Not quite an authentic Coronation Chicken recipe

I have to confess I was not a Coronation chicken fan as a child, or growing up. Mainly I suspect because  I LOATHE raisins, with an extreme passion and I will only eat them in certain foods and coronation chicken is not one of them.

Coronation Chicken is one of Britain’s most recognisable sandwich fillings, but many people don’t realise it was created for a very specific occasion.

Originally called Poulet Reine Elizabeth, the dish was developed in 1953 for the coronation luncheon of Queen Elizabeth II. It was created by Rosemary Hume and Constance Spry, who were tasked with designing a meal that would be suitable for hundreds of international guests attending the celebrations.

The original recipe combined cold chicken with a lightly curried cream and mayonnaise sauce, reflecting Britain’s growing fascination with international flavours during the post-war years. At a time when rationing had only recently ended, the use of curry powder and exotic spices felt surprisingly modern.

Over the decades, Coronation Chicken evolved from a royal luncheon dish into a staple of British cafés, picnics and sandwich shops. Modern versions often include mango chutney, dried apricots, sultanas or toasted almonds, but the essence remains the same: tender chicken coated in a mildly spiced, creamy sauce.

If you’d like to make a version close to the original, Le Cordon Bleu London — the cookery school involved in creating the dish — provides an authentic recipe here:

Le Cordon Bleu Coronation Chicken Recipe

The original recipe is more of a hot meal, whereas now we think of coronation chicken in salads or sandwiches which is how I know it.

I recently experimented with my own recipe which is a very much not authentic version that my family loves. It’s super quick and easy and there are no raisins.

These feeds 4 people as a main for a salad or you could use it in jacket potatoes or in sandwiches. We like it as a salad. I also find some coronation chicken recipes or meals rather dry, so this version we have is a bit more “saucy”.

You will need:

• 500g of cooked chicken, chopped into bite size pieces.
• 500mls of mayonnaise
• 1 table spoon of mango chutney
• 1.5 tablespoons of mild curry powder (you can use hotter if you prefer0
• 1 tsp of smoked paprika
• 150g of walnuts, chopped roughly
• salad leaves of your choice if you are using salad

Method in the madness:

• mix the chutney, mayonnaise, curry powder and paprika together well
• add the chicken to the mixture and make sure the chicken is well coated
• lightly toast your walnuts in a non stick pan for about 2 minutes. You do not want them to burn just bring the flavour out.
• Incorporate your chicken mix with your salad leaves and toss well so the sauce mixes with the leaves.
• Add the toasted walnuts

If you don’t want to ea this with salad you can serve it with your choice of carbs, It stores for 48 hours in the fridge.

Definitely not authentic, but I promise it is delicious.

If you didn’t want to use chicken in this recipe, you could use crispy tofu, or chickpeas as a swap.