Time to use some leftover chicken! If you're following along, you have some grilled asian chicken in your refrigerator, and (hopefully) some of the dipping sauce.
*If not, that's OK - I've made this salad with "plain" leftover chicken, and made the dressing on the fly. Or, a la minute in French. I bet you didn't think I could work my love of france into an Asian Noodle Salad, did you?
When I have leftovers, one of my first thoughts is "salad". Steak and blue cheese salad, Greek Salad with chicken, chicken caesar salad* - if you have some leftover protein and some greens you can whip up a meal that doesn't seem much like leftovers with very little effort. Just be sure to make your own salad dressing!
*(fill in protein here) caesar salad has turned into a cliche on restaurant menus. Do it at home, for a weeknight dinner that's ready in about 15 minutes, and you're a hero.
This salad is a work of art. The different colors and textures layered in this salad give it an amazing presentation. I like to serve it in one big bowl, and let everyone grab with a set of tongs.
I know this seems like a lot of prep work, but trust me*, it's worth it. If you've got average knife skills, this shouldn't take much longer to put together than any other dinner, and it winds up being a dinner in a bowl.
*My dad's a doctor...I know what I'm doing! Oh, and my brother is one, too.
**For some reason, that doesn't sound as impressive as when they do it.
📖 Recipe Card
Asian Noodle Salad with Chicken
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
A main course salad for leftover chicken - lettuce, cucumber, red onion, rice noodles and shredded chicken in a sweet-tart lime dressing, topped with herbs and peanuts.
Ingredients
Dressing
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
- 2 tablespoons lime juice (from 1 lime)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- ¼ cup peanut or vegetable oil
Salad
- 1 large carrot, peeled and grated or shredded
- 1 ounce thin rice noodles
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken (half of a leftover chicken, or 2 chicken breasts)
- 1 small head green leaf lettuce, torn into bite size pieces (or about 2 cups bagged lettuce)
- ½ seedless cucumber, thinly sliced
- ¼ red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
- 6 basil leaves, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons dry-roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Cook the rice noodles: Cook the noodles according to the package directions - usually, pour boiling water over them and let them sit for about 5 minutes. Drain.
- Make the dressing: Whisk the pepper flakes, vinegar, lime juice, sugar, garlic and fish sauce in a bowl until the sugar dissolves. Drizzle in the oil, whisking vigorously, until combined. Add the grated carrot, and toss to coat. Let the carrot soak in the dressing while you make the rest of the salad.
- Shred the chicken: Pull the skin and bones off the chicken, and shred the meat into pieces about ½ inch thick and 2 inches long. Toss with 2 tablespoons of the dressing.
- Prep the vegetables: Tear the lettuce, and slice the cucumber, onion, cilantro, basil and peanuts.
- Build the salad: Toss the lettuce, cucumber and onion with half the dressing in a large bowl. Top with the rice noodles, then the chicken, then scatter the cilantro, basil and peanuts on top. Drizzle with the rest of the dressing, and serve.
Notes
This salad is designed to use leftovers from my Grilled Butterflied Chicken - if you have leftover dipping sauce from that recipe, use it for the dressing. Almost any roasted chicken works, but skip barbecued chicken; the flavors clash.
Look for thin rice noodles in the international aisle of the supermarket, or at your local Asian market.
For a fancier presentation, build the salad on individual plates after tossing the lettuce.
Shortcuts: Use bagged lettuce and pre-shredded carrots - but slice your own cucumber and onion, and please skip the pre-cooked chicken strips.
Pickled onions: My pickled red onions are a great substitute for the sliced red onion.
Flexible: Use more or less lettuce, skip the noodles, or use mint instead of the basil and cilantro.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
Questions? Comments? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts:
Click here for my Grilled Butterflied Chicken
Click here for my Grill-Roasted Thai Chicken Breasts
Adapted from:
Su-Mei Yu, Cool Rice Noodles and Chicken [finecooking.com]
See her blog at [sumeiyu-thailiving.blogspot.com]
MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says
Tino, I think I'm starting to notice a theme to your comments. Are we going to have to stage a Sriracha intervention? 🙂
MikeV
Tino says
I wonder if a drop or two of toasted sesame seed oil would add a nice depth of flavor, too.
This sounds like a great salad, but I think a nice good squeeze of Sriracha either in the dressing or over the top of the finished salad would make it even better. Then again, I like the heat.