How To Make Chicken Salad For Toddlers (Salade Valen)
It only seemed right to name this one after our son, Valen, who neither created nor named this dish but whose occasional temperament and irascibility when it comes to dinner certainly inspired its, well, flexibility. Though Russian in origin–where it is known as olivier salad, after the chef who created it–it has become especially popular in South American and Middle Eastern countries in recent years, for good reason: comforting, easy to make and endlessly adaptable–it’s just kind of the perfect lunch.
Now, I could tell you that this is a cross between chicken salad and potato salad, but that sounds rather complicated for a small child. Instead, I’d point you to the ingredients: soft chicken, potatoes and peas, yogurt and mayonnaise–all the things they probably already like. What they may not like is the appearance, but we’ve got you covered, literally, with several different ways to serve the dish, including between and under a lot of carbs.
- 2 Chicken Thighs* (or one large chicken breast)
- Low- or No-salt Chicken Broth
- 6 small Potatoes (e.g., Yukon, the “teeny-tiny” ones you find at Trader Joe’s; can also use sweet potatoes)
- 1/2 box frozen Peas (½ can of peas fine, too)
- 1/2 small Onion (optional)
- Plain Yogurt
- Mayonnaise (or Miracle Whip)
- Turmeric (optional; don’t include if your child might be put off by yellow tint)
- Parsley
- 1/2 Orange (or ⅓ lemon; use two squirts of mustard if your child doesn’t like citrus flavoring his/her food)
- Everything Bagel seasoning
- 1/2 roll Puff Pastry Dough
- Cream Cheese
- Peel the skin off the potatoes.
- If using, dice onion into small pieces.
- Drain and rinse peas if using canned peas.
- Set a small pot of broth (or water) to boil. Once bubbling, drop the potatoes in and cook for 15 minutes.
- When done, remove the potatoes from the pot but not the water; if using frozen ones, pour in the peas and allow 4-5 minutes for peas to soften and warm before removing from the water.
- While peas cook, place the potatoes in a large bowl and, using a fork or masher, smash down until somewhere between small chunks and mashed potatoes. Toss peas into the same bowl.
If you need to cook raw chicken, use this method: it’s fast and works every time.
- Cook the onions until soft and lightly golden, roughly 4-5 minutes. Add onions to the bowl with the potatoes and peas.
- Shred chicken piece(s) with your hands until the shards are a size comfortable for your child; toss into the bowl.
- Add two big scoops of yogurt, one scoop of mayonnaise, a ton of parsley, and a generous amount of turmeric; squeeze out your citrus all around the bowl. Mix all the ingredients together until blended, mashing as needed to break things into smaller and/or easier-to-chew pieces.
- Cover mixture and allow to chill and cohere in the fridge for 30-60 minutes. When ready to serve, sprinkle with a bit of Everything Bagel seasoning and serve.
The dish is ready to go–just choose a delivery mechanism that matches your child’s needs and interests. If your child is younger than 12 months and/or prefers to eat things separate, you can serve as is. Otherwise, I’ve found great success leveraging the dish as a spread or dip: on crackers, in a sandwich, with raw crunchy vegetables. (Fun fact: it’s great on Cheez-It’s.)
With its base of simple ingredients and flavors, the salad can be remixed in a nearly infinite amount of ways: change the ratio of yogurt and mayonnaise; switch out the peas for poached carrots; add crunchy things, like diced cucumbers; and so on and so on. Child bored with it after one meal? Won’t eat it at all? Make a chicken pot pie handheld! See next step for how:
- Chicken Pot Pie Handheld Directions
Cut out a long strip–about twice as long as wide–of puff pastry dough from its roll. Spread cream cheese down the center of the bottom half of the pastry strip, then top with the chicken salad mix, making sure to leave enough room around the edges; use a knife or your hands to press down and spread out the mix so it’s evenly distributed. In a small bowl, beat the egg; brush the egg wash all along the sides of the top half of the pastry dough, then fold it over the top of the bottom half, using a fork or your hands to press and fuse all the edges together. Brush some of hte egg wash on the top of the puff pastry pocket and then air fry or oven bake at 375 for 7 minutes (air fryer) or 10 minutes (oven) before flipping and cooking for 1-3 more minutes in the air fryer (as needed) and another 8-10 min if using oven.
*You can totally use leftover cooked chicken or parts of a rotisserie chicken you may have purchased from a store or restaurant instead of cooking the chicken yourself: will save you several minutes of time and some grief. Thigh meat, which tends to remain moist even after refrigeration or time passing, is recommended; however, since you’ll be ripping the meat into small pieces, any part of the chicken will suffice.
Brad (the Dad) is the founder and Chief Recipe Officer of New Dad's Kitchen. His own cooking/feeding journey started humbly during his son's infancy, preparing and managing his son's bottle intake in order to support his wife; it has since blossomed into a full-on passion to feed his child and family delicious and healthy meals that can satisfy both a toddler and his very tired parents.
