This tropical chicken salad with pineapple, curry, and coconut is a retro favorite worth resurrecting—creamy, crunchy, and perfect chilled.

Once upon a time ago… when we lived in Houston, I belonged to a Mothers of Multiples club. We often gathered for social time—sometimes with families, sometimes just the mommas. This recipe comes from one of those kid-free luncheons. There were several salads that day, but honestly, I don’t remember a single one except this. It stood out. It was so good.

Why You’ll Love Rainbow Crunch Salad

Great for potlucks and brunches
Tropical, creamy, and crunchy
Make-ahead friendly
Works with freshly cooked or leftover rice

Real Recipes, Re-discovered

I asked for the recipe and made it on repeat for a while. But eventually, like so many good things, it got lost in the abyss of my recipe box—hidden behind tabbed dividers and cut out recipes. Recently, I decided to purge that box. While tossing out the “meh” & unmade & outdated recipes, I stumbled upon this one…and a few other gems. I decided they deserved resurrection.

This is one of those oldies but goodies. Right up there with my ROTEX Potato Salad.

You can make this with freshly cooked rice or use leftovers—both work beautifully. In fact, tonight’s dinner was leftover shredded pork with Hula Hoop Sauce and Hawaiian slaw, served with coconut rice. That mild coconutty flavor? Perfect for this recipe. So that rice is going straight into tomorrow’s batch and now I am off to dig through the rest of that recipe box to see what other treasures need a second life.

Shameless Shortcuts, Swaps, and Serving Ideas

Shortcut–Try leftover or rotisserie chicken
Swap–in slivered or sliced almonds
Serve–as a lettuce wrap, tuck into croissants or a Hawaiian roll
Swap–in a different type of rice–try jasmine or coconut rice for even more flavor

This one is great for potlucks, brunches, or just when you want something bright and refreshing in the fridge. It tastes even better the next day, after the flavors have had time to get friendly. Real food. Real kitchens. Real love.–The Food Civilian

Rainbow Crunch Salad

colorful, creamy, crunchy, curry-spiked chicken salad with pineapple, celery, and water chestnuts

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Course dinner, lunch, Salad

Cuisine American

Servings 12 servings

Ingredients

Combine & mix well:

2-3 c cooked rice (1 c raw rice. Cook how you choose.)
3 c chicken cooked & diced
2 c celery diced
1 bunch green onions sliced
1 8 oz can sliced water chestnuts drained
1 14 oz can pineapple tidbits drained
2 oz coconut chips can use flaked coconut
½ c macadamia nuts, chopped or slivered almonds

For dressing, combine the following well:

1 c Greek yogurt, plain
½ c mayo
½ c sour cream
2 TBS lemon juice
2 tsp curry powder
½ tsp salt & pepper or to taste

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine all salad ingredients.
In a separate bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients.
Pour dressing over salad and mix until well coated.
Chill thoroughly before serving.

Notes

You can leave out the chicken or swap in ham for a different version.

The original recipe did not include green onions, nuts, or peppers & had 2 cans of pineapple and was called Chicken Salad Honolulu.

Serve in a Hawaiian roll or as a lettuce wrap with romaine or butter lettuce leaves.

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