Chicken Salad Apple Melts with Smoked Cheddar
These quick and simple open-face sandwiches are a perfect balance of creamy chicken salad, crisp apple slices and melty, gooey cheese. This delicious combination of wholesome ingredients becomes a warm and comforting meal in a matter of minutes, perfect for cool fall days.
Ingredients
Chicken Salad
- 4 cups Chopped cooked chicken (leftover, or from a store bought rotisserie chicken)
- 2 green onions, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup finely chopped celery
- 1 Tbsp Fresh thyme leaves, plus more for garnish
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Maple Mustard
- 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp Mayonnaise
- 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
Sandwich Assembly
- 4 large slices of bread with cranberries or other dried fruit
- 16 slices apple
- 100gr/3.5 oz smoked cheddar cheese, grated
Instructions
Make the Chicken Salad:
- In a medium size mixing bowl, gently fold together the cooked chicken, green onions, celery, thyme, yogurt, 2 Tbsp of mayonnaise, kosher salt and several cracks of freshly ground black pepper. Taste and adjust salt and pepper to your preference. Set aside. (Make ahead: Chicken Salad can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in a covered container in the fridge.)
Make the Maple Mustard:
- In a small dish, stir together the Dijon mustard, 1 Tbsp of mayonnaise and the maple syrup until smooth. (Make ahead. Maple Mustard can be made up to 5 days in advance and stored in a covered container in the fridge.)
Assemble the Sandwiches:
- Move a rack to the centre of the oven and preheat the broiler.
- Lightly toast the slices of bread in the toaster. Place the slices of toasted bread on a baking sheet and spread each slice with some of the maple mustard. Mound the maple mustard-covered slices with the chicken salad, spreading the chicken salad in an even layer out to the edges of the bread. Top each sandwich with 4 slices of apple, then sprinkle the smoked cheddar overtop of the apple slices.
- Place in the oven and broil until the cheese is gooey and melted. Remove from the oven and sprinkle each sandwich with additional fresh thyme leaves and freshly ground black pepper. Serve immediately.