Introduction
Today we revisit the famous coronation chicken, a historic recipe here in the United Kingdom, and make it vegan. Our plant-based version is also super easy and quick to prepare, ready in just 15 minutes. Let us show you how to do it!
Coronation chicken is a British dish created for the banquet of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on the 2nd of June 1953. The recipe combined cold roasted chicken with "exotic" Indian flavours like curry and mango. Since then, the coronation chicken has become a huge hit, and it's now a traditional dish in the UK, found in many flavourful variations.
The classic recipe consists of cooked shredded chicken coated with a rich curry dressing. The coronation sauce is made by mixing a thick syrupy mix of sauteed butter, chillies, onions, curry powder, tomato puree, chicken stock, and apricot jam with mayonnaise and creme fraiche. Finally, the dish is topped with chopped mango, fresh coriander and almonds, and served on a bed of lettuce.
As the name implies, the coronation chicken recipe is not vegan: it contains chicken, dairy from butter and creme fraiche, and eggs from mayonnaise. So, we decided to make a plant-based, dairy-free, and egg-free version of this famous dish, perfect for everyone to enjoy without worries. And it's just as tasty as the classic one!
We used canned green jackfruit instead of chicken, cooked it with seasonings, and pulled it into chicken-like shreds. Then, we replaced regular mayo with our homemade vegan cashew mayo, but you can also use store-bought one. We also simplified the recipe to include as few ingredients as possible, and we swapped jam with whole dried apricots and raisins for a sweet chewy finish.
The result is a speedy vegan chicken salad, sweet, spicy, and crunchy, with a delicious combo of exciting flavours. And the good news is one serving has just 180 calories and 11 grams of fats, which translates into half the calories and three times fewer fats than the non-vegan one. So go ahead and make a big batch of it and use it to top a salad bowl, stuff a jacket potato, or fill a lunch sandwich. Yum!
