Vietnamese style noodle salad with peppered chicken
Fresh and light, this easy chicken salad is elevated by combining seared peppered chicken with seasonal veges and topping with a zesty Vietnamese-style dressing. This recipe is bound to become your go-to spring salad!
* The ingredients used in this recipe are shared with other recipes from week two of the spring weekly meal planner. See the meal planner here.
Ingredients
Method
Ingredients
Peppered chicken
- 400g skinless chicken breast, sliced into strips
- 2 teaspoons cracked pepper
