisserie chicken is a convenient way to streamline your salad, as you don't have to cook the meat yourself. However, there's another choice that can make your meal 10x more flavorful. Check out the Hardwood Smoked Pulled Chicken from Trader Joe's, and you'll forget all about using rotisserie chicken in your salads.

Hardwood Smoked Pulled Chicken was ranked among Tasting Table's list of the best chicken products at Trader Joe's you can't miss out on, and it's easy to see why. Per the writer's assessment, this product comes across as Trader Joe's upgraded alternative to a store-bought rotisserie chicken. The chicken comes fully cooked and costs around $9 per pound, depending on your specific Trader Joe's location. It takes mere minutes in the microwave or about 20 minutes in the oven to warm this chicken up for use in chicken salads and a variety of different dishes.

Trader Joe's shoppers praise the poultry product for its great taste and versatility. One Reddit user says, "It's really good in chicken salad. Last time I made it with mayo, grapes, almond slivers, and celery seed." The smoky flavor and ease of preparation make it an ideal addition to a crisp and creamy chicken salad recipe.

This hack is as simple as taking your favorite chicken salad recipe and replacing the usual base of either scratch-cooked or rotisserie chicken with Trader Joe's Hardwood Smoked Pulled Chicken. You'll notice the difference at once. Whether you're warming your chicken up in the microwave or choosing to use the oven to get it slightly crispy, make sure to let the meat cool before mixing it into your chicken salad. This will help it combine more easily with the other ingredients, such as mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, or your choice of dressing or sauce.

The chicken's smoky taste and pulled texture open up plenty of possibilities for accenting your chicken salad with complementary ingredients. For example, chop up celery and raw onions for extra crunch. Alternatively, you can change up the onions by caramelizing them to make your smoked chicken salad 10x more flavorful.

Serve your chicken salad inside a toasted croissant or on rye toast for an open-faced chicken salad sandwich. Add a slice of sharp cheddar cheese on top to make it a chicken salad melt. Mix in sweet additions like candied pecans, raisins, or even a splash of teriyaki or barbecue sauce to play off of the hardwood smoked flavor in the pulled chicken. Trader Joe's might not sell rotisserie chicken, but this smoked, pulled chicken is just as delicious, if not more, when folded into a chicken salad recipe.