Cold Soak Chicken Salad: Just-Add-Water Backpacking Recipe

This cold-soak chicken salad recipe is the ultimate gourmet trail lunch and lends itself to infinite variations. With over 21g of protein per portion (two portions per bag), you can say sayonara to the days of lugging heavy salami sticks and cheeses into the backcountry.

This just add water backpacking recipe is equally a hit among my friends and family with dietary restrictions because it’s so easily tailored to suit individual needs and flavor preferences. Those with soy allergies can substitute a sunflower based mayonnaise, like Sir Kensington’s, for the classic mayo packets, and as with all our recipes, the level of sodium is entirely up to you. If you’re truly looking to monitor your sodium intake, double check to make sure you’re purchasing a freeze-dried chicken that does not have any added salt. I’ve had good experiences with both Pack-It-Gourmet’s diced chicken as well as the Nutristore brand diced chicken.

I consider the ‘classic’ chicken salad to be the version with scallions and black pepper and prefer to eat it with crackers for a little texture. You can also pile it into your favorite tortilla to create a wrap or simply eat it straight out of the bag on the days you want a satisfying, flavorful meal but lack any and all energy to make one. Since this recipe is cold-soak, it works just as well rehydrating in a standard ziplock style bag as it does in a boil bag.

If you’ve worked with freeze-dried chicken before, you know that even in the best conditions the water doesn’t always penetrate to the interior of the chicken pieces for even rehydration. To ameliorate that issue, I recommend chopping the chicken finer than usual to replicate the shredded texture of the best homemade chicken salads. This recipe is also an ideal use for the chicken ‘powder’ that inevitably settles to the bottle of any can or package of freeze-dried chicken.

Classic Cold-Soak Chicken Salad Recipe

Preparation Instructions: Measure out the chicken and chop finely. This will help maximize the absorption of water to create a better texture. Add the extra chopped chicken and chives/scallions to a re-sealable bag. Add an oxygen-absorber if you are planning to store the meal longer than month, are living in or traveling through a humid area, or simply don’t want to risk the ingredients clumping together. Otherwise it’s one less thing to pack in, and one less piece of trash to pack out. The mayonnaise packets can go straight into the bag as well.

Pack your crackers and/or tortilla separately. Don’t forget to label your bag with the rehydration instructions!

Serving instructions: 3/4 cups cold water. Wait at least 15-20 minutes until chicken has been rehydrated, shaking or repositioning occasionally. When ready to eat, drain off any excess water from the bag. Add the mayonnaise to the chicken and stir.

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Backpacker Chicken Salad Recipe Variations

At its absolute simplest, the base of this just-add-water chicken salad is rehydrated freeze-dried chicken and mayonnaise. From there, the variations are limitless. Consider adding:

Here are a few of our favorite variations:

Creamy Dill-Ranch Chicken Salad

Add 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp dried dill, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, and 1/4 tsp black pepper to the base recipe. Alternatively, if not watching your sodium content, add in your favorite pre-packaged ranch dressing mix. Prepare as usual.

Curried Chicken Salad

The ‘curried’ here refers to any number of versions of curry powder. Every pre-packaged curry powder is different, as is every recipe for homemade blends. Some like it hotter, some like it mild, some prefer the overwhelming notes of cumin. I prefer a blend of coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger and pepper, with only a hint of cumin and red pepper. Experiment with what works for you.

Add 1 Tbsp curry powder (whether your homemade or commercial blend), 1/4 cup chopped cashews and 1/4 cup raisins, dried cranberries or freeze-dried grapes. Increase water to 1 full cup.

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Have you tried our cold soak chicken salad or modified a version of your own? Let us know how we did and share your suggestions with fellow hikers. We love to hear all the places this recipe has been enjoyed.