Name: Delia Smith Coronation Chicken Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 53 min
Ingredients: 450 g cooked chicken (skin and bones removed and meat cut into bite-sized pieces); 2 tsp Madras curry powder (level (the same as 1 UK dessertspoon)); 65 ml mayonnaise; 40 ml natural yoghurt; 1 tbsp mango chutney (any mango pieces finely chopped); 40 g raisins; 40 g ready-to-eat dried apricots (quartered); 40 g whole blanched almonds (toasted and roughly chopped); 3 spring onions (sliced thinly including the green parts); salt and freshly ground black pepper; 75 g baby leaf salad; small handful of fresh coriander leaves (to garnish)

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If you searched for a coronation chicken recipe Delia Smith wrote, here is the first thing to know. Her own version is called Curried Chicken Salad. Delia Online credits it to The Delia Collection: Chicken, and it serves 6. It is cooked chicken in a light mayonnaise and yoghurt dressing with Madras curry, mango chutney, raisins, dried apricots and toasted almonds, spooned over baby salad leaves.

I’ve written the method in my own words and added the bits her page leaves out. That includes how to split the almonds, what to do about her curry powder and paste mix-up, and how to scale it for 3 or 12. I’m not connected to Delia or Delia Online, so check her site if you want her exact wording.

Jump to the recipe card at the end of this page for exact quantities and a printable version.

What’s in It

You need cooked chicken (a whole one, or leftover meat), Madras curry powder, mayonnaise, natural yoghurt, mango chutney, raisins, ready-to-eat dried apricots, whole blanched almonds, spring onions, baby leaf salad, fresh coriander, salt and black pepper. For equipment, you need a baking sheet and a timer for the almonds, a large bowl for the chicken and a small bowl for the dressing. A wide serving dish helps, because the salad is heaped up on a bed of leaves.

Choosing and Cooking the Chicken

Delia’s page says a medium cooked chicken, or 450 g of leftover cooked chicken. I treat 450 g of picked meat as the target and weigh it. A shop-bought roast chicken works well. I like a mix of breast and thigh because thigh meat stays juicier, but that’s my preference, not hers.

If you only have raw chicken, poach breasts gently in water until a probe thermometer reads 75°C in the thickest part. The time depends on how thick they are, so trust the thermometer. Take the skin and bones off, then let the chicken cool completely before you mix. Warm chicken thins the dressing.

How I Make It

Heat the oven. Set it to 180°C (160°C fan, gas mark 4). This is only for the almonds, so you can do it while you prepare everything else.
Toast the almonds. Spread the blanched almonds on a baking sheet and toast them for 8 minutes, using a timer. Delia’s page says to use a timer, and I agree, because almonds go from pale to scorched quickly. Leave them to cool for a couple of minutes, then chop them roughly.
Prepare the chicken. Strip the meat from the bones, throw away the skin and cut the meat into bite-sized pieces. Put it in a large mixing bowl. Bite-sized matters here, because big chunks make the salad awkward to scoop onto a sandwich or a fork.
Mix the dressing. In a small bowl, stir the mayonnaise and yoghurt together with the curry powder and the chutney. Chop any large pieces of mango in the chutney finely so every spoonful tastes the same. Taste a little of it now. It should taste of curry, sweetness and a slight tang from the yoghurt. Then pour it over the chicken.
Add the extras. Add the raisins, the apricots (quartered), about three-quarters of the spring onions and about two-thirds of the almonds. Mix everything thoroughly. Taste, then season. I season last because the mayonnaise and chutney already carry some salt.
Cover the bowl and chill it. Delia’s page says to chill until needed and gives no set time. I give it at least 30 minutes, which is my habit and not her instruction. It lets the raisins and apricots soften a little and the flavours blend. Taste again before serving, because cold food tastes less seasoned.
Put the baby leaves in the base of a serving dish. Spoon the chicken over the top and heap it up so it has some height. Scatter the reserved spring onions, the reserved almonds and the coriander leaves over the top.

