Miracle Whip (Recipe: chipotle chicken sandwich)
Today I stand before you, unapologetic and unashamed, confessing, as I do every summer, my love for Miracle Whip®, the salad dressing that cannot, by law, be called mayonnaise.
What can I say in my defense?
That, when I was young, my father used to smoosh a can of Season sardines with Miracle Whip, and it's still one of my favorite sandwich fillings? (True.)
That the tangy flavor and sweetness can smooth out frozen fruit salad and parmesan chicken and deviled eggs and broccoli raisin salad? (True.)
That it's lower in fat than mayonnaise? (True.)
That Miracle Whip no longer contains high fructose corn syrup?
True!
Miracle Whip: would you cross the street to avoid it, or feel incomplete without a jar in your refrigerator?
Chipotle chicken sandwich
My husband Ted's new favorite sandwich can be made with mayonnaise instead of Miracle Whip, but not without the chipotles in adobo. Make more than you need, and store it in the refrigerator in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. The smoky heat of the chiles is addictive. Makes 2 sandwiches; can be doubled (or more).
Ingredients
1 cup of Miracle Whip or mayonnaise
1 small chipotle pepper, plus a bit of extra adobo sauce
4 slices of crusty bread, toasted (optional)
2 leaves of romaine lettuce hearts
2-4 thick slices of roasted chicken breast
1 ripe avocado, peeled and sliced
1 ripe tomato, sliced
Directions
Measure the Miracle Whip into a small mixing bowl. Finely chop the chipotle, and add to the bowl. Stir to combine, and taste for spiciness. If you want more, add a bit of the adobo sauce from the can.
Slather one side of each slice of bread with the Miracle Whip mixture. Pile on the lettuce, chicken breast, avocado and tomato, distributing equally between the two sandwiches. Cut each sandwich in half to serve.
More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Wild rice salad
Panko-crusted baked chicken
Crab cakes
Deviled eggs
Pasta with basil pesto
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lydia - i am not a huge mayo fan and usually avoid it, but miracle whip has a low fat option that i use every now and then, which eases my guilty conscious! i am craving sandwiches and this looks yummy!
I do not remember seeing this around in Australia. But I like the idea of this sandwich!
I agree 100%. There is always a jar in the frig and at least one jar in the pantry. A BLT would not be the same without it, nor would my deviled eggs, potato and broccoli salads. Growing up, my mother would add a spoonful to scrambled eggs.
Now that it's made without HFCS, I'll give it another try... I haven't had it in years so I don't recall what the miracle was about.
P.S. I had that exact sandwich yesterday! With the exception that I used mayo. Too funny.
My husband refuses to have anything but Miracle Whip in the fridge. One time I bought something else and he refused to eat anything I made with it.
Its too bad that you cannot buy small versions of all these great sounding condiments
My husband is the Miracle Whip guy and I am the Hellman's Lite gal. Funny how our upbringings carry on through life! I love chipotles and have some chicken marinating in the fridge with them and basic old Frank's hot sauce. Wednesday is Buffalo Chicken day in our house so I will have to try your recipe! Hope your summer is going well :)
My husband and I both grew up with Miracle Whip, but I confess to being a mayo lover. We have both in our frig. :-)
That dressing looks so good, I could dive into a tub! (I love the package promise of "New & More Amazing!"
My children's father was a Miracle Whip guy. I then set about making a few things that used MW, like pasta salad. It is not the same to just sub mayo for MW or the reverse. I enjoy your "confessions", thanks for sharing. My fridge holds both, mayo and MW.
I can't say I hate Miracle Whip because I love my sister Sandee's potato salad which is made with it, but I'm a mayo gal all the way. The sandwich sounds great though, but make mine with mayo please!
My brother-in-law always said they were _exactly_ the same so he bought MW rather than mayo -- over my sister's objections. We were raised in a mayo family, so at the time I used mayo exclusively. So when my daughter at around age seven tasted his MW on a sandwich she said "this isn't mayonnaise." She had not heard any of the discussions -- but she knew she wasn't getting what she expected. So he lost the argument, and my sister was allowed to switch to mayo.
I used to LOVE Miracle Whip. In those days it was "unfooled around with" - no HFCS, no whole eggs, just oil and egg yolks, a little starch, mustard flour, paprika and salt. Just the kind of boiled dressing our foremothers made at home. The Miracle being that you could buy it in a jar and it was just as good as homemade.
