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These chicken sandwich melts are scrumptious and they are an easy company-ready dish that takes minutes to put together. They will win over a crowd every time! The first time I tried them (shamelessly eating 3 sandwiches), I was scribbling down the recipe before I finished chewing.
I’m always on the lookout for recipes that are great for unexpected visitors or even expected ones. You don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen for your friends and family to love what you cook.
This spread is loaded with cheesy chicken and tomatoes and is seasoned to perfection! (P.S. Make sure to check out the easy recipe for Johnny’s Seasoning in the post below). You have to try this recipe! I made them as soon as I could get to the grocery store and brought them to my Mom’s house and it was obvious after 5 minutes that I should have made more!
Every time we visit our family in the Seattle, WA area, we come home with loads of inspiration and new recipes. The gals in my family are amazing cooks! They have graciously contributed loads of recipes to this blog and I’m so thankful for that.
This recipe comes from my beautiful friend/Cousin’s wife, Alla – there should be an easier term for “cousin’s wife.” For the sake of simplicity, I’ll call her my friend, nah we’re more like sisters. 😉 Other great recipes from Alla include:
Grilled Moroccan Veggie Skewers:
Talk about a Mediterranean experience! Thank you Alla for sharing your recipes with all of us. You’re welcome to visit us in Idaho anytime! 🙂
Ingredients for Alla’s Easy Chicken Sandwiches:
1 loaf good Bread, sliced
2 cans (12.5 oz each) chicken breast in water, well drained
3/4 cup real mayo, or to taste
*Johnny’s seasoning, to taste (see recipe for making your own seasoning below)
1 large tomato, diced
1/3 bunch Cilantro
6 oz mild cheddar cheese, finely shredded inside or a slice of cheese on top.
Sriracha hot chili sauce to taste, or your favorite hot sauce (optional)
*You can make your own Johnny’s seasoning easily:
(NOTE: Do not use this entire batch of seasoning for this recipe – add it to taste)
1 ½ Tbsp sea salt
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
How to Make Easy Chicken Sandwich Melts:
1. Drain canned chicken and transfer to a large mixing bowl and break it up lightly with a fork.
2. Stir in 3/4 cup mayo or to taste along with Johnny’s seasoning to taste (I used a little more than 1/4 tsp seasoning).
3. Add diced tomatoes, chopped cilantro and shredded cheddar cheese. Stir to combine.
4. Add Sriracha hot sauce to taste. The Sriracha hot sauce gives it a nice kick and it’s so good, but if you want it to be kid friendly, you can divide the mixture and only put it into half of the spread
5. Spread generously over good sliced bread (this one’s from Costco) and bake uncovered on a cookie sheet at 350˚F for 8 minutes. Garnish with fresh cilantro and fresh tomatoes if desired
I hope these pictures did this sandwich justice. I really, really want you to try them and be sure to report back and let me know how much you loved them.
Easy Chicken Sandwich Melts
Ingredients
Ingredients for Sandwiches:
- 1 loaf good Bread
- 2 cans, 12.5 oz each chicken breast in water, well drained
- 3/4 cup real mayonnaise, or to taste
- *Johnny’s seasoning, to taste (see recipe for making your own seasoning below)
- 1 large tomato, diced
- 1/3 bunch Cilantro
- 6 oz mild cheddar cheese, finely shredded inside or a slice of cheese on top.
- Sriracha hot chili sauce to taste, or your favorite hot sauce (optional)
*You can make your own Johnny's seasoning easily:
- 1 ½ Tbsp sea salt
- 1 Tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Drain canned chicken well and transfer to a large mixing bowl, then break it up lightly with a fork.
- Stir in 3/4 cup mayo or to taste along with Johnny's seasoning to taste (I used a little more than 1/4 tsp seasoning).
- Add diced tomatoes, chopped cilantro and shredded cheddar cheese. Stir to combine.
- Add Sriracha hot sauce to taste. The Sriracha hot sauce gives it a nice kick and it's so good, but if you want it to be kid friendly, you can divide the mixture and only put it into half of the spread.
- Spread generously over good sliced bread (this one's from Costco) and bake uncovered on a cookie sheet at 350˚F for 8 minutes. Garnish with fresh cilantro and fresh tomatoes if desired.
Notes
Credits:
Johnny’s Seasoning Recipe from here.
My while family loved these and that never happens! We are having them for the second time this month tonight! Thanks for an easy and delicious recipe!
Shanba, thank you for such a great feedback, I’m glad that your family loves the recipe :).
Thanks for an amazing and super easy recipe! They are simple enough and don’t take much time, but at the same time sophisticated enough to serve to guests. I just ate five of them for my lunch and would have more but they are quite filling as well.
I did have to substitute cheddar for Parmesan since that’s the only cheese I had at the moment. Wonder if cheddar adds even more flavor? As for cilantro, I don’t really like it’s smell, but here it tastes good!
You are welcome Ilona, and thank you for a great feedback. I haven’t tried it with Parmesan but I assume that either one of them tastes great :).
