Having a simple, delicious sandwich recipe on hand is always a good idea. Whether you are planning ahead for a picnic or have hungry friends show up at your door, this blackened curry chicken sandwich is perfect for the occasion.
Everything in this sandwich can be made from scratch or store bought, with the exception of the chicken, which makes bringing this sandwich together as easy as you want it to be. Even the chicken can be made in advance and served chilled or grilled up and enjoyed hot.
Let’s get started…
Begin by drizzling thinly sliced chicken breasts with olive oil and generously seasoning both sides with your favorite curry spice blend. A good curry spice blend should have garlic and onion powder, coriander, turmeric, chili powder, fenugreek and garam masala. I like a little bit of sweetness in my curry spice, so I also add a little bit of cinnamon, all spice and star anise, but use what you like!
Be sure that your chicken is thin, so it is easy to handle in sandwich form. If you are slicing a boneless skinless chicken breast into cutlets, use a meat tenderizer or heavy bottom pot to pound the cutlet out evenly thin, so you don’t have a thick end and thin end, which will end up cooking unevenly.
Place a large skillet over medium to medium high heat and grill your chicken for 4-5 minutes on the first side or until the bottom is deeply golden brown with dark, crispy edges. Flip the chicken and cook until it is cooked through with no pink and an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Some people do not mind their chicken overcooked, while others do. If you are someone who wants to avoid dry chicken, I highly suggest using a thermometer to tell you exactly when your chicken is cooked though. When we are blackening chicken, you end up cooking it about 80% of the way on the first side, so if you cook it for the same amount of time on the other side, your chicken will be a little dry. Using a thermometer to tell you exactly when your chicken is cooked through makes it possible to have chicken with a crisp, blackened crust that is also nice and juicy.
When the chicken is cooked through, transfer it off of the heat and let it rest while you gather the other ingredients.
To assemble the sandwich, you will need some bread, a yogurt sauce and vegetables. This recipe is flexible, but here are my favorite additions to this delicious sandwich…
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- Bread – I love making this sandwich on a soft ciabatta or french bread. If the bread is particularly thick, I like to tear some of the flesh away from the center to both give the ingredients a nice little hollow to sit in and to make the sandwich easy to bite into.
- Sauce – To me, tzatziki sauce is the perfect pairing for this sandwich, but any simple mediterranean style yogurt sauce will work great too.
- Vegetables – Like with most sandwiches, you will need some greens to top the chicken with. I love baby arugula with this sandwich, but any tender greens will work great! I also add thinly sliced tomatoes and red onion too, but add what you like!
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Slice your bread in half, hollow out some of the thickest parts and spoon some of your sauce onto one or both sides (depending on how saucy you prefer your sandwich to be)…
Top with a thin slice of your beautiful blackened chicken and your veggies…
Close up the sandwich and slice it in half. I like to secure the ends of the sandwich with toothpicks until it is ready serve. All that sauce can make things a little slippery, so toothpicks are your friend with this sandwich!
The combination of the curry seasoned chicken with a creamy yogurt sauce and crisp vegetables is something that I will never become tired of and the fact that all of these ingredients can be made ahead of time makes this sandwich perfect for so many occasions.
Blackened Curry Chicken Sandwich
Ingredients
Blackened Curry Chicken
- 4 boneless skinless chicken cutlets
- olive oil
- curry spice blend
Sandwich Assembly
- 1 loaf of soft french bread, quartered
- 1 cup of tzatziki sauce
- 2 cups of arugula or leafy greens
- 1 large tomato, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup of red onion, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Pound 4 boneless skinless chicken cutlets into even thinness, drizzle with olive oil and generously season with your favorite curry spice blend
- Place a large skillet over medium to medium high heat and grill the chicken for 4-5 minutes on the first side or until it is deeply golden brown and crisp
- Flip the chicken and continue to cook until the chicken is cooked through with no pink and an internal temperature of 165 degrees
- Once the chicken is cooked through, transfer it to a cutting board to rest while you prepare the other ingredients
- Slice a loaf of soft french bread into quarters, slice each quarter in half length wise and remove some of the thickest portion of flesh to create room for our sandwich filling
- Spread some tzatziki sauce on one or both sides of bread, add a blackened curry chicken cutlet and top with lettuce, tomato and red onion
- Close the sandwich and secure with toothpicks
- Slice each sandwich in half and serve with chips
