This Thai Chicken Spiralized Zucchini Salad is deliciously fresh and healthy! Chicken breast fillets marinated and pan fried in a Thai-inspired peanut sauce over a bed of spiralized vegetables with a peanut sesame dressing – this salad is a meal in itself! And it makes a quick and easy weeknight dinner!
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Can you believe I hated zucchini as a child? Oh the horrors I must have put my parents through being a squash hater and a zucchini hater for my entire childhood. I have no idea WHAT I was thinking, since those two vegetables are now some of my favourite foods. But don’t feel too sorry for my parents…as far as kids go I think my brothers and I weren’t too hard on them, and I’m definitely getting a taste of my own medicine now that I have two kids of my own who can be just as challenging at the dinner table as I used to be…if not more (insert crying emoji face here).
And since I’ve become an adult I have grown to love zucchini with a passion. We eat it all the time – pan fried in herbs and spices, grilled in the summertime, added as a filler in meatballs and stuffed peppers, and I even add it to baking quite often because it adds such delicious moisture to muffins and cakes. Lucky for me it’s actually one of the many healthy foods that my kids love, so I can usually enjoy it in peace minus the dinnertime whining that accompanies many a dinner at our house, despite the fact that my kids are actually really good eaters (if you’re a parent of preschoolers you’ll probably understand EXACTLY what I’m talking about. And if you don’t, I want your secrets!).
This Thai Chicken Spiralized Zucchini Salad is one of my recent experiments with zucchini. I recently purchased a Spiralizer and I love it! I have the Spiralizer® 4-Blade Vegetable Spiral Slicer
(affiliate link) and I purchased it because it’s compact and inexpensive – I didn’t need another expensive kitchen gadget taking up valuable space and I certainly didn’t want to spend a lot of money on something if I wasn’t sure I would use it. For me, a handheld spiralizer does the job and it’s relatively inexpensive. And I just love the look of spiralized veggies! Steamed spiralized zucchini is a great low-carb alternative to spaghetti or other pasta, and spiralized vegetables are perfect for salads like this one!
Looking for more healthy dishes? Try my Quick and Easy Greek Salad or this Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Orange Vinaigrette.
And feel free to grill the chicken in this dish instead of pan-frying it – When I made this salad I was in a hurry for a quick and easy dinner so pan frying was just easier, but if you have a little more time marinating the chicken and cooking it on the grill would be a perfect variation to this recipe for summertime! I’ve adapted the dressing in this recipe from Once Upon a Chef – my variation is my new favourite go-to Thai peanut sauce! This salad is perfect for a light dinner or lunch, and since the vegetables are raw it makes a great salad to take to work for lunch the next day without worry that you’ll get the dreaded lunchtime salad sogginess. If you love fresh veggies and Thai flavours, you are going to LOVE this dish!!
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Don’t you just love all the colours in this dish?? I love colourful salads, especially meal-sized salads like this one. Depending on the size of the chicken breasts you use, this salad easily serves 3-4 adults for lunch or dinner, and it also makes a great lunch to take to work during a busy week!
I hope you enjoy this Thai Chicken Spiralized Zucchini Salad recipe! Let me know in the comments below, what’s your favourite dish using spiralized veggies?
Are you loving this recipe? Try my Greek Yogurt Caesar Salad or this delicious Berry Walnut Spinach Salad!
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Kitchen Products I recommend:
Like this recipe? You’ll LOVE these delicious ones I’ve linked below!
- Thai Peanut Salad Cups
- Asian Cabbage Salad with Ginger Peanut Dressing
- Easy Sticky Asian Chicken
- Easy Homemade Ramen Bowls
- Easy Sticky Asian Chicken
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- Easy Homemade Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
- Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp Soup
- Easy Korean Beef Rice Bowls
QUICK & EASY WEEKNIGHT MEALS
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Recipe Video
Watch the video below to see exactly how I make this healthy meal. You can find more delicious recipe videos on my YouTube channel.
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Thai Chicken Spiralized Zucchini Salad
Recipe: Ingredients
For the Thai marinade/salad dressing:
- 1/4 cup natural peanut butter
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 3 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 cloves garlic , finely grated
- 1 tbsp ginger , finely grated
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes , optional
For the salad:
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts , cut into small strips
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium zucchini
- 2 medium carrots
- 1/4 red onion , very thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper , very thinly sliced
Garnishes:
- Crushed peanuts and/or sesame seeds for garnish (optional)
- Cilantro for garnish (optional)
Recipe: Instructions
- Add the peanut butter, rice vinegar, lime juice, sesame oil, soy sauce, honey, salt and red pepper flakes to a mason jar.
- Grate the ginger and the garlic and add them to the mason jar as well. Cover tightly with a lid and shake very well until everything is well blended.
- Set the dressing aside while you prepare the chicken (feel free to make the dressing the night or the day before and let it chill in the fridge until you're ready to use it).
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil and then the chicken strips. Pour half the dressing over the chicken in the skillet and cook the chicken in the dressing for about 6-8 minutes per side or until the pieces are cooked through.
- Reserve the other half of the dressing for the vegetables.
- While the chicken is cooking, spiralize the zucchini and the carrots and add them to a large bowl along with the sliced red onion and the sliced red bell pepper.
- Pour the remaining dressing over the veggies and toss well. When the chicken is fully cooked, add it on top of the veggies, sprinkle with the chopped peanuts and cilantro, and serve!
Recipe: Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
This looks amazingly delicious! Do you think it would be good with spaghetti squash in place of the zucchini? We can't grow zucchini here because of the year round heat but I can get spaghetti squash at the market. Can't wait to try it!
I don't think I would use spaghetti squash as it has a completely different texture to zucchini. My suggestion would be to try spiralized cucumber. Let me know if you give it try!!