Name: Spicy Chicken Salad
Prep time: 20 min
Ingredients: 300 grams chicken breast; 1 medium cucumber; 1 cup cherry tomatoes; ½ red onion (or shallots); 1 small red capsicum; 2 cups mixed salad leaves; 3 tbsp spicy mayonaise ((see notes above for preferred options)); 1 tbsp olive oil

You must try this spicy chicken salad made with fresh ingredients and LOADS of flavour. Not not only healthy but gut friendly, this salad is the simple fix you didn’t know you needed in life. If spice is not your thing, never fear, you can make a small adjustment and turn this into a healthy grilled chicken salad instead.

The Best Spicy Chicken Salad

I’m a huge fan of peri peri flavouring, in fact, it is probably my favourite style of spice, particularly with chicken. Usually peri peri is made with a mix of chili, lemon, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves and oil but occasionally other spices and herbs will be added like paprika and oregano. Personally, I love a bit of paprika in my sauce!

And if you’re wondering where peri peri comes from and thinking it might be Portugal like I did, then the answer is actually Mozambique in Africa.

Choosing your spicy sauce or dressing

I’m not a huge fan of bottled sauces and flavourings because they almost always contain inflammatory vegetable or seed oils and preservatives. I’m not super strict with this to the point where I let it rule my life, because, let’s be honest, it is basically impossible to avoid seed oils ALL of the time, especially when eating out, but I try to avoid them for the most part at home.

Spicy Sauce Recommendations:

Souped up sriracha bone broth sauce by Gevity rx – this is, in my opinion, the best option because this sauce is made with extra virgin olive oil and a bone broth concentrate for added gut health benefits. Plus it is SUPER tasty.The Gevity brand is available in some health food stores and online. I usually place a bulk order 2-3 times a year and order their bone broth + a few sauces.
Good Fat Chili Mayo – Another great, gut friendly and healthy store bought chili mayonnaise. I have actually seen this available in some Woolworths stores in Sydney so it is probably the easiest and most accessible option.
Make your own – I like this recipe by madaboutfood because it’s made with olive oil.
Nandos Squeezy Perinaise – don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the flavour of this but it does have some questionable ingredients.

Ingredients for Spicy Chicken Salad

Grilled chicken breast
Capsicum – red or green. I like to use red in this salad
Olive oil
Mixed salad leaves, I always include rocket because this can support fat digestion
Avocado
Red onion or shallots
Tomato
Spicy mayonaise or peri peri sauce/dressing.

Love salads?

Try this flavourful prawn salad recipe made with brown rice or quinoa to keep you feeling full.

How to make this Spicy Chicken Salad

Chop, chop and chop your red onion, cucumber, tomato, capsicum and any other vegetables you would like to use in this salad.
Add mixed salad leaves to a medium size mixing bowl with cucumber, tomato, red onion and a dash of extra virgin olive oil + a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss the leaves to combine.
Prepare your chicken breast by slicing into desired size pieces and toss with spices. I like to use a blend of chili, garlic, onion, paprika, salt & pepper.
Heat olive oil in a fry pan, add the chicken & capsicum strips.
Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the pan and add to a plate. Continue to cook the capsicum strips until cooked through or, if like me, you like a little bit of char grilled capsicum, cook until the strips star to char.
Add the cooked chicken and capsicum to the salad bowl.
Spoon/drizzle peri peri or spicy sauce of your choice, over the salad and toss with tongs to coat everything.

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Spicy Chicken Salad

This spicy chicken salad is not only healthy but gut friendly! If spice is not your thing, never fear, you can make a small adjustment to still enjoy this delicious salad.

Course Main Course, Salad

Prep Time 20 minutes

Servings

Ingredients

300 grams chicken breast
1 medium cucumber
1 cup cherry tomatoes
½ red onion (or shallots)
1 small red capsicum
2 cups mixed salad leaves
3 tbsp spicy mayonaise (see notes above for preferred options)
1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

Chop red onion, cucumber, tomato, capsicum and any other vegetables you would like to use in this salad.
Add mixed salad leaves to a medium size mixing bowl with cucumber, tomato, red onion and a dash of extra virgin olive oil + a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss the leaves to combine.
Prepare your chicken breast by slicing into desired size pieces and toss with spices. I like to use a blend of chili, garlic, onion, paprika, salt & pepper.
Heat olive oil in a fry pan, add the chicken & capsicum strips.
Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the pan and add to a plate. Continue to cook the capsicum strips until cooked through or, if like me, you like a little bit of char grilled capsicum, cook until the strips star to char.
Add the cooked chicken and capsicum to the salad bowl.
Spoon/drizzle peri peri or spicy sauce of your choice, over the salad and toss with tongs to coat everything.
Serve straight away*

Notes

*I don’t recommend storing this salad for later, however you can grill the chicken and capsicum strips in advance or the night before. Store in an airtight container and then assemble the rest of the salad the following day or when you are ready to eat.