Broccoli slaw chicken salad with soy-ginger dressing is full of fresh veggies and is crazy crunchy! It’s a great salad to meal prep for a healthy lunch!

I hope all you moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day!

I celebrated with my kiddos at their respective schools on Friday, which is such a fun treat. It's so sweet how excited they get for me to come to school with them. (And I know those days are numbered, so I'm definitely cherishing it.)

And then on Mother's Day, my husband made the kids breakfast while I slept in a little, he took me out to brunch, got me flowers and some fun gifts, and we ordered in Lebanese for dinner with my parents, who came over.

And of course we ended the night watching Game of Thrones.

Doesn't get much better! 💖

But now let's move on to the FOOD!

Do you ever get ahold of an easy shortcut and just go crazy using it in as many ways as you can imagine?

That’s where I am with broccoli slaw.

(Before this, it was the bags of pre-shredded Brussels sprouts. Love them!)

Broccoli slaw is great as a crunchy side salad to some grilled or roasted salmon or chicken. It’s yummy on sandwiches or tucked into wraps. And I even love it cooked, when it wilts down and gets tender.

Today though we’re making it the star of the salad.

Broccoli slaw chicken salad is so crazy crunchy, y’all.

We’ve got the crunchy slaw plus crunchy snow peas, red pepper and matchstick carrots.

We’ve also got some spinach to add a little bulk to the salad, plus some rotisserie chicken to make this a full meal.

Plus, the homemade soy-ginger dressing that tops this off is crave-worth on its own.

It’s one you’ve seen around here before and it’s a serious favorite of ours. It’s so darn tasty!

(I use it in warm Asian quinoa power bowls, Asian chicken chopped salad and edamame, carrot and cucumber salad, among others.)

Yup, I’m mildly obsessed with this salad. I keep making it for lunch and eating all of it myself over the course of a few days.

Sorry family, it’s all mine.

Now, I’ve got some notes, tips and substitutions coming up for this recipe. Just tryin’ to be helpful.

If you want to jump on down to the recipe, simply scroll right on through the rest of the text. The recipe card is near the bottom of the page, above the comments section.

Make-ahead notes for broccoli slaw salad with chicken:

• If you want to meal prep this salad, mix together the salad ingredients and put them into your container. Add the green onions if you are using those.
• Then mix up the dressing - I use a small jar - but keep it separate in the fridge.
• You can sub about ½ teaspoon hot sauce and ½ teaspoon minced garlic for the chili garlic sauce if you prefer. You can adjust the amount of hot sauce to your spice level liking.
• When you are ready to eat, or in the morning when you’re packing your lunch, mix the dressing into the salad and add your peanuts.
• Keeping the dressing and peanuts separate ensures that everything stays nice and crunchy.

You can also make mason jar salads with this.

- I put about ¼ cup of the dressing in the bottom of a standard 16 oz. jar. (Like these.)

- Then layer the mixed salad on top of the dressing and place the green onions at the very top of the jar.

- If you are going to eat it in the next 1-2 days, you can go ahead and put your peanuts on top too. Otherwise, I’d keep them separate so they maintain their crunch.

Voila, healthy lunches ready to go for the week!

Then when you are ready to eat, dump the salad from the jar into a bowl and the dressing comes out on top. Mix it in, add the peanuts and dig in.

Substitutions for broccoli slaw chicken salad:

- I use rotisserie chicken but you could sub in some leftover grilled or roasted chicken if you have some on hand. (Or make Instant Pot shredded chicken.)

- You could even change up the protein and use grilled or roasted fish or thinly sliced pork. Canned tuna would work too.

- Red bell peppers have great sweetness - and look pretty too. However, you could use another color bell pepper if you prefer.

- I highly recommend the homemade dressing, and it takes just minutes to measure everything into a jar and mix it up. But you could substitute your favorite store-bought Asian-style dressing if you prefer.

- Slivered almonds would be a good substitute if you don’t want or can’t have peanuts.

Lastly, if you can’t buy the premade broccoli slow, then first, I’m so sorry. But also, here’s what to do for homemade broccoli slaw:

Shred a small head of broccoli (the florets and stem) using a box grater, then add a little bit of thinly sliced red cabbage. You’ll want about 3 cups total to equal the amount in a store-bought bag.

Most bags of broccoli slaw also have carrots, but since this recipe uses some, you can just skip that part.

So now you’re all caught up and ready to go.

I hope you give this broccoli slaw chicken salad a try. It’s so addictive and I think you’ll be as smitten with it as I am!

Enjoy!

XO,

Kathryn

P.S. Check out my other healthy lunch recipes with chicken for more inspiration!