Spinach Salad with Chicken
This Spinach Salad with Chicken can also be made with leftover grilled chicken if you’re lucky enough to have some! And the salad has a delightful dressing with Asian flavors that makes it extra good!
PIN Spinach Salad with Chicken to try it later!
There are a lot of good reasons to eat spinach, whether or not you’re trying to eat healthy or lose weight. But when I’m trying to eat mostly protein and vegetables, a big spinach salad like this Spinach Salad with Chicken is one of my favorite things to have for dinner.
But what really makes this salad a wow is the dressing with so many of my favorite Asian flavors. I cooked some chicken in a stovetop grill pan to make a couple of salads, but if you have leftover rotisserie chicken or grilled chicken, this salad will be even quicker to get on the table.
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
- boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Szeged Chicken Rub (affiliate link), or other chicken rub of your choice
- red bell pepper, sliced
- sliced mushrooms
- slivered almonds
- green onions
- baby spinach
- Unseasoned Rice Vinegar (affiliate link)
- soy sauce or Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (affiliate link)
- Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) (see notes)
- sesame oil (affiliate link)
- ginger puree or Minced Ginger (affiliate link)
- Sriracha Sauce (affiliate link)
- olive oil
What other ingredients could you use for this salad?
The variations are endless for this type of salad. I made this on a day when I had some mushrooms in the fridge begging to be used, but they’re definitely optional. Other low-carb veggies such as sugar snap peas, radishes, asparagus, green beans, artichoke hearts, or hearts of palm can definitely be added or used to replace peppers. You could also make the salad with other types of greens, but spinach is such a nutritional powerhouse, and it’s delicious with the Asian-flavored dressing.
Why Are Spinach Salads so Nutritious?
Why should you love spinach salads? Spinach is so nutritious that it’s considered one of the Superfoods (affiliate link). It’s also listed as one of The World’s Healthiest Foods and is a good source for Vitamin A, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, and Potassium. And even better, spinach is low in calories.
How to make this salad:
(Scroll down for complete recipe with nutritional information.)
- I like Szeged Chicken Rub (affiliate link) but season the chicken with any spice you like.
- I cooked the chicken on a Stovetop Grill Pan (affiliate link), but you could also saute it in a frying pan.
- The chicken is done when it’s slightly browned on both sides and feels firm (but not hard) to the touch.
- When the chicken has cooled enough to handle, cut it into strips.
- Whisk together the olive oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) or sweetener of your choice, sesame oil, ginger puree, and Sriracha to make the dressing.
- If you’re using mushrooms, cut them into thick slices and cook the mushrooms in a little olive oil.
- While the mushrooms cook, cut up the red pepper strips.
- Toss the spinach, red peppers and mushrooms with the dressing.
- Arrange the spinach mixture on a plate, lay the chicken slices over the top, and sprinkle with almonds.
- Yum!
More Tasty and Nutritious Salads with Spinach:
Strawberry Spinach Salad
Spinach Salad with Bacon and Feta
Mediterranean Spinach Salad
Balsamic Spinach Salad with Mushrooms and Feta
Spinach Salad with Cranberries, Almonds, and Goat Cheese
Spinach Salad with Chicken
This Spinach Salad with Chicken would be great made with leftover grilled chicken or rotisserie chicken.
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tsp. Szeged Chicken Rub (see notes)
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 4 oz. sliced mushrooms
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 5 oz. baby spinach
Dressing Ingredients:
- 2 T unseasoned rice vinegar
- 1 1/2 T soy sauce or Gluten-Free Soy Sauce
- 2 tsp Monkfruit Sweetener (see notes)
- 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp. ginger puree or minced ginger
- 1/4 tsp. Sriracha Sauce (or more if you want it spicy)
- 2 T olive oil
Instructions
- Trim chicken breasts to remove any fat and undesirable parts.
- Rub chicken with seasonings and season with salt and fresh-ground black pepper. I like Szeged Chicken Rub (affiliate link) but use any seasonings you like.
- I cooked the chicken about 4 minutes per side on a Stovetop Grill Pan (affiliate link), but you could also saute it in a frying pan.
- The chicken is done when it's slightly browned on both sides and feels firm (but not hard) to the touch.
- When the chicken has cooled enough to handle, cut it into strips.
- Whisk together the olive oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) or sweetener of your choice, sesame oil, ginger puree, and Sriracha to make the dressing.
- If you're using mushrooms, cut them into thick slices and cook the mushrooms in a little olive oil.
- While the mushrooms cook, cut up the red pepper strips.
- Toss the spinach, red peppers and mushrooms with the dressing.
- Arrange the spinach mixture on a plate, lay the chicken slices over the top, and sprinkle with almonds.
Notes
I'm a big fan of Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) but use any sweetener of your choice. If you don't have Szeged Chicken Rub (affiliate link) use whatever chicken seasoning you have on hand.
This recipe created by Kalyn.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 471Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 103mgSodium: 1267mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 6gSugar: 6gProtein: 46g
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 / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Made with a low-carb sweetener of your choice, this salad would be a great main-dish salad for any low-carb diet plan or any phase of the original South Beach Diet.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use the Salads Index to find more recipes like this one! Use the Diet Type Index to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This salad was first posted in 2006. The photos were updated in 2012, and the salad was updated with more information in 2021.
15 Comments on “Spinach Salad with Chicken”
Hi Ruby,
I think I'll try your version of dressing with less oil. Sounds Good!
The dressing was so tasty. I increased the ginger and omitted the olive oil. I found there was enough oil in the dressing with just the tiny bit of sesame oil. I'm not 100% south beach but I like to go low carb/low cal and I found the olive oil was too many calories and it wasn't missed anyway! This is now my go-to dressing 🙂
Thank You! I am hitting my head on the desk. I edited the recipe a little and was moving olive oil to the end of the dressing ingredient list and I must have gotten distracted. Just fixed it.
Is there supposed to be olive oil in the dressing? The photo states olive oil but it's not in the ingredient list.
Is there olive oil in the dressing? The photo states olive oil but it's not in the ingredient list.
Thanks everyone. So glad you guys are liking this!
I love the almonds! They add a nice crunch!
Looks great, Kalyn! It's the time of year when we eat a big salad often for dinner. This will have to go into the rotation!
This is my kind of salad. I'd use rotisserie chicken in a pinch, too.
How much different is rice wine vinegar from rice vinegar? My store only ever has the rice wine vinegar and I always wonder.
What a healthy salad and so pretty too! Love the mushrooms and peppers in it.
Sam
That looks delish! I might have to make it with some leftover fish!
I adore spinach. That photo is positively mouthwatering. What a delish sounding recipe–and so easy. Thanks! And thanks, as always, for hosting Weekend Herb Blogging–I’m definitely addicted to it. : )
Yum, yum and more yum!
Kalyn, looks like you and I were channeling each other!!! My WHB post is for an Asian flavored salad too. 🙂 Yours looks delicious.