Spicy Chicken Salad
Spicy Chicken Salad has a Thai-inspired peanut butter dressing, and sugar snap peas, cucumbers, and red bell pepper to add crunch! And if you have some fresh basil or Thai basil that makes a great addition.
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When I taught school I had a Friday-night routine of stopping at Costco, where I’d pick up rotisserie chicken for dinner. Even now that I’m working at home, I still love those rotisserie chickens, and since I’ve indulged in this rotisserie chicken fondness so many times, I’ve tried many variations of chicken salads using pre-cooked chicken. This Spicy Chicken Salad is one of my favorites, and I love both the spicy peanut butter dressing and the crunch from the sugar snap peas, cucumbers, and red bell peppers!
This salad is so good, whenever I make it I wish I had more leftover chicken so I could make it again right away. I love this with regular fresh basil, but if you have Thai Basil on hand, that’s even better. I guess it’s time to pick up another chicken from Costco!
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
- chopped leftover chicken
- chopped romaine lettuce
- cucumbers
- sugar snap peas
- red bell pepper
- chopped fresh basil (see notes)
- salt
- Peanut Oil (affiliate link)
- Unseasoned Rice Vinegar (affiliate link)
- Soy Sauce or Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (affiliate link)
- Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) or sweetener of your choice
- sesame oil (affiliate link)
- ginger puree or Minced Ginger (affiliate link)
- Adams 100% Natural Peanut Butter (affiliate link)or any natural peanut butter without added sugar
- Sriracha Sauce (affiliate link)
What makes the Spicy Chicken Salad spicy?
It’s the Asian Sriracha Sauce that makes this a spicy salad. Use more or less Sriracha to taste!
What other fresh herbs can you use?
You could also use cilantro, mint, or Thai basil if you don’t have basil, or just omit the fresh herbs.
How to make Spicy Chicken Salad:
(Scroll down for complete recipe with nutritional information.)
- The spicy dressing with peanut butter is what makes this salad so good. Combine the peanut oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce or Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (affiliate link), Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) or sweetener of your choice, sesame oil, ginger puree, and Sriracha Sauce (affiliate link).
- I didn’t make the full recipe to take new photos, but you’ll need about 4 cup of chopped leftover chicken for four servings of salad. Combine the chicken with a few tablespoons of the dressing and let it hang out while you chop the veggies.
- For each salad you’ll need some chopped cucumber, slivers of red bell pepper, and sliced sugar snap peas. I also used sliced fresh basil, which is definitely optional.
- Use 4 cups of chopped Romaine lettuce for four salads.
- When everything is ready, combine the chicken that’s been marinating in the dressing with the other ingredients and toss. Then add as much additional dressing as you’d like, depending on how wet you prefer your salads. Enjoy!
More Tasty Salads with Leftover Chicken:
Chicken and Avocado Salad with Lime and Cilantro
Chicken Pesto Salad
Chicken Salad with Green Olives
Spicy Chicken Salad
Spicy Chicken Salad combines delicious crunchy salad ingredients with chicken and a spicy peanut butter dressing, and this is so good!
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients
- 4 cups chopped leftover chicken
- 4 cup chopped romaine lettuce
- 2 cucumbers, chopped
- 1 cup sugar snap peas, sliced diagonally
- 1 cup slivered red bell pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped basil (see notes)
- salt to taste
Dressing Ingredients
- 1/4 cup peanut oil
- 2 T rice vinegar (not seasoned rice vinegar, which contains sugar)
- 2 T soy sauce (Use gluten-free soy sauce if needed.)
- 1 tsp. Golden Monkfruit Sweetener or sweetener of your choice
- 1/2 tsp. Asian sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp. ginger puree or minced ginger
- 1/4 cup Adams 100% Natural Peanut Butter, or any natural peanut butter without added sugar
- 1/2 tsp. Sriracha Sauce (or more)
Instructions
- Combine the peanut oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce or Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (affiliate link), Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) or sweetener of your choice, sesame oil, ginger puree, and Sriracha Sauce (affiliate link) in food processor or mini-processor.
- Mix until well combined. Taste to see if you want to add more sweetness or hotness.
- Chop enough chicken to make 4 cups chopped cooked chicken.
- Then combine chicken with part of the dressing and let chicken soak in the dressing while you chop other ingredients.
- Chop lettuce and cucumber and slice the sugar snap peas, red pepper and basil.
- Toss the vegetables and basil together with the chicken that’s been marinating in the dressing.
- Then add additional dressing to taste, depending on how wet you like your salads.
- Serve right away.
- If this makes more than you will eat at one time, I would prepare all the dressing but don't toss the dressing with the chicken or chop other ingredients until right before you're going to eat the salad.
Notes
You could also use cilantro, mint, or Thai basil if you don't have basil, or just omit the fresh herbs. This dressing is also great tossed with cooked whole wheat spaghetti and all the salad ingredients except the lettuce for a slightly different combination.
This recipe created by Kalyn.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 579Total Fat: 41gSaturated Fat: 8.7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 28gCholesterol: 127mgSodium: 766mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 4.6gSugar: 6.4gProtein: 40g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Made with an approved sweetener, this Spicy Chicken Salad is perfect for low-carb and low-glycemic diets, including any phase of the original South Beach Diet.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use the Salad Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You can also Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe was first posted in 2007! The photos were updated in 2013 and the recipe was updated with more information in 2021.
24 Comments on “Spicy Chicken Salad”
Hi, Kalyn. This looks delicious. But I need a little clarification. Your recipe calls for "1/4 peanut butter." I assume this means 1/4 cup, but then the printer friendly recipe lists "2 T peanut butter." Could you please clear this up? Thanks.
This makes enough dressing for 3-4 salads. And I thought I made that clear, so I will edit and make sure it is. The dressing will keep well in the fridge at least a week.
Thanks, Kalyn. Sorry I didn't think to ask this with my first question, but is the dressing amount for 1 salad or more?
Hi KatesMom. Thank You for catching that. I did increase the peanut butter from 2 T to 1/4 cup when I updated the recipe and then apparently forgot to update the printer friendly version (duh.) You can start with the 2 T if you want and see if you want to increase it, but I liked it with more peanut butter. Hope you enjoy!