Coronation Chicken Recipe is an absolutely delicious and creamy meat preparation that could be served as a sandwich filler to a salad dressing.
It is a British dish that was exclusively prepared during the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, in 1953.
The Coronation Chicken Recipe ideally consists of cooked chicken, mayonnaise, and curry powder.
Even though there has a ton of improvisations in this recipe, like adding mango chutney, lemon lemon juice, and chopped apricots, the original recipe is much simpler.
The classic coronation chicken recipe takes barely 15 minutes to cook it. With a little time, it is also super easy to make coronation chicken at home anytime.
So, without further ado, let’s go ahead and unravel the traditional and easy coronation chicken recipe. All it takes is to cook the chicken breasts well along with the coronation chicken sauce.
1. Coronation Chicken Recipe
Let’s start off with the essential required ingredients along with a few of the modern added variations, as well.
1.1 Ingredients
- Chicken Breasts – 2 ( 600-700 g )
- Big White Onion – 1 ( chopped )
- Bay Leaf – 1-2
- Thick Tomato puree or Tomato Paste – 2 tsp
- Lemon Juice – 1 tsp
- Olive Oil – 2 tsp ( Extra Virgin Oil )
- A Cup of Red Wine – 100 ml ( optional )
- Creme Fraiche or Heavy Whipping Cream – 150 g
- Mayonnaise – 200 g
- Mild Curry Powder – 2 tsp
- Toasted Almond Flakes – 2 tbsp ( optional )
- Chopped Apricots – 1/2 tbsp ( dried )
- Brown Sugar – 1/2 tsp ( optional )
- Greek Yogurt – 150 g
- Mango Chutney – 120 g (optional )
- Finely Chopped Coriander
- Butter – 50 g
- Salt & Pepper
Now that we have added all the necessary ingredients for the coronation chicken recipe and its sauce, it is time to start the process. Do not worry, it is too easy to cook!
1.2 Cooking the Chicken Breasts
Step 1:
It is best to poach chicken breasts since it makes the meat extra soft and tender. Take a saucepan of a large size and add a litre of water.
Let the water boil for a few minutes, then gently place two chicken breasts at the bottom of the pan. Add a bay leaf to enhance the flavour of the chicken.
Use salt and black pepper to season the chicken breasts as per your preferences. You may use rotisserie chicken breasts which is a fabulous option.
Boil the salted chicken for 20 minutes at most and you may add some vegetables to create a thick chicken stock to use later on.
Step 2:
Once your chicken breasts are tender and moist, turn off the stove and transfer the chicken or the stock into another container.
It is crucial to let the cooked chicken breast cools down as we proceed to the next steps of the coronation chicken recipe.
You may add more water during the boiling process if you want to make more chicken stock or simply make the cooked chicken breasts extra tender so that they don’t get dried up easily.
Step 3:
Once the cooked chicken has cooled down, it is time to cut the breasts into smaller cube-like pieces.
To make it look like a classic dish, chop the chicken slowly turning it into smaller or longer pieces for the chicken coronation recipe.
Once the shredded chicken is ready, it is up for mixing with the chicken sauce and finally be served as a green salad dressing, as a sandwich filler, or with a jacket potato.
Take a large bowl and keep your shredded chicken in it and put it aside for now. It’s time to use the remaining ingredients for the full recipe.
1.3 Preparing the Coronation Chicken Sauce
Step 1:
Take a large frying up and add 2 tsp olive oil and heat it under low-medium heat at first.
Spread the oil evenly around the pan so it heats up well and oils the entire pan well for the other ingredients.
Add the chopped onion and mix it well with the oil and fry it until it gets tender and soft.
Once you’ve cooked the onion properly, add a bay leaf and 2 tsp mild curry powder or curry paste.
Now blend it together well so that the aroma really comes out of the mixture.
You may use the curry paste if you’re out of curry powder. But it is recommended to 2 tsp mild curry powder, instead.
Once you’ve cooked the powder and the bay leaf for the flavour, smoke will come out more, lower the heat a little bit at that moment.
Step 2:
When the curry powder is well-cooked, add 2 tsp tomato purée or tomato paste to the pan.
Blend it well again with the mixture, and add 1 tsp lemon juice and 100 ml red wine to the mixture and combine everything together.
The coronation chicken recipe is not complete without a little citrus flavor and curry powder, after all.
Once you’ve added everything, bring the current mixture to a slight boil. Simmer the mixture under medium heat for 5-7 minutes. You may add a cup of cold water to even the thickness.
The recipe ingredients have good nutrition calories and saturated fat so you may replace a few heavy ingredients with others since that is healthier for your respective diet.
Step 3:
When the curry combination is cooked and ready, take a clean large bowl and strain off the current mixture. In this way, the lumps like bay leaf, powder, and tomato purée with be removed.
Only the fine smoothened liquid of the cooked mixture will remain. The liquid will be thin and devoid of any lumps from the cooked mixture.
Now that we are ready with the cooked version of the sauce, let’s prepare the second half of it required to make the coronation chicken recipe.
Step 4:
In the sauce liquid bowl, add 200 g mayonnaise, 75 g greek yoghurt, and 75 g crème Fraiche or heavy whipping cream. Generally in other recipes, only creme fraiche is used instead of greek yoghurt.
However, it is better to add equal amounts of both since they make the sauce creamier and thicker in texture and strong flavour.
Combine the creamy ingredients altogether, and make a thick paste of it, that would mix well with the coronation chicken.
You may also add 50 g butter to the sauce for getting a different savoury and creamy version of this delicious coronation chicken sauce.
Step 5:
For the final part of the coronation chicken recipe, let’s add the remaining ingredients to the sauce. Add 120 g mango chutney or chopped apricots, both are a great addition to the recipe.
You may add both the mango chutney and apricots if you like a fruity flavour to the sauce.
If you don’t, feel free to skip any of them or both, but mango chutney is preferably more commonly served in a coronation chicken recipe.
Stir the mixture with vigour, so the thickest creamy parts smoothen up a little bit and become its finest version. Blend well so that the cooked liquid also mixes well without being isolated.
A little yellow-brownish tint will appear in the sauce and that is when you’ll know that your coronation chicken sauce is ready to be mixed with the chicken breasts.
Step 6:
Once your sauce is ready, you may add a few flaked almonds and the remaining coriander to the sauce for some extra flavour or crispiness.
Before you add the chicken chunks, you may add some more salt or pepper and the poaching liquid or the chicken stock from earlier.
It will add a wonderful aroma to this new recipe for the Queen’s Coronation in Buckingham Palace. Finally, add the shredded cooked chicken to the sauce entirely.
Turn upside down and completely the delish chicken chunks fully, wrapping them with this thick yummy sauce. Once the dish is ready, after blending well a few times, it’s time to serve.
Step 7:
This coronation chicken recipe acts as a fabulous yummy filler to a ton of other food. You may serve it with sandwiches in between, with jacket potatoes, and with a leafy green salad dressing.
But that’s not all. You can serve it with homemade rice, fried vegetables, or simply sliced pieces of bread. Anything is delicious as long as you’ve got the coronation chicken recipe.
I hope you realized how fun and easy it is to make coronation chicken at home.
Since this royal dish has been through a lot of evolution and improvisations, let’s look into a few of the replacing ingredients that you could use instead, in any case.
1.4 Replacements for the Ingredients
- Mango Chutney – Apricots are a wonderful option to go with if you do not want to add mango chutney or do not have it in stock. Since both of them bring out a sweet fruity smell in the sauce, it is a lovely option.
- Crème fraîche – Even though Crème fraîche is a crucial ingredient for the coronation chicken sauce, Greek Yogurt or regular yoghurt is always welcome to use instead. However, for the thick version like crème fraîche, it is better to go with Greek yoghurt.
- Flakes Almonds – Instead of toasted almonds flakes, sultanas are also a great alternative. It has a similar taste to the almond flakes, so feel free to use it, since many of the recipes use it.
- Mayonnaise – Since mayonnaise is a high-fat cream, you can easily use alternatives like a low-fat cream or regular low-fat mayonnaise. If you’re on a diet or a calorie-restricted diet, it is better to use the low-fat version.
- If you omit a few other ingredients, then you may add a few fried seeds of pumpkin, sunflower, or any other seeds for extra added flavour.
2. Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQs )
2.1 How To Store the Coronation Chicken Recipe?
It is recommended to store the chicken coronation recipe in a safe airtight container always, otherwise, it may possibly degrade in taste and flavour.
You can store it for up to complete two days, but keeping it stored for more than that may tamper the taste. Store the recipe in a refrigerator only since it is healthier and safer for the ingredients used.
However, we do not recommend freezing the meal in a freezer, so the refrigerator is crucial.
2.2 What Other Ingredients Can Be Added to The Recipe?
We have added most of the crucial and traditionally used ingredients already in the coronation chicken recipe, but there are always new improvisations coming up.
There are a few other popular items that are being added to the recipe lately. Celery, Cinnamon, Tabasco, and Coriander are being used quite a lot in the new recipes for Coronation Chicken.
So, if any of these are something of your preference, then feel free to go ahead and use them in the recipe as well!
2.3 Is Coronation Chicken Recipe Dairy-free?
The Coronation Chicken recipe is generally dairy-free except for the Crème Fraiche.
If you want to use an alternative thick regular yoghurt that is dairy-free.
2.4 Can We Prepare It Ahead Before Making the Recipe?
Yes! Absolutely you can. You can arrange the ingredients altogether before and prepare the recipe ahead before finally mixing it later for eating.
The prepared coronation chicken recipe can be made and stored for complete two full days at most. It is best to eat it within the time range or else its taste will only dropdown.
2.5 Can We Use Leftover Chicken for The Recipe?
Yes, you can! In fact, it is the only time people choose to prepare this Royal recipe only because of the chicken leftovers from other remaining food items.
It is not necessary to use just-bought chicken breasts, you can use any remaining chicken from any other recipe, just make sure to cook it well for its softening and tenderness.
2.6 Why use Mango Chutney and Lemon Juice for the Recipe?
Even though Mango Chutney and Lemon Juice may sound a bit like this exquisite recipe, they got along pretty well. They both bring a sweet and sour flavour to the recipe.
Mango Chutney is responsible for the lovely fruitiness of the scent and the lemon juice brings out the enhancement of the flavour. So, surprisingly they both play a massive role in this recipe.
3. Conclusion
It is super easy and delish at the same time if you take a leap of faith to make a Coronation Chicken recipe.
Whether it is for a jacket potato, a salad, or a sandwich, this recipe has earned its name through the Royal old times of Britain.
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With its wide variety of improvisations and uniqueness, it has captured the hearts of salad lovers to chicken lovers. If you’re one of them, this recipe is a must-try for you!
Let us know in the comments how your Coronation Chicken turned out! We would love to hear from you again.
