Chile Chicken Spread

Chile Chicken Spread is perfect on crackers, sandwiches, with chips. Great for a buffet party, it's simple, yet has a unique flavor

Chile Chicken Spread is perfect on crackers, sandwiches, with chips. Great for a buffet party, it’s simple, yet has a unique flavor

Got a Super Bowl party planned? This makes a great party appetizer, perfect in little sandwiches, on crackers, with a sourdough baguette. I took it to a New Year’s Eve party, and it was a real hit. People asked what was in it … and the basic secret is the cumin. I deliberately made this really mild – just the chicken and mayonnaise is very good, and adding cumin and mild green chiles just changes the character, giving it a distinct flavor. It’s just got 5 ingredients, and you can tweak it however you want as it’s a very forgiving recipe. You could use hot chiles, increase the cumin, or some people will want to increase the mayonnaise – which makes it more easily spreadable, richer tasting, and creamier. Yeah, that means it would be more fattening, too. Note this is a very small batch, so you may want to 2x or 3x it for a get-together.

If you graze on samples at Costco, you may have tried their canned chicken; they always mix it with mayonnaise and spread on crackers when they are sampling it. It’s really good, and that’s where I got the idea for this. Now I actually did try this with another brand of canned chicken, and that one was inferior. Watch out for off-brands of canned chicken; the Costco brand (Kirkland) is the best of the ones I’ve tried.

Chile Chicken Spread
 
Prep time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 1½ cups
Ingredients
  • 1 12.5-oz can Kirkland (Costco) chicken breast
  • ⅓ cup mayonnaise
  • ¼ tsp ground cumin
  • ¼ tsp garlic powder
  • ¼ cup diced mild green chiles
Instructions
  1. Blend all ingredients in a bowl or plastic storage container.
  2. If desired, adjust to taste by adding more cumin, green chiles, or mayonnaise.
  3. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour to allow flavors to blend and emerge.
  4. Serve with crackers, chips, bread, on sandwiches, or even in a salad.
  5. Enjoy!
Notes
Commentary:
Got a Super Bowl party planned? This makes a great party appetizer, perfect in little sandwiches, on crackers, with a sourdough baguette. I took it to a New Year's Eve party, and it was a real hit. People asked what was in it ... and the basic secret is the cumin. I deliberately made this really mild - just the chicken and mayonnaise is very good, and adding cumin and mild green chiles just changes the character, giving it a distinct flavor. It's just got 5 ingredients, and you can tweak it however you want as it's a very forgiving recipe. You could use hot chiles, increase the cumin, or some people will want to increase the mayonnaise - which makes it more easily spreadable, richer tasting, and creamier. Yeah, that means it would be more fattening, too. Note this is a very small batch, so you may want to 2x or 3x it for a get-together.

If you graze on samples at Costco, you may have tried their canned chicken; they always mix it with mayonnaise and spread on crackers when they are sampling it. It's really good, and that's where I got the idea for this. Now I actually did try this with another brand of canned chicken, and that one was inferior. Watch out for off-brands of canned chicken; the Costco brand (Kirkland) is the best of the ones I've tried.

 

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