Pumpkin season is upon us!
Too bad it is still ridiculously hot here.
Despite the heat, I’ve decided it’s time to bring the pumpkin back. Â Given our new anti-inflammatory diet experiment, I didn’t start out with some decadent baked good. Â No, this recipe is simple, healthy, and grain-free.
It also sounds a bit strange… but I promise you that adding pumpkin to chicken is good.
In other countries, pumpkin is more often used in a savory manner. Â It really is just another winter squash. Â It’s not odd to each butternut or acorn squash as a main course. Â Why not pumpkin?
I have long been a fan of the “naked” Whole Foods rotisserie chicken.  I debone them as soon as I get home and keep the shredded chicken in the fridge of quick meals.  I also usually have a can of chipotles in adobo sauce* on hand, which makes for a fun addition to soups or sauces.  I love the smokey spiciness it adds!
*If you don’t have any adobo, any BBQ sauce would work well here. Â You could even add some liquid smoke.
This chicken salad topped a fresh lettuce-based salad, but you could make a chicken salad sandwich out of it too. Â It’s an easy, healthy lunch!
![Spicy Pumpkin Chicken Salad [Recipe]](https://www.sprint2thetable.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Spicy-Pumpkin-Chicken-Salad-Recipe.jpg)
Spicy Pumpkin Chicken Salad
- 4 oz shredded chicken
- 2 T pumpkin puree
- 1 T adobo or BBQ sauce
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, to thin
In a small bowl, mix together ingredients to combine.
Use to top a fresh salad or smash it between bread for a tasty sandwich!
How have you enjoyed making co-workers, friends, or family stare with strange but good creations this week? The link up rules can be found here or by clicking on “Strange But Good” in the menu bar above. In short, I want to see what concoctions have earned you weird looks from co-workers, family and friends! Post your Strange But Good creations, grab the logo below for your blog, and link up here.
Remember to use #strangebutgood in any Tweets and Instagrams of your creations. 🙂
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This anti-inflammatory diet is beneficial for my creativity!
Do you use pumpkin in savory recipes?
What’s your favorite pumpkin recipe?
cubes of roasted pumpkin would be so good here too! i love love pumpkin. the indian store has it most of the year (the asian variety) and i loe making subzi out of it!
and adobo sauce makes everything taste. amazing. its… amazing. great vocabulary, right?! haha
Pumpkin chunks would be great too! Errrrr… amazing. 😉
I pretty much always use pumpkin as a savory – but then again that’s what we do in Europe! The amount of people I know who freak out at the idea of a pumpkin spice latte ‘what? Put vegetables in coffee? Are you insane!?’ Haha!
This looks so good though and right up my alley!
That sounds perfectly good!!
I’ve never had any kind of sweet pumpkin food. Southern hemisphere representing!
Never?! You need to come to the States in the fall. While it’s over-done, the pumpkin gelato does not suck. 😉
I thought it already was pumpkin season with avalanche of recipes haha! What a good idea! Rotisserie chicken is a quick and easy meal. Haven’t done that one in awhile.
This reminds me a lot of the filling for my Turkey cranberry pumpkin enchiladas that I make every Thanksgiving–aka I KNOW that it will be delicious!
Ohhhh… I DO need to make those!
such a great idea adding pumpkin to a chicken salad, such a great #strangebutgood recipe!!! 🙂
Eeee! Yes! Savory pumpkin recipe!! Love this!
Did I tell you I’ve been eating some chicken. The whole foods rotisserie is actually good! Yep, I need to try this recipe. 🙂
I know!!! Still in shock, actually.
Oohhh I would never have thought to do it like this! Gotta try! And I love savory winter squash so good esp roasted. That’s my fav 🙂
Let me know if you do try it! SO quick and easy!
Oooh interesting.. Wouldn’t have thought to use pumpkin like this but it looks yummy 🙂
I was actually long in the pumpkin-hater category until I realized that I mostly just dislike it in sweets. Bring on the pumpkin curries and soups for me. I did a similar flavor combo a few weeks ago with butternut squash & chipotle…I think yours would def be a winner too!
Butternut would be good too! I also do a habanero-butternut-apple soup… which I will make again if it EVER cools down.
I love all things pumpkin so this sounds delicious. I would love to try this. I recently was reading a blog and they posted pumpkin salmon. That I may be not trying anytime soon.
I love pumpkin chili but this season I have more butternut squash so I swap it in. This is a genius idea!!!! I would love to wrap this up for an enchilada filling.
Butternut is a great idea! So are enchiladas… I don’t know why I never make those!
I love your strange, but good recipe creations. This one sounds particularly good! What are those mini watermelon looking veggies in your salad?
They are called watermelon cucumbers; I found them at my local produce store. They only look like watermelon though. The taste is definitely on the cucumber side!
3 things –> SPICY (YES, so good for body), Apple cider vinegar (GUT HEALTH), PUMPKIN (Vitamin A and Healthy starch). YOU WIN! Plus protein, duh.
I didn’t even know how much I was winning when I made this. HA! We are both all about the ACV.
I think I actually prefer savory pumpkin recipes to the sweet ones, even those which involve meat. Yep, I said it.
Mmmmm… bacon. You know you like the salty meats.
Spicy. Pumpkin. Chicken. I like the sound of that! I am so glad that pumpkin season is upon us :). The only time I’ve done savory + pumpkin is in soup, but I think I need to do it with chicken now!
I love spicy and I love pumpkin, but I never thought to put them together.
So what should I do with the rest of the can of pumpkin puree after making this? haha 🙂
i’ve only made one recipe using pumpkin puree and it had penne, ground meat, pumpkin and evaporated milk. i do have a can of pumpkin right now that is screaming MAKE ME so maybe i can do both recipes this weekend or something!
Oh man… I have a million recipes if you need one! Pumpkin junkie… LOL!
That recipe sounds really cool! I made a pumpkin-tomato sauce last season that was pretty cool. I should have added ground meat!
This sounds amazing! Who would have thought to add straight up pumpkin to chicken – I must try this!
This chicken looks AMAZING! I love the flavor combos going on here. I think I’m going to try this pumpkin chicken out in a fall taco recipe I have! Pinning!