Thai Noodle Salad with Chicken

If you’re looking for a healthy meal to feed your family that’s also packed with flavor, you’re going to love this Thai noodle salad! Combine marinated chicken with steam fried egg noodles, vegetables, and a sweet and spicy sauce to create this Asian inspired dinner with just a few minutes of prep work. And when you marinate the chicken ahead of time, you’ll be well on your way to a quick and easy weeknight dinner in no time.There used to be a Thai Noodle Salad topped with Chicken at Earls restaurant. It was my go-to on the menu but they haven’t had it in many years. What’s a girl to do when she can’t order her favorite Earls dish anymore?

Enter the phase of trial and testing and tweaking to come up with your own version that’s even better than the restaurant version. Success! 

This Thai Noodle Salad with Chicken is every bit as fresh and delicious as the Earls one used to be!

Thai Noodle Salad with Chicken Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 to 4 teaspoons Sambal Oelek (ground fresh chili sauce)
• 2/3 cup sweet Indonesian soy sauce
• ½ cup lime juice
• 2 tablespoons honey

For Day of Cooking:

• 200 grams steam fried egg noodles
• Romaine lettuce
• ¼ cup slivered purple onion
• ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• ¼ cup salted peanuts, in chunks (optional)
• 1 tablespoon fresh mint leaves
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil

Assembly Instructions:

1. Place the chicken breasts in a large, resealable freezer bag with the sesame oil. Seal the bag and squeeze to coat the chicken in oil.
2. Combine the garlic, sweet Indonesian soy sauce, lime juice, and honey in a small bowl. Stir until well combined.
3. Pour the half the sauce over the top of the chicken and pour the other half in a medium freezer bag.
4. Remove excess air and seal the opening of both bags. Staple the medium bag to the large bag above the seal.
5. Place the Thai chicken ingredients in the freezer until you’re ready to start cooking.

Cooking Instructions:

1. Transfer the frozen chicken and sauce ingredients to the refrigerator to thaw overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place the chicken in a baking dish. Discard the remaining marinade from the bag with the chicken.
3. Bake the chicken for 20 to 25 minutes or cook on the BBQ grill until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees.
4. Slice the cooked chicken breasts and set aside.
5. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions, then drain and rinse them with cold water.
6. To serve, layer each bowl with noodles, torn romaine lettuce, sliced red onions, mint, basil, sliced chicken, cilantro, and crushed peanuts. Drizzle the salad with the reserved sauce.

Can I Make the Chicken Marinade with Regular Soy Sauce?

Sweet Indonesian soy sauce adds a layer of sweetness to the dish that regular soy sauce can’t provide. But if you aren’t able to find this variety of sauce in your local store, it’s simple to replicate the flavors. Just combine a small amount of warm honey with traditional soy sauce to sweeten the salty condiment.

What Can I Add to Thai Noodle Salad?

This delicious recipe is packed with flavor, but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t add a few more ingredients if you want! Round out your own Thai salad with the help of any of these extra ingredients.

Add more vegetables or fruit. Adding more veggies or fresh fruit to your salad is always a good choice! And there are a variety of delicious fruit and veggie options to choose from as you’re preparing your own Thai salad. Try mixing in these extra vegetables.

• Red cabbage
• Shredded carrots
• Sliced radish
• Scallions
• Green onion
• Snow peas
• Green, yellow, orange, or red bell pepper
• Edamame
• Pineapple
• Kale
• Mango
• Snap peas
• Lime juice
• Cucumber

Swap out the noodles. Fried egg noodles are a great option for preparing this Thai noodle bowl, but you could also use rice noodles or even spaghetti noodles to make your own salad. Follow the instructions on the package for preparing your noodles, then add them to the bowl with the rest of your ingredients.

Try it with rice. Instead of noodles, you can serve your Thai chicken salad ingredients over rice. Prepare white, brown, or jasmine rice to add to the bottom of each of your salad bowls.

Add some peanut sauce. While this Thai salad is prepared without peanut sauce, if you’re a fan of the popular topping, you can easily add it to your own dish. Whip up your favorite peanut sauce recipe and add it to the top of your salad bowls before serving.

Is This Noodle Salad Served Cold?

The beauty of this simple dish is that you can enjoy it warm or cold! While some noodle salad recipes are served right after they’re prepared, others are chilled before eating. That means you can serve your chicken noodle salad either way.

How Do I Store Thai Noodle Salad?

This amazing salad recipe is sure to be eaten quickly. But if you have some ingredients left after your meal is finished, you can store them in the fridge until you’re ready to serve the dish again. Transfer the salad ingredients to an airtight container and keep it in the refrigerator for up to four days.

Print

Thai Noodle Salad with Chicken

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

 

Course: Lunch, Main Course, Salad

Servings: 6

Calories: 389 kcal

Ingredients

• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 2-4 tsp Sambal Oelek ground fresh chili sauce
• 2/3 cup sweet Indonesian soy sauce
• ½ cup lime juice
• 2 Tbsp honey

For Day of Cooking:

• 200 grams steam fried egg noodles
• Romaine lettuce
• ¼ cup slivered purple onion
• ½ cup fresh cilantro chopped
• ¼ cup salted peanuts in chunks (optional)
• 1 Tbsp fresh mint leaves
• 1 Tbsp fresh basil

Instructions

Assembly Instructions:

1. Place the chicken breasts in a large, resealable freezer bag with the sesame oil. Seal the bag and squish to coat the chicken.

2. Combine the garlic, sweet Indonesian soy sauce, lime juice, and honey in a small bowl. Stir until well combined.
3. Pour the half the sauce over the top of the chicken and pour the other half in a medium freezer bag.

4. Remove excess air and seal both bags. Staple the medium bag to the large bag above the seal.

5. Freeze.

Cooking instructions:

1. Thaw.

2. Preheat the oven to 375° and place the chicken in a baking dish. Discard the remaining marinade from the bag with the chicken.

3. Bake the chicken for 20 to 25 minutes or cook on the BBQ grill until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees.

4. Slice the cooked chicken breasts and set aside.

5. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions, then drain and rinse them with cold water.

6. To serve, layer each bowl with noodles, torn romaine lettuce, sliced red onions, mint, basil, sliced chicken, cilantro, and crushed peanuts. Drizzle the salad with the reserved sauce.