Creamy Chicken Salad bites served on crunchy crackers are such a simple and satisfying appetizer, lunch or snack. Put your leftover chicken to good use and make this delicious chicken salad with some eggs, cheese, tomato - all staple ingredients that you probably have in your kitchen already. The crisp and juicy cucumber tops it all off perfectly.
Do you like late night snacks with your sweetie? How about getting cozy on the couch with a movie and a tray of these scrumptious, creamy chicken salad bites on crackers? This is also a great option for an easy appetizer to serve guests.
My sister-in-laws, Inna and Ulyana, make this treat and it's always duly appreciated by all our male family members and of course, the ladies too. This is the perfect snack since the ingredients are pantry staples and can be available any time of day. It takes just a few minutes to mix it up and to assemble.
Not only is this perfect as an appetizer, but it's also great as an easy lunch to enjoy at home or pack up and take with you to work or school.
Ingredients For the Chicken Salad Bites Appetizer
Isn't it wonderful how a handful of simple, staple ingredients can come together into something delicious and satisfying?
- Cooked chicken - this is the perfect recipe to use up leftover chicken, rotisserie chicken, etc. You can cook up some chicken simply by roasting it in the oven until it reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit or poach it or cook it in the Instant pot or in a pot of water. You can even use canned chicken.
- Recipes that I often have leftover chicken from:
- Roast Chicken and Potatoes
- Homemade Chicken Broth
- Butterflied Chicken With Rice
- Hard Boiled Eggs (don't know how to hard boil eggs? I've got you covered. Stovetop Hard Boiled Eggs OR Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs)
- Tomato (fresh tomato)
- Parsley - you can also use any other fresh herbs that you like - green onion, chives, dill, cilantro, rosemary, thyme, etc.
- Grated cheese - any grated cheese that you like will work in this recipe, such as mozzarella, parmesan, provolone, asiago, Romano, cheddar, Monterey jack, Colby.
- Crackers - any crackers that you like will work for this recipe as well. You will need 35-40 crackers.
- Mayonnaise and Ranch dressing - mayonnaise will bring the chicken salad together and make it creamy. A few spoonfuls of Ranch dressing will add extra flavor, but it is optional.
- Salt and pepper, to taste.
Preparing and Assembling the Chicken Salad Bites
Combine all the ingredients for the chicken salad in a large bowl. Make sure to remove the seeds from the tomato before chopping it up and adding it to the salad, otherwise it will make the salad too watery.
Cut up the cucumber into thin slices.
Place about a Tablespoon of the chicken salad on top of the crackers and place a slice of cucumber on top of the chicken.
Other Options of Serving the Chicken Salad Instead of Crackers
You can simply place the chicken salad on top of the cucumber slices, omitting the crackers completely.
You can also serve the chicken salad on top of bread, croissants, use them as a filing in a quesadilla, in pita bread or lettuce leaves.
You can also place the chicken salad on top of bread, top with more cheese and toast it in the oven until it's all warm and the cheese is melted and golden.
Preparing the Chicken Salad in Advance
You can make the chicken salad in advance, omitting the tomato. Store in the refrigerator up to 3 days. Add the tomato right before serving and serve on top of crackers with cucumber.
Creamy Chicken Salad Bites
Creamy Chicken Salad bites served on crunchy crackers are such a simple and satisfying appetizer, lunch or snack. Put your leftover chicken to good use and make this delicious chicken salad with some eggs, cheese, tomato - all staple ingredients that you probably have in your kitchen already. The crisp and juicy cucumber tops it all off perfectly.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 3 dozen
- Category: Appetizer
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups finely chopped cooked chicken
- 2 hard-boiled eggs, finely grated
- ¼ cup finely grated cheese
- 1 tomato, seeded and chopped
- ½ Tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
- ¼ - ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- 2 Tablespoons Homemade Ranch dressing, optional
- 35 - 40 crackers
- 1 large English cucumber, sliced
- salt, ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Combine the cooked and chopped chicken, grated eggs, cheese, tomato, parsley in a large bowl.
- Add the mayo and Ranch dressing, if using and mix everything to combine.
- Slice the cucumber into thin slices.
- Place about 1 Tablespoon of chicken mixture on top of the crackers. Place a cucumber slice on top of the chicken mixture. Serve immediately.
Notes
You can also serve the chicken salad on top of bread, croissants, use them as a filing in a quesadilla, in pita bread or lettuce leaves.
Instead of using crackers, you can serve the chicken salad bites on top of the cucumber slices.
You can also place the chicken salad on top of bread, top with more cheese and toast it in the oven until it's all warm and the cheese is melted and golden.
This recipe was originally published on September 24, 2012. I have updated the pictures and clarified the instructions. Enjoy!
Hi Olga,
The Creamy Chicken salad bites were my family’s favorites tonight.
We served it on ritz and fresh crisp bell peppers loved by all, we also sliced whole fresh thin jalapeños for a kick. I used harivati cheese due to those that are not cheese lovers with thin slice of green apple instead of crackers, different but hit all the family notes for flavor & nutrients.
I made this tonight minus the homemade ranch because I didn’t have the ingredients for it. It was very fresh and light. I enjoyed and honestly Looked forward to and was craving this for days before I made it. I used leftover chicken breast, shredded sharp cheddar, and parsley, along with a little drizzle of bottled ranch. Spooned onto club crackers and topped with cucumber slice and half a grape tomato rather than adding tomato to the salad bc another person I was sharing with doesn’t like tomato. Somehow I thought the flavor was a little lacking, I’m not sure what exactly was missing but It felt a little incomplete...it is yummy though and I’ll play around with the flavors and ingredients until I get a version down that perfect for my palate. Very good and the first recipe I’ve tried of yours Olga. Looking forward to trying many more! Thanks!
Looks so good. I never thought about grating the egg. Thanks
I made these for Christmas dinner with our family except I didn't do the cucumber but instead did cheese. I used the recipe to stuff mushrooms and then baked. It was really yummy, loved it!
What a great idea, Tanya. I'm so glad you enjoyed it.
Hi i made the spinach and broccoli stuff breaded chicken breast. Absolutely amazing! My family loved it and i didn't need tweak the recipe at all.
That's awesome, Andrea! Thanks so much for taking the time to tell me.
Recently made these for a group of friends. I had rotisserie chicken so that's what I used and added green onions. These yummies were gone in minutes. I love the simple ingredients and how little time I need to make this yummy appetizer.
I'm so glad you liked it. I also really like combining simple ingredients to make yummy dishes.
I have that white platter in the last pic!
How cool is that?
Yumm!!!! 🙂
Beautiful!! love , love, love the late night snacks 🙂
We also make these with albacore tuna...or if have more time on hand, we put the chicken or albacoer tuna (mixed with mayo) on the artisan bread, prinkle with some shredded cheese and in the oven for 5-10 min. Best appetizer ever!
Thank you Olga for this wonderful blog and beautiful food creations!
Snacks are awesome, Tina. We like using tuna too. Tuna Melts are SO yummy. I mix up the tuna with some mayo, homemade ranch, hard boiled egg, sometimes capers, herbs, place it all on bread with a slice of tomato and some cheese on top. All this goodness melts and toasts up in the oven. Delicious!