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.
PIN Spicy Chicken Salad to try it later!
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”
Kim, glad you like it!
Lydia, me too. I love it when I can come up with a great combo from things I always have around.
That peanut dressing looks just perfect; I love everything in it, and all of those ingredients are always in my pantry.
Hot summer days call out for light delicious salads….. This looks so delicious and unique.
JD, thanks for taking the time to let me know you enjoyed it!
I made this over the weekend and it is excellent! JD 🙂
Colleen, sorry to set off some serious Costco envy! Living in Europe for a while sounds very fun to me, but yes, I might miss Costco a lot.
I found your blog recently via Epicurious – the recipes look great. 🙂 But reading your site really keeps making me wish I were back home in the States again as you make me miss Costco! It’s not the sort of place you find here in Eastern Europe.
Barbara, thank you so much. I heard about it from a few other people and I’ve reported them to WordPress as well as leaving comments asking them to remove my stuff.
Kslyn–there is a blogger copying your entire blog posts, photos and all, claiming they are hers (or his–the name is Chris.) I cannot find your email to send you a link to the offending blog, but I really want you to know about it.
Please email me at helgarde@gmail.com
What a fabulous idea. I will have to remember this next time I am coming home from work and stuck for a quick dinner idea.
Having leftover rotisserie chicken in the fridge is always good. The dressing sounds tasty. I will have to see if I can find some Thai basil to try.
I love seeing the many ideas foodies come up with for the famous Costco roast chicken- this one looks delicious. Just what I need- another excuse to go to Costco!
I’ve been trying to get some of the garden produce under control today, making tomato sauce and using some of my huge abundance of green peppers. I’m so glad people think this salad looks good, I truly loved it!
I really love your blog, I just came across it today for the first time. Thanks for all of your clever tips & tasty recipes!
I love your site. I found you through google (south beach diet). I’ve added you to my google reader!!!!
I always come away from Costco with too much stuff!!!Their rotisserie chicken is excellent in a pinch when you don’t feel like cooking or it is too hot.
Kalyn, that looks wonderful! I was just thinking today about things to do with leftover roast chickent. I am definitely adding this to my list! It has all the flavors I love.
The spicy dressing for this sounds delicious, especially with the Thai basil in the salad. My Thai basil is abundant in the herb garden right now, so this will be a good recipe to try. (and you are sooooo right about the Costco chickens!)
I think my favorite dish to see on your site is a salad…you do some amazing things here and I have quite a list of salads I want to try…I think this one is going to be topping that list…very yum!
That does sound delicious! We have little store fronts that do rotisserie chicken on Saturday’s… I may have to pick one up next week!