Coronation Chicken was one of my favourite sandwich fillers growing up. If you’ve never had it before, it’s a quintessential British dish – often served in a sandwich, a salad, or here as a Coronation Chicken Sweet Potato Jacket. Yum! If you’ve never had it before then you should absolutely try it. It’s a sweet tasting, creamy curried dish. The addition of apricots and mango make it really fruity and fresh. It’s perfect for leftover chicken too!
Where does Coronation Chicken come from?
Coronation Chicken was invented in England in 1953. It was created for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and has remained as a staple in Britain ever since. However, I do see that it’s popularity has waned over the years and you don’t tend to see it around quite as much. But maybe that’s my perception of it since I did tend to eat it a lot more when I was younger. Plus, I have lived abroad for 6 years…
You will find Coronation Chicken in a lot of places in the UK – from supermarket prepackaged sandwiches to delis. The quality does vary though. Over the years the recipe has become modified quite extensively. The original recipe involves simmering red wine with curry powder, lemon juice and tomato puree. This version is a no cook, simpler option but I’m trying to keep a few things true to the original. For example, many recipes now use sultanas instead of apricots, which I am not. Writing this has actually inspired me to have a go at cooking the original. I will add it to my ‘to cook’ list and then post it when I do!
What goes well with Coronation Chicken?
Coronation Chicken is typically served in a sandwich or salad. A stuffed jacket potato (such as this recipe) is also popular in the UK. Since it’s pretty versatile you could have it one day in a sweet jacket potato (as per this recipe), and then as a sandwich another day to mix things up a little. Both are totally yum!
How long does this Coronation Chicken Sweet Potato Jacket keep in the fridge?
You can cook this recipe in advance and it will happily stay in the fridge for up to 3 days. Of course that depends on how long the chicken you use has been cooked. If it’s already been sitting in your fridge for two days then I wouldn’t keep this more than a day or so.
Personally, I prefer to cook my sweet potato when I’m going to eat it. You can cook in advance and reheat it either in the microwave or in the oven (best method) for 20-30 minutes (so you may as well have just cooked it from fresh).
I generally wouldn’t recommend freezing this dish. Mayo isn’t a good option for the freezer as it can separate during the freezing process and while it will be technically safe to freeze this recipe, the texture will suffer.
If you are a fan of coronation chicken, then this chicken tikka stuffed avocado recipe will be right up your street too!
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Coronation Chicken Sweet Potato Jacket
Course: LunchCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy1
servings10
minutes45
minutes500
kcalA super sweet and fruity Coronation Chicken Sweet Potato Jacket. Creamy curried dressing combines apricot, chicken and crunchy celery.
Ingredients
1 medium sweet potato (around 300g)
1 tsp flaked almonds
2 dried apricots, finely chopped
1/2 stick of celery, finely diced
1 tsp chopped fresh coriander
75g cooked chicken
2 tsp natural yogurt
2 tsp low fat mayo
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp mango chutney
1 tsp lemon juice
Directions
- Heat the oven to 200C. Pierce the sweet potato skin several times with a fork and place in the middle of the oven and cook for 45-60 minutes.
- Toast the flaked almonds in a small frying pan over a medium high heat. You don’t need any oil & make sure they don’t burn!
- Add the almonds with the apricot, celery and coriander in a bowl. Chop or shred the chopped chicken and add to the bowl.
- Make the dressing by mixing together the yogurt, mayo, mango chutney and curry powder in a bowl. Add to the bowl with the chicken and combine everything.
- Mix everything together and then slice the potato and place inside. I also topped with a pinch of mustard seeds (optional)