Grilled Chicken Salad with Spicy Red Chili Peanut Sauce

I recently found this new-to-us recipe while searching for a dinner idea that uses leftover grilled chicken.

It has quickly become one of our favorite dinner recipes.

Loaded with lots of leafy greens, colorful veggies, and grilled chicken slices, the star of this dish is the amazing sweet and spicy red chili peanut sauce!

If you follow the recipe below, you’ll have some sauce left over. As we discovered, it also makes a perfect lunch wrap, with the same ingredients rolled up in a flour tortilla.

Oh, I love how grilled chicken can stretch into 3 meals in one week!!

How to Make this Easy Grilled Chicken Salad with Peanut Chili Sauce

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Ingredients for the Peanut Chili Sauce

• 2 red chilis with seeds removed
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons smooth peanut butter
• 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1/4 cup canola oil

Ingredients for the Grilled Chicken Salad (serves 2)

• 6 cups spinach, or leafy greens of your choice
• 1 red pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 medium carrot
• 8 cherry tomatoes
• 2 grilled chicken breasts

How to make the Peanut Chili Sauce Dressing

• Step 1: Cut the ends off the red chilis, slice them down the middle, and carefully scrape out the seeds with a spoon. (**Note: Spicy pepper seeds can burn your skin, so wear gloves.)
• Step 2: Put the red peppers in a mini chopper (or food processor or blender) and whir until they’re finely chopped.
• Step 3: Add the remaining ingredients one at a time, whirring after each addition, until the sauce is smooth.

Sidenote: I absolutely LOVE my mini food chopper (similar to this one). I got it as a Christmas gift decades ago, and I still reach for it often. It’s perfect for chopping small batches of things like nuts, Oreo cookies, graham crackers, bread crumbs, and dressings.

How to make the Grilled Chicken Salad

• Make the dressing.
• Wash the veggies and cut them into thin slices (or large dice, if you prefer).
• Divide half of the leafy greens between 2 plates or large bowls.
• Layer the sliced veggies on top.
• Add the sliced grilled chicken breasts.
• Drizzle about 3 Tablespoons of red chili peanut sauce over the top. (There will be sauce left over for later!)

Variations of this recipe

You can customize this grilled chicken salad in so many ways! Here are a few ideas:

• Use mixed greens instead of only spinach as the base.
• Add red cabbage to the mixed greens.
• Green onions, snow peas, and roasted peanuts would be lovely add-ins.
• If you like cilantro, toss some in!
• If the red chili peanut sauce is too hot for you, stir in a little more honey to tone down the heat.

For more salad recipes, you might want to check out:

• Spicy Lime Chicken Salad
• Macaroni Salad
• Classic Potato Salad

And if you’re hunting for healthier recipes like I am, here are 5 quick and easy healthy weeknight meal ideas.

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This recipe was inspired by Bobby Flay’s Chinese Chicken Salad with Red Chili Peanut Sauce