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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 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:
- 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.
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
What sort of soup would go best with these sandwiches?
Hmmm…. good quesiton! 🙂 I thin Zuppa Toscana, Creamy cauliflower soup,… there are so many! Make sure to check out our recipes index page to explore all of our soup recipes 🙂
natasha do you think if I make the mix the night before and it stands over night and I make the sandwiches in the morning that it will still be just as good ?
That would be fine, but I would recommend stirring in tomato just before topping on the breads so they don’t juice out.
Good idea. Thank you!
I prepare the mixture at home and bring to work, along with the bread, and cook in our toaster oven. People think I’m a SUPER fancy cook. They are always surprised when I share how easy the recipe is to make. So yummy!!! Nurses can be a picky bunch.
Karla, thank you so much for sharing that with me, I’m all smiles 😁.
Hi Natasha!:) Oh my goodness, these chicken melts are absolutely divine! Operating out of a tiny dorm-room kitchen, these sandwiches are a life-saver – I make this recipe at least once a week! Fantastic!
YAASSS!! I’m so happy to hear that! 🙂 Thanks for the awesome review!
Natashaaaa… These were supposed to be so good:( ive tried these at my sisters and they were really delicious. Now I decided to make them myself, so, sad story of the day… I tried to make these real fast and apparently read your recipe wrong and added all of the ingredients of the johnnys seasoning to the chicken!!! So much salt!! Not sure why I didn’t realize that 1.5 Tbsp of salt might be too much:( just curious if I’m the only one here who made that mistake..
Oh noooo!! That’s such a bummer :(. You’re the first but I can see how you could make that mistake just by quickly reading the ingredient list. I did mention that I used 1/4 tsp of the seasoning in the instructions. Oh man, what a bummer! I inserted a note after the list of seasoning ingredients both at the top and in the print friendly so it doesn’t happen to anyone else. 🙁
Yummy! So nice and simple! It can sometimes take me a while to make even the simplest recipe, but this one took so little time! Or maybe I’m just finally getting the hang of preparing meals…=) Either way, thank you, Natasha!
I’m the same way. I was always the one to take the longest to get anything done from sweeping the floor to making recipes. Oh well. 😉
A little obsessed with these? Yes, you can so so! So good!! The cilantro and sriracha give it amazing flavor! Thanks 🙂
I’m so happy you love the recipe 🙂
Do you think these would be just as creamy if I used leftover baked chicken breast rather than the canned variety?
I think that would work if you shred it nicely with forks. If it seems too dry, just add a little more mayo to the mixture but you may not have to.
Hey Natasha! I’m reporting back, just like you asked 🙂 Thank you SO much for the recipe. I’ve tried making these a few times already, and they’re gone within minutes! The cilantro in the sandwiches is PERFECT…I never even thought that it would be key! Thank you very much for sharing!
Thank you for your awesome review! 🙂
So so so so good! Definitely a favorite! Easy to make and so delicious! Thank you Natasha!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that 🙂
Great recipe ! Thanks ?
Hi Natasha,
I use a small toaster to do the job and the cheese melted beautifully on the sandwich.
KP Kwan
Brilliant! I love that idea. Thanks! 🙂
Husband raved over them! For heat factor I chopped a few jalapenos as we didn’t have any hot sauce or anything.
Elizabeth, thank you for the great review and I like the idea of adding jalapeños since we both love spicy food :).
Never mind, Natasha, i just found the answer in the previous comments. Thank you so much for the recipe!!!
Great! Thanks Luda 🙂
Hi, Natasha,
do you think if i bake these at home to take to a party at a park, would the sandwiches still taste good a few hours after being baked? Thank you!
We were out of lunch meat and I remembered the canned chicken in the cupboard. Not knowing what to do w/it, I Googled & found your recipe w/in a few minutes. Fifteen minutes later, they were baking in the oven. Thirty minutes later, my husband & two daughters were enjoying their 2nd Sandwiches!
Welcome to the site Tricia and thank you for the great review. I’m so happy to hear that your family enjoyed them 🙂 and hope you’ll find many new favorites on the site.
These are soooo good! We have made them for our engagement party, bridal shower, and sundays dinners! Everyone loves them! Thank you Alla and Natasha!!
Awww thanks Leah. I’m sharing your comment/review on my facebook page. You’re awesome! 🙂
Are they good when they are cold?
They still taste great cold, but are best warm :).
So much amazing flavor in these melts! Thank you for sharing the Johnnie’s seasoning recipe, they used to not add MSG. I still buy it sometimes but love that I could mix up my own.
There are some that say specifically “no MSG” but it’s also just so easy to make your own :). I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
We are trying to be more healthy lately. Do you think yogurt would work instead of mayo?
To be honest, I haven’t tried it with yogurt. If you do use yogurt, I’d recommend probably Greek.