Spinach Salad with Chicken
Spinach Salad with Chicken is a recipe that’s perfect to make with leftover grilled chicken if you’re lucky enough to have some! And this extra-easy spinach salad has a delightful dressing with Asian flavors that makes it extra good!
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Spinach Salad with Chicken is something I’d love to have for dinner whenever I’m trying to eat more protein and vegetables, which is actually pretty often! And there are lots of good reasons to eat healthy greens like spinach, whether or not you’re trying to lose weight or watch carbs!
What really makes this spinach salad a wow is the dressing with so many of my favorite Asian flavors like soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, and Sriracha Sauce, and you can make the salad as spicy or mild as you prefer. And this salad also has red bell peppers and mushrooms bumping up the vegetable ratio and slivered almonds adding some crunch.
I hope you remember this tasty spinach salad next time you have spinach and leftover chicken and need an idea for using it!
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)
- boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Szeged Chicken Rub (affiliate link), chicken seasoning rub, or other chicken seasoning 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)
- sesame oil (affiliate link)
- ginger puree or Minced Ginger (affiliate link)
- Sriracha Sauce (affiliate link)
- olive oil
Why Are Spinach Salads so Nutritious?
Why should you love spinach salads? Spinach is so nutritious that it’s considered one of the Superfoods. It’s a good source for Vitamin A, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, and Potassium. And even better, spinach is low in calories and has a milder flavor compared to many types of greens.
Want to use leftover chicken for the Spinach Salad with Chicken?
I cooked some chicken on a Stovetop Grill Pan (affiliate link) to make a couple of salads for this recipe, but if you have leftover rotisserie chicken or grilled chicken, this salad will be even quicker to get on the table.
How low in carbs is this Spinach Salad with Chicken?
This tasty salad with so many nutritious ingredients has only 8 net carbs and 46 grams of protein!
What other ingredients could you use for the Spinach Salad with Chicken?
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, or hearts of palm can definitely be added.
- You could make the salad with other types of greens, although spinach is nutritious and delicious with the Asian-flavored dressing.
How to make Spinach Salad with Chicken:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- 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.
- Devour the Spinach Salad with Chicken and enjoy!
Make it a Low-Carb Meal:
You could definitely eat this Spinach Salad with Chicken by itself for lunch or a light dinner. But if you wanted something low in carbs to serve on the side, any of these would be great:
- Olive Bread
- Savory Almond Flour Bread
- Low-Carb High Fiber Savory Muffins
- Flourless Keto Zucchini Muffins
More Tasty Ideas with Greens:
- Caesar Salad with Kale, Romaine, and Shaved Parmesan
- Wild Rice Salad with Bacon and Arugula
- Swiss Chard Egg Bake (with Cottage 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:
Spinach Salad with Chicken would be a great main-dish salad for any low-carb diet or Keto plan or any phase of the original South Beach Diet, as long as it’s made with a low-carb sweetener.
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, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This spinach salad topped with chicken and an Asian dressing was first posted in 2006! The photos were updated in 2012, and the salad was last updated with more information in 2025.
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.