The Name Nobody Mentions

Search for Delia Smith coronation chicken and you’ll find plenty of recipes with her name on them, and they don’t agree. Some use tomato purée, onion and apricot jam. Some poach the chicken in stock. Some add paprika, cumin and cinnamon. None of that is in the Delia Online recipe I found. Her recipe is Curried Chicken Salad, and it has no cooked sauce at all. A few pages say it comes from her Summer Collection, but her own page credits The Delia Collection: Chicken.

The first coronation chicken was a different dish. It was made for the 1953 coronation lunch and was called Poulet Reine Elizabeth. Rosemary Hume of the Cordon Bleu school in London is credited with it, working with Constance Spry, and it appears in The Constance Spry Cookery Book. One food writer describes that sauce as mayonnaise, whipped cream, apricot and tomato purée, lemon juice and red wine, with only a hint of curry powder.

My reading is that Delia’s recipe is a quick shortcut in the same style. Yoghurt and chutney do the job that the cooked sauce did. It’s still what most people want when they type her name next to coronation chicken.

The Curry Powder or Paste Mix-up Nobody Explains

Delia’s ingredient list says 1 dessertspoon of Madras curry powder. Her method then says to mix the dressing with the curry paste. The page contradicts itself. I follow the ingredient list, so I use powder, because that is the only amount she gives. A UK dessertspoon is 10 ml, which is 2 level teaspoons.

Powder stirred into a cold dressing can taste a little raw and dusty, because the spices haven’t been cooked. That is one reason the amount is small and the chill time helps. If you want a rounder flavour, warm the powder in a teaspoon of oil in a small pan for about a minute, let it cool fully and stir it in. That is a common technique in other curried chicken salads, and it isn’t part of Delia’s recipe.

If you only have paste, pastes are usually stronger and vary by brand. My reading is to start with about 1 teaspoon, taste, and add more. Paste also brings salt and oil, so check the seasoning at the end.

Splitting the Almonds and Spring Onions

Delia doesn’t tip everything into the bowl at once. Her method puts about three-quarters of the spring onions and about two-thirds of the almonds into the salad. The rest goes on top at the end. I worked out the amounts by multiplying: of 40 g almonds, about 27 g go in and about 13 g stay back. Of 3 spring onions, about 2 and a quarter go in and three quarters stay back.

In practice, slice all three spring onions, then put roughly three-quarters of the slices in the bowl. Chop all the toasted almonds roughly, as her page says, and save about a third. The saved almonds stay crunchy because they never touch the dressing.

Making Less or More: Quantities for 3, 6 and 12

I scaled Delia’s amounts for 6 by halving and doubling them. At 6 servings, 450 g of chicken works out at 75 g each. My reading is that this suits a bed of leaves with a side or two, and it’s on the light side if the salad is the whole meal. The dressing comes to about 23 ml of mayonnaise and yoghurt combined for every 100 g of chicken (105 ml across 450 g). Mayonnaise makes up about 62% of that.

Ingredient	Serves 3	Serves 6 (Delia’s)	Serves 12
Cooked Chicken	225 g	450 g	900 g
Madras Curry Powder	1 tsp	2 tsp	4 tsp
Mayonnaise	32 ml	65 ml	130 ml
Natural Yoghurt	20 ml	40 ml	80 ml
Mango Chutney	1/2 tbsp	1 tbsp	2 tbsp
Raisins	20 g	40 g	80 g
Dried Apricots	20 g	40 g	80 g
Blanched Almonds	20 g	40 g	80 g
Spring Onions	1–2	3	6
Baby Leaf Salad	38 g	75 g	150 g

For 12, use a much bigger bowl and add the last teaspoon of curry powder only after tasting. Spice doesn’t always scale in a straight line.