These were a deffinanlty a hit with my husband:) love all your recipes. When my husband asks for something I don’t know how to make, and I tell him that I don’t know how his response is:”go to natashas kitchen” haha
You’re so sweet 🙂 lol. I’m so happy you enjoyed the melts. Aren’t they addictive? My sister also has been adding a little shrimp to the mix. You’re making me so hungry!
What size shrimp did she add and was it cooked or uncooked
Click here for the shrimp sandwiches recipe.
Can you use just regular bread for this recipe?
Hi Shelly, yes I think that would be fine.
Any idea how many cups chicken breast you used? I keep cooked chicken breast in my freezer and would like to use it instead of the canned.
It’s about 3 cups of shredded chicken. 🙂
Love these!
I was craving something hearty yet simple and this hit the spot.
thank you, lady!
You’re so welcome Galina 🙂 Ha ha, the first time someone called me lady was at the beach. I was 15 and it was a little boy who was maybe 6. I sure didn’t feel like a lady. “lady” seemed old to me, but now I call my friends “lady” for kicks and giggles too. lol. Anyway you just reminded me of that story.
How of everything would i need just for about 4-5 sandwiches? I’m only making it for 2.
You should make 1/4 of the recipe, but it’s hard to cut it down that far since you need 2 cans of chicken for the full recipe. It would be easiest to cut the recipe in half and use 1 can of chicken.
Thank you for this delicious recipe. I usually make a plain chicken salad sandwich (chicken breast-can with mayo) as a fast meal for the kids. But your recipe looks amazing. Presentable for guests/entertaining. I made it today; it is very yummy!!! I put lots of cilantro for my husband, lots of tomato for myself and for the kids….they saw something green (cilantro) and decided they weren’t very hungry anymore…haha.
Can’t wait to try it with green onions or dill
Thanks
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/bc/c2/ac/bcc2ac06b257c9c7acdf268eca043aa5.jpg
Estera your picture is making me so so hungry! Surprisingly my son didn’t pick through the green stuff ;). You can always leave the cilantro out of half the mixture. 🙂
Made quesadillas instead of sandwiches. Good!
That’s creative, what a great idea Natalie :).
These are ahhmazing! An awesome go to recipe with unexpected guest;) but I also like to add bell peppers and or cucumbers:)
Oh yum! Both of those add-ins sound nice! Do the cucumbers hold up after being in the oven?
It’s past 11:00 pm and I just made these. Definitely should not be eating them at this hour, but I soon as I saw the recipe just couldn’t resist.
Oh dear. I didn’t foresee them having that strong of an effect on people. 😉
Chicken sandwich is calling my name. ..lol 🙂 this is a great recipe, Thank you
You’re welcome! I think you’ll love it!
Very good 🙂 thanks
You’re welcome Ira 🙂
Everything sounds great until Cilantro, don’t like it, can parsley be substituted??? thank you 🙂
The flavor of the cilantro is tamed after baking these. I haven’t tried with parsley but I think it would work. Others have mentioned dill and green onion instead if cilantro.
I like making these, there’s never leftovers. I like the diced tomato and cilantro, I usually places a tomato slice under the chicken mix but Alla’s way make it way more colorful and pleasant to look at : )
Someone else mentioned dill and green onions as well. I’ll definitely have to try your version. It looks like these are pretty popular dish in Washington!
Haven’t made these yet, but I certainly will. Great recipe, but then all your recipes are great! Could probably also use canned tuna instead of chicken. Keep the recipes coming!
Yes you can try that and please share with us how you like that version. Thanks for the good review!
Oh my family loves when I make those!!! I never put cilantro or sauce but I add fresh or frozen dill and green onions!!! I should try ur version!!! If you eat one you will go for one more for sure!!!
You’re so right! I definitely couldn’t stop after just one! 😉
These have been a family favorite for years now and the good news is they never get old!!! Yes, this recipe originated in the lovely state of WA! 😉
I think it is a recipe that we’ll be enjoying for a long long time. It was a hit with my husband and son and I sure loved it too! 🙂
Wow, its so interesting to know that my moms cousin is related to you thru your cousin, small world eh? We have been making these sandwhiches for a while at my house and they’re a hit everytime! I should try adding hotsauce next time though:)
Thanks!
The hot sauce is quite a treat! You definitely should give it a try! 🙂
My system can not handle hot sauce & spicy…could you suggest what else I could do?
Hi MaryAnn, you could omit the hot sauce and it will still work well. When we make it for the children, we omit the hot sauce.
These look amazing. My daughter would love them.
The kids in the family all loved these! They are definitely a family friendly treat! Thanks Kathy 🙂
Fear not! These pictures definitely did the recipe justice (or so I imagine)! My mouth is watering! This looks like a great alternative to my open-faced tuna melts and just as easy! I can’t wait to pick up a loaf of delicious, crusty bread and pop these in the oven!
ps- All of Alla’s recipes that you have posted look delicious!
Thank you! Some of the most delicious foods are so hard to photograph. That is why we are making it our goal to re-photograph some of our older classic recipes that we make often. Thank you for your sweet comment. 🙂
Um.. YES! These are speaking to me 😀
They’re so good! I hope you get a chance to make them 🙂 usually if the food is speaking to you, it’s a very good sign. 😉