The other morning, the bakery was filled with the smell of cinnamon biscuits fresh out of the oven. The bakers had been hard at work cranking out those made-by-hand goodies, but with all the sweet scents, we were beginning to crave something savory.

Last night's leftovers to the rescue. With some boneless BBQ chicken thighs in the fridge at home,  I whipped up a quick chicken salad and headed back to the bakery to give my bakers a staff meal, which was always one of my favorite things about my days in food service. 

We tried the salad two ways: on a warm buttermilk biscuit, and for a sweet surprise, atop a shortcake with a little extra dollop of BBQ sauce. Both were simple but amazingly satisfying – and exactly what everyone needed to fuel them up for another productive afternoon.

Note: My BBQ Chicken Thighs were in the oven @ 275 degrees for 1 1/2 hours, then broiled for 7 minutes to give them a nice crust, but you can use whatever leftover chicken you have for this recipe.

 

BBQ Chicken Salad

Ingredients

  • 6 c. leftover chicken thigh meat, cut into cubes
  • 1 c. mayonnaise
  • 1/2 of a large white onion, chopped
  • 3 stalks celery, chopped
  • 1 tsp. of coarse black pepper

Instructions

  1. Mix all ingredients well and let chill for at least one hour. Can be served warm or cold on buttermilk biscuits or shortcakes with an extra squeeze of your favorite BBQ sauce.