Common Mistakes and How I Fixed Them

The dressing tastes raw or dusty. Cause: uncooked curry powder. Fix: warm it in a little oil first (see the powder or paste section above), or give the salad longer in the fridge.

The salad is watery. Cause: chicken that was still warm, or wet chicken straight from a poaching pan. Fix: cool it fully and pat it dry before mixing. Thick natural yoghurt also helps.

It tastes too sweet. Cause: too much chutney, or big lumps of mango in one spoonful. Fix: measure the chutney, chop the mango pieces finely and stir the dressing well before you pour it.

The almonds go soft. Cause: they sat in the dressing for hours. Fix: do what Delia does and keep a third back for the top. If you’re making the salad well ahead, add all the almonds just before serving.

The almonds taste bitter. Cause: they went past golden in the oven. Fix: set a timer for 8 minutes and check them on time. Ovens vary, so look at the colour as well.

It tastes flat after chilling. Cause: cold dulls flavour. Fix: taste again just before serving and adjust the salt, pepper or a little more chutney.

Variations

Sultanas for raisins. Same weight, slightly milder.
Greek yoghurt for natural yoghurt. The dressing comes out thicker.
Lighter dressing. Mayonnaise is the biggest source of fat in my nutrition estimate, so swapping some of it for yoghurt makes the salad lighter. The flavour changes a little too.
Nut allergy. Leave out the almonds and top with toasted pumpkin seeds.
Sandwiches, wraps or jacket potatoes. Use the same filling and skip the leaves.

What to Serve With It

Delia’s page puts the chicken on baby leaf salad, and the peppery leaves work well against the creamy dressing. It suits a summer buffet next to a rice salad, potato salad or coleslaw. It also works in sandwiches with thick bread and as a jacket potato filling.

Make Ahead, Storing and Freezing

You can mix the chicken, dressing, raisins and apricots a day ahead. Keep the almonds, spring onions and leaves separate and add them just before serving.

Store leftovers in a covered container in the fridge for up to 2 days. That is general guidance for cooked chicken leftovers and doesn’t come from Delia’s page. For a buffet, keep the bowl cold and put out small amounts at a time.

I wouldn’t freeze it. Mayonnaise and yoghurt dressings tend to split and turn watery after thawing.

FAQs

Is Delia Smith’s coronation chicken the same as her curried chicken salad?

As far as I can find, yes. The recipe on Delia Online is called Curried Chicken Salad, and it’s the one people usually mean when they search for her coronation chicken. It has no cooked sauce, so it’s quicker than the 1953 original.

Does Delia use curry powder or curry paste in coronation chicken?

Her ingredient list says 1 dessertspoon of Madras curry powder, but her method mentions curry paste. I’d follow the list and use powder, or start with about 1 teaspoon of paste and taste.

How many people does Delia Smith’s coronation chicken serve?

It serves 6. That’s 450 g of cooked chicken, so about 75 g per person. Scale the quantities using the table above for 3 or 12.

Can I use a shop-bought roast chicken?

Yes. Weigh about 450 g of meat after you take off the skin and bones.

What temperature do I toast the almonds at?

Use 180°C (160°C fan, gas mark 4) for 8 minutes, and use a timer. Chop them roughly once they’ve cooled for a couple of minutes.

How long does coronation chicken keep in the fridge?

Up to 2 days in a covered container is the general guidance for cooked chicken leftovers. Keep any salad leaves separate so they don’t wilt.

Can you freeze coronation chicken?

I wouldn’t. The mayonnaise and yoghurt dressing tends to split and go watery once thawed.

Who invented coronation chicken?

Rosemary Hume of Le Cordon Bleu London is credited with it, working with Constance Spry, for the 1953 coronation lunch. It was first called Poulet Reine Elizabeth.

One Last Thing

Taste the dressing before it goes on the chicken, and taste the salad again after it has chilled. That is the part that decides whether it works. Most of the rest of the recipe is flexible.

Nancy Wilson