Curried Chicken Naan Bread

Ready in less than 10 minutes, this curried chicken naan bread recipe makes a delicious and healthy lunch or quick dinner from leftover chicken. It’s a toddler favourite too! Taking inspiration from the classic English salad coronation chicken, leftover roast chicken is mixed in a creamy yogurt and mayonnaise dressing spiced with curry powder, then spooned onto warm naan bread and topped with baby spinach, cucumber and avocado.

Jump to:

• Why we love this recipe
• Ingredients Notes and Substitutions
• How to heat naan bread
• My Recipe Tips
• Ideas for leftovers
• More simple, no cook recipes for you
• Curried Chicken Naan Bread
• How to heat naan bread

Why we love this recipe

• Easy recipe – The only cooking is heating the naan bread, everything else is a case of chopping and mixing.
• Quick – ready in less than 10 minutes!
• A delicious light summer dinner.
• A simple recipe for using leftover chicken.
• Loved by the whole family – my 2 year old included!

Ingredients Notes and Substitutions

• Chicken – leftover roast or poached chicken, or rotisserie chicken.
• Spinach – baby spinach. If you like peppery rocket or watercress that would be lovely, as would some finely chopped lettuce.
• Curry powder – I use mild curry powder. If not serving it to kids, you could use a hot curry powder – but start with less and add more to taste!
• Naan bread – I like to use plain or garlic and herb, the smaller ‘Mission’ brand of naan breads (not mini) They are 70g each rather than 120g. You can always use the larger naan breads and use one naan, cut in half, or fold them over to make a sandwich with the chicken filling.
• Yogurt – plain, no added sugar Greek yogurt or plain yogurt. The addition of greek yogurt not only makes the dressing lighter but also adds a touch of sharpness against the rich mayonnaise.
• Mayonnaise – full fat or half fat egg mayonnaise such as Hellman’s mayonnaise.

How to heat naan bread

• Under the Grill – Heat to a medium heat, remove naan from packaging and place on a baking tray. Sprinkle the naan bread with a little water and grill for 1 minute, then turn over and grill the other side for a minute.
• In the oven – Preheat the oven to 180˚C (356˚F). Remove the naan bread from packaging, sprinkle them with a few drops of water, wrap in tin foil, and bake for 3-4 minutes.
• Microwave – Remove from packaging and place on a microwave safe plate. Microwave on full for 20-40 seconds (depending on size of naan)
• In a pan/skillet – Heat the pan over a high heat, place a naan bread into the pan and cook for 5-10 seconds before flipping over and heating the other side for 5-10 seconds.
• Toaster – Pop the naan bread in the toaster for 1-2 minutes.

My Recipe Tips

• Low carb option – this salad is delicious served on it’s own or in crunchy lettuce cups.
• Chicken Salad with croutons – make the naan in to croutons and sprinkle over the salad.
• A little more spice – when not serving this to my son, a like to add a pinch of dried chilli for a spicy kick.
• Veggies – Use whatever vegetables you have to hand – I’ve made it with grated carrot, finely chopped celery, and served it on lettuce rather than spinach. The cucumber ribbons are purely for presentation; when short for time I chop the cucumber into cubes and mix it in with the chicken!

Ideas for leftovers

• Chicken salad – as this recipe uses leftover chicken already, I would use it straight away.
• Naan bread – you can freeze any leftover naan, or keep in the fridge for up to 3 days and:
  • serve with your favourite curry. We love it with chana masala (chickpea tomato curry), coconut chickpea curry and satay pumpkin curry
  • Toast and serve with dips such as this stunning purple beetroot raita, yogurt and cucumber dip
• Avocado – use the other half of the avocado to make this 3 ingredient avocado vinaigrette, in this healthy egg sandwich, or make half the amount of this Venezuelan avocado dip

More simple, no cook recipes for you

When the weather is hot, and you don’t want to turn the oven on, try these light and easy recipes (the turkey baguette also works really well with leftover chicken!)

This recipe was originally published March 2019. It has since been updated with new photos and more informative text. The recipe remains the same.