Somewhere along the line in the last few years, the lowfat craze ruined it. Now the first ingredient is water, so if you make a slaw or potato or macaroni salad ahead, it will be watery when you want to serve it. For a long time I thought it was something I was doing wrong, then I read the label!
Since I'd rather have 4 more fat grams per serving and no water, I'm now buying a store brand (called, confusingly, "salad dressing") that was a copy of the REAL Miracle Whip - it doesn't taste exactly the same, but then neither does present-day Miracle Whip.
The very best potato salad in the world (my family's, of course) is composed of just 4 ingredients: boiled potatoes, chilled and cut up; chopped onion; Miracle Whip (or clone) and celery seed. People always think it sounds too simple, until they try it and absolutely love it!
My favorite sandwich growing up was -- get this, I DO hang my head in shame -- white bread (but good white bread, with substance, from the local bakery) with butter AND Miracle Whip and then peanut butter and then iceberg lettuce and some times Velveeta cheese, too.
I'm intrigued to see that there's a 'salad dressing' available like the old Miracle Whip because I've stopped buying it, I didn't know if it were me or the product that had changed but am guessing, hmm, it must be the product.
LOVE mayo er miracle whip. Well I learned to make mayo from scratch and love that too;). But I am a huge fan of stirring in pesto, chipotle, etc. Brilliance. And no corn syrup? Hurray!
Love the label "New and More Amazing!" It's so invigorating.
I keep jars of both Hellman's mayonnaise and Miracle Whip on hand, and use them in completely different recipes: traditionally Hellman's in egg salad, potato salad, etc., and Miracle Whip for fruit salads, coating chicken (before dredging in Parmesan and baking), etc. That way our taste buds get the best of both worlds!
got the 8oz miracle whip, a can of goya chipotles ib adobo...this dude is ready for a miracle sandwich, but first the lawn needs cutting HAHAHA
I'm seriously looking forward to making this...many thanks
Funny thing is that Hellman's has also betrayed us. We now find a store brand that tastes much more like the "real" thing.
Miracle Whip has been considered the "mayo" in my parents' house for as long as I can remember. No Hellman's for them!
One of the odd foods I made as a kid - peanut butter and Miracle Whip sandwiches.
one complaint...I guess it borders on how you 'butter' your bread, but I just made this and there is more than enough for 2 sandwiches. I could feed half an army :)
very tasty, and as made one shouldn't be surprised if they need the 'taste-bud'
fire department
Summer = white bread, miracle whip, and thick slices of tomato. YUM!!!
This sandwich sounds amazing. Perfectly summery. We've always got both MW and mayo in our house -- each used for different purposes.
Confession: I like MW/PB/Banana sandwiches... on crappy white bread, of course. Reminds me of my Dad. :)
Is there much difference in the flavor between Miracle Whip and mayo??
Wow!This look so good. I am a mayo girl, but I am still going to make this recipe because it looks so good. Thanks for sharing!
I'm not generally a fan of mayo-type spreads but the addition of chipolte and adobo makes this look muy interesante!
I grew up with Hellman's, and it will always be my choice. But anything that adds chipotle and adobo immediately gets my adoration.
I love that there are strong feelings for and against MW. Why it reminds so many of us of our fathers, I don't know. But for me it's a happy association.
Pam, MW and mayo really do taste different. MW is sweeter, which is probably why we loved it as kids.
Milton, the recipe makes extra, because I'm absolutely positive you'll be glad to have some left over.
I am shocked. Shocked! OK, maybe just eyebrow-cockingly surprised. And Miracle Whip with sardines? I'd eat that.
love chipotles in adobo. really takes a BLT to the next level. Your sandwich is very similar to my BaLT, except I use a whole grain tortilla for a wrap & sometimes add a handful of arugula.
I can see using MW in salads, since sweet relish is often in potato & tuna, for example. I think it's too strong for sandwiches; maybe my palate isn't sensitive enough, but I wouldn't be able to taste the tomato or chicken.
You know, I've never had that before. I see at the store every time, but have never felt compelled to buying it. And don't worry, we all have our dark food secrets :-p
last post here, I promise! This tasted much better this morning. The flavours were more evenly mixed between the peppers and the mw. If I make this again I will let it sit for a day or two before using.
I'm a Duke's mayo kinda gal - Duke's is southern USA in origin as am I. Funny, but I never cared for MW because it tasted too vinergar-y to me. Maybe I will try a store brand and see if there is a difference. Had a good Southwestern potato salad on a trip this spring to Savannah. I bet it had chipotle mayo/mw in it.
My mother rarely used mayo but when she did it was Hellman's 'cause it said "all natural" on the label even back then. As a result I grew up without a taste for any Mayo-like product in general.(no Mayo even on sandwiches to this day!) So as a result I am one of those folks who assume that Mayo and MW are basically the same thing!
but Lydia - I am going to buy some MW and try it - you have made it sound so much better than Mayo!
(my husband will never be convinced - he is a heavy duty CAINS Mayo user!)
Sean, so much to learn about me -- not all of it as deeply disturbing as my MW addiction!
Jenna, love the idea of a chipotle BLT in a wrap.
Ben, want to share some of your food secrets?
Teresa, I've heard of Duke's from friends who live in the South, but I've never tried it. Maybe we need to have a mayo exchange.
Carol, try putting a teaspoon of MW in your pesto next time you make it. You'll be amazed at the difference (and I hope you like it).
Okay you have turned my attention the sardine-miracle sammy....I must have it now even though I love chipotle too!
I think I'm in the "cross the street to avoid it" camp. Miracle Whip or mayonnaise, it all tastes the same to me.
youre making me hungry but id love to see something vegetarian!
What is a fridge without a little touch of Miracle Whip! I couldn't live without the stuff. Absolutely delicious and I don't care if it's full of fat, I'd still buy it for all those tasty salads and sandwiches, such as yours.
AmberElizabeth, leave out the chicken, and you've got a great vegetarian sandwich here. Just don't leave out the chipotle mayo.
Oh Lydia, I totally forgot this about you! I am a huge lover of Miracle Whip too. In fact, I used to just have bread and Miracle Whip sandwiches when I was a kid (and confession...still do that sometimes now!)
My bird watching buddy and I find that Miracle Whip is much more cooler friendly for long trips where you are transporting a jar for making the lunch sandwiches. Tho', at home, I'm a Hellman's (Best Foods) girl.
The wonders of the Miracle whip! I love the stuff and have it on everything. Sandwiches, fries, anything that people don't give me weird looks for doing.
I LOVE MIRACLE WHIP!
I remember making a miracle whip chocolate cake when I was a kid...recipe was in one of those church cook books. I think I am going to have to look that one up again. Google provided many options.
Well, I'm back in the Miracle Whip fold. My husband got fed up with the store brand substitute and insisted on buying the latest real thing. It tastes so much better without the HCFS! I do have to make my coleslaw, tuna or egg salad a little bit at a time instead of keeping it overnight so it won't get watery, but that's a small price to pay to have my beloved Miracle Whip back.
I used to make "lettuce sandwiches" with MW on white bread for breakfast when I was a teen. I still make "mayonnaise sandwiches" with Miracle Whip - they're best on pumpernickel. Nothing else, just the bread and Miracle Whip. If I hadn't just eaten a cookie.... And I can't wait to make potato salad!
I went to replace my Miracle Whip the other day and was shocked to see HFCS listed in the ingredients! The squeeze bottle I currently have left does NOT have it. What's going on?
Yep, I just checked and mine has HFCS too! I'm disgusted. Where can I find Miracle whip or a substitute without HFCS?
I called Kraft as soon as I saw the HFCS back on the label. It turns out the switch was made in late 2011, so if you stocked up like I had, you wouldn't have gotten any until recently. They "redesigned" the jar, taking it back to the old style with the round lid, with the now standard 30 oz instead of a quart.
According to the nice lady on the phone, it was lots of complaints that made them take the HFCS out. Then they got complaints that the HFCS-free one was too runny. Obviously it was simpler and cheaper to put the junk back in instead of taking some of the water out.
So I had to throw out the sandwich I made before idly reading the label, and now I need a lowfat substitute that doesn't have HFSC. I am so mad!
For Goodness' sake, can't everybody stop raving about Miracle Whip already! This is such a ridiculous condiment. Get real, taste a nice, homemade mayonnaise sometime, or go to France once -anything, but just get back down to Earth!