The Crunchy Addition That Takes Your Chicken Salad To New Heights

If there's anything we like more than a delicious meal, it's a delicious meal that's easy to make. Even better? One that uses up any leftovers we might have kicking around in the fridge, and when it comes to guaranteeing we're going to use up that last chicken breast or last bit of leftover rotisserie chicken that we (properly) froze, it's chicken salad to the rescue. A chicken salad sandwich is almost endlessly customizable, and even though the go-to version usually contains mayo, you can even opt for a mayo-free balsamic chopped chicken salad. Another great way to seriously upgrade your chicken salad sandwich is by adding something you may have been planning on serving on the side anyway: barbecue potato chips.

Barbecue and chicken already go hand in hand, and barbecue sauce is a great way to add a smoky upgrade to your favorite chicken salad. Adding a layer or two of potato chips right onto your sandwich brings a delicious crunch that chicken salad can sometimes be lacking.

You can also opt for crumbling the chips right into your chicken salad mix, and there's really no wrong way to do this. The smoky flavor of the barbecue, the saltiness that's always served up with chips, and the incredible crunch? You're not going to go wrong, but we will add that for maximum crunch, reach for those ultra-crunchy kettle or ridged chips that will stand up to your mayo-based salad.

Putting potato chips on a chicken salad sandwich might seem like a strange thing to do, but it makes sense — and we're not just talking about the added smokiness of the barbecue and saltiness of the chips. Building the perfect sandwich is more complicated than just throwing some ingredients on some bread and calling it a day, as there's actually a bit of culinary science going on here.

The perfect sandwich has the right amount of fillings and the right texture of bread for those fillings. A sandwich that's all soft and moist inside is — all right, sure, but add some satisfying crunch, and you're upgrading it in a big way. 

Countless studies and polls have confirmed that when it comes to taste, texture is a huge part of it. It's often why people don't like particular foods — like mushrooms — but when they're presented with the same flavors packaged in a different way — like in a mushroom gravy — they're all in. Chicken salad can be pretty one-dimensional when it comes to texture, and even if you opt for something like a chicken salad wrap with grapes, mayo tends to overpower everything with a creamy feeling that can get kind of boring by the time you're halfway done with your sandwich. Add those potato chips right before you eat for maximum crunch, and you might never go back to chip-free chicken salad.

Whether you prefer a chicken salad sandwich or wraps, there are plenty of options for upgrading — particularly if you love the potato chip idea. Barbecue chips are great for adding crunch and a pop of spice to a standard sort of chicken salad, but what about a curried chicken salad? Try limón-flavored chips for a delightful citrus flavor, sea salt and cracked pepper, or ranch. Have you ever heard the wisdom that chicken salad needs an acid to balance out the fat? That's another reason those limón-flavored chips are going to be pretty amazing on a chicken salad, too!

If you're looking for other ways to add a creative crunch to chicken salad, try toasted nuts. They're another ingredient that will take your chicken salad to the next level, and we'd even suggest that you go one step further. Crunchy peanut butter can make for an incredible, satay-inspired chicken salad sandwich, and you can also opt for adding small pieces of peanut brittle. Really!

You're also can't to go wrong with adding bacon, and we'd definitely recommend reaching for the ranch-flavored chips in this case. Chili peppers, almost any kind of pickled veg, and onions will all help bring a crunch that can stand up in the face of a creamy mayo, but seriously? Potato chips will be your new go-to.