Spicy Chicken Salad with Sugar Snap Peas, Cucumber, and Red Bell Pepper

I love every ingredient in this Spicy Chicken Salad with Sugar Snap Peas, Cucumber, and Red Bell Pepper, but it’s the spicy peanut butter dressing that really makes this good! And this tasty salad is low-carb, low-glycemic, gluten-free, and dairy-free. Use the Salad Recipes to find more recipes like this one.

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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 things to make from the leftover chicken. This Spicy Chicken Salad with Sugar Snap Peas, Cucumber, and Red Bell Pepper is one of my favorites, partly because I love the spicy peanut butter dressing!

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!

The spicy dressing with peanut butter is what makes this salad so good.  Combine the peanut oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sweetener of your choice, sesame oil, ginger puree, and Sriracha (or you can use Thai curry paste for a slightly different flavor.) You’ll need about 1 cup of chopped leftover chicken for each salad. Combine the chicken with 1-2 T of the dressing and let it hang out while you chop the veggies. For each salad you’ll need some chopped cucumber, sliced fresh basil, slivers of red bell pepper, and sliced sugar snap peas.

Use 1 cup of chopped Romaine lettuce for each salad. 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:

Beat-the-Heat Salads to Make with Leftover Chicken ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Quinoa with Leftover Chicken, Roasted Broccoli, and Balsamic Vinaigrette ~ Amateur Gourmet
Leftover Chicken Chopped Salad with Cafe Rio Style Cream Tomatillo Dressing ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen

Print Recipe

Spicy Chicken Salad with Sugar Snap Peas, Cucumber, and Red Bell Pepper

Yield: 4 servings

Total Time: 20 minutes

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Spicy Chicken Salad combines delicious ingredients with a  spicy peanut butter dressing that really makes this good!

Ingredients:

Salad Ingredients

• 1 cup leftover chicken, shredded or chopped into bite-size pieces
• 1 cup chopped romaine lettuce
• 1 cucumber, chopped
• 1/2 cup sugar snap peas, each sliced diagonally into 3-4 pieces
• 1/4 cup slivered red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped basil (or you could also use cilantro, mint, or Thai basil)
• 1 T chopped peanuts (optional; I originally used the peanuts but when I updated the recipe I omitted and just had a little more dressing!)
• 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. sweetener of your choice
• 1/2 tsp. Asian sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger or ginger puree (can also use finely grated fresh ginger)
• 1/4 cup peanut butter (use natural peanut butter without added sugar)
• 1/2 tsp. Sriracha Rooster Sauce or Thai red curry paste (or use your favorite hot sauce)

Directions:

1. Combine peanut oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sweetener of your choice, sesame oil, ginger puree, and Sriracha Rooster Sauce or Thai Red Curry Paste in food processor or mini-processor.
2. Mix until well combined. Taste to see if you want to add more sweetness or hotness.
3. Chop as much chicken as you need for the number of salads you’re making.
4. Then  combine 1 cup chicken with 1-2 tablespoon dressing and let chicken soak in the dressing while you chop other ingredients.
5. Chop lettuce and cucumber and slice the sugar snap peas, red pepper and basil.
6. Toss the vegetables and basil together with the chicken that’s been marinating in the dressing.
7. Then add additional dressing to taste, depending on how wet you like your salads.
8. Serve topped with chopped peanuts and additional basil if desired.

Notes:

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.

All images and text ©Kalyn Denny for Kalyn's Kitchen.

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Made with an approved sweetener, this Spicy Chicken Salad with Sugar Snap Peas, Cucumber, Red Bell Pepper, and Basil is perfect for low-carb and low-glycemic diets, including any phase of the South Beach Diet.

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Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages 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.

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