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Asian Chicken Pasta Salad w/ Peanut-Ginger Dressing

Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Salad
Keyword: Pasta Salad

Ingredients

Chicken Pasta Salad

  • 1/2 lb cooked and chilled pasta (best options are: spaghetti, angel hair, soba noodles, buckwheat noodles, or even ramen noodles)
  • 2 cup cooked and shredded chicken
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 1/2 diced onion
  • 1/2 thinly sliced green or red pepper
  • 3 cup thinly sliced cabbage
  • 1 zucchini, cut into matchsticks
  • 1 carrot, grated or cut into matchsticks

Peanut-Ginger Dressing

  • 1/4 cup peanut butter, chunky or creamy
  • 1/2 cup hot chicken stock (If you use the ramen noodles, you can use 1/2 a seasoning packet and 1/2 c. hot water)
  • 1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil (optional)
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 2 thinly sliced green onions
  • 1 1/2 tbsp freshly grated ginger or 1 t. dried ginger powder
  • 1/8-1/4 crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 cup chopped peanuts (optional)

Instructions

For Chicken Pasta Salad

  • Heat 2 T. oil in a large, deep-sided skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add onion and pepper and cook for 1 minutes. Add pasta and cook until pasta starts to brown a bit, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add chicken, cabbage, zucchini, and carrot. Cook until cabbage just begins to wilt (you want everything to still have a little crunch to it. Transfer to a bowl and chill in refrigerator.

For Peanut-Ginger Dressing

  • Place peanut butter in a small mixing bowl. Stir in hot (It is important that you use hot stock or the peanut butter will not melt) chicken stock and tamari until well blended. Add in remaining ingredients, except optional chopped peanuts, and refrigerate until dressing the salad. (If the dressing sits in the refrigerator for longer that 20 minutes or so, you may need to microwave it to bring it back to the correct consistency. Do this very carefully, 20-30 seconds at a time so that the peanut butter does not burn.)

To Serve

  • You can put the salad in a serving bowl or on individual plates and pour some dressing on top, or you can mix the two together before serving. If you want to mix the two, do this before refrigerating to save the step of bringing the dressing back to proper consistency. Garnish with chopped peanuts, if desired.

Notes

**Leftovers also taste wonderful for the next 2 – 3 days.