Road Food: Good food that travels well
Whether you’re heading across the country, across the world, or simply across town, this series of recipes is made for life on the move. They’re easy to make, easy to pack, and taste just as good hours later as they do fresh from the kitchen. Perfect for road trips, picnics, hikes, airplanes, potlucks, packed lunches, busy weeknights, and anywhere else you need to go.
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Road Food notes: Quick and easy to make with leftover roast chicken • Can be prepared up to 3 days in advance • Delicious in sandwiches, with crackers, or over a bed of greens • Travels well in a cooler or insulated lunch bag • Extra hot honey mustard sauce for dipping makes a good thing even better
This past Tuesday was National Sandwich Day, a day I didn’t know existed until a friend of mine posted about it in Substack Notes. As luck would have it, I was already planning on making sandwiches because we had some leftover roast chicken and a package of bacon in the refrigerator, plus a loaf of bread from the local bakery on the countertop.
National Sandwich Day is nice, but having those ingredients in my kitchen is all the encouragement I need.
Last week’s Road Food recipe was all about plant-based protein. This week is for the meat eaters.
A few important notes before we get to the recipe:
The hot honey mustard sauce deserves to be used for more than just this recipe. It has many wonderful uses, including as a dipping sauce for things like crispy chicken tenders, french fries or carrot fries, tater tots, or raw veggies. I am absolutely going to mix some up the next time I make krautburgers, hamburgers, or brats.
The chicken salad does not have to be packed into a sandwich. Like last week’s Chickpea Salad, it’s delicious eaten with crackers, piled onto a plate of greens with some chopped cucumber and tomato, or all on its own, perhaps with a sprinkle of something crunchy like toasted pumpkin seeds.
If you do pack it into a sandwich, I feel pretty strongly that the bread should be toasted. This is a saucy salad, and toasted bread absorbs the sauce without getting soggy. If you are concerned about whether toasted bread travels well, you needn’t be. I wrapped up one of the sandwiches you see here in plastic wrap and took it with me for a day of appointments. It was still delicious several hours after preparing it.
This recipe makes enough for two generous servings with some sauce left over for dipping. The extra sauce for dipping is, in my opinion, essential if you are planning on using the chicken salad in sandwiches. If you’re going to enjoy your chicken salad without the bread, add enough of the sauce to make it super saucy, and reserve any leftovers for something else.
I used leftover roast chicken to make the chicken salad you see here. Our oldest daughter came over last Sunday and I made us roast chicken, cream cheese mashed potatoes, and kale and apple salad. I roasted two chickens just so I would have plenty of leftovers, which turned into hot honey chicken salad, chicken enchiladas, and this super quick chicken noodle soup.
There are few things I love more than a roast chicken dinner, and having leftovers in the refrigerator for the rest of the week is a delicious bonus. If you’re nodding your head, here are 25 more ideas for how to use leftover chicken.
Recipe and serving notes
If you don’t have hot honey, mix some hot sauce into honey until it’s as spicy as you like it.
The chicken salad can be prepared up to three days in advance and stored in a covered container in the refrigerator.
To Make Hot Honey Mustard Chicken Salad Sandwiches with Bacon:
Cook 4 - 6 slices of thick cut bacon until crispy. Drain on paper towels.
Toast 4 slices of bread. This is, of course, optional. But toasted bread soaks up all that delicious hot honey mustard sauce without getting soggy. I highly recommend it.
For each sandwich, layer dill pickle slices on one slice of toasted bread. Top with half of the hot honey mustard chicken salad and two or three slices of bacon. Add a few lettuce leaves and the other slice of bread.
Serve the extra sauce on the side, for dipping!
Packing suggestions
I took this very sandwich with me on a day filled with several appointments. I ate it in the truck, in a parking lot, and it was fabulous.
Wrap the sandwich in plastic wrap and pack into a cooler or insulated lunch bag along with a container of extra sauce for dipping and plenty of napkins. This is a messy sandwich, as all good sandwiches are.
More Road Food Recipes:
Chickpea Salad Sandwiches
Like most salad recipes, all of the ingredients and quantities in this recipe should be viewed as more of a suggestion than a rule. They are a starting point from which to experiment until you find a combination of flavors that tastes good to you.
Pumpkin Miso Chocolate Chip Cake
This pumpkin miso chocolate chip cake combines pumpkin, maple syrup, cinnamon, and cloves with all the interesting flavors of white miso and little pockets of semisweet chocolate. This cake is dense but not heavy, exceptionally moist, and not too sweet. Wrap slices individually for road trips, picnics, and packed lunches, or freeze a stash for another day.
Turkish Chicken Salad with Sumac Pickled Onions and Yogurt Dill Dressing
The chicken is inspired by Turkish kebabs. Chunks of boneless, skinless chicken thighs marinate for a few hours in a garlicky pepper and paprika yogurt mixture before baking in the oven. Once cool, the pieces of chicken will keep well in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and are delicious eaten cold.
Walnut Chocolate Chip Spice Cake
This buttery walnut chocolate chip spice cake has a soft, tender crumb flecked with finely ground walnuts and mini chocolate chips. The cake is flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, and cloves. A little whole wheat flour adds heartiness while cake flour keeps it soft and tender. Wrap slices individually for easy transport. This cake is bound to make any journey more delicious.
Middle Eastern Meatball Wraps With Garlic and Lemon Yogurt Sauce
These meatballs are spiced with cumin, coriander, paprika, cinnamon, and garlic, fried until crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside, then smothered with a garlicky lemon yogurt sauce and wrapped up in a warm flour tortilla. This is the kind of simple, no-fuss, handheld meal that you can wrap up and take with you anywhere.
Love this fun twist on a chicken salad! I’m always looking for new and interesting ways to use rotisserie chicken and this definitely fits the bill. :)
Also, so excited to cook with you next week!! 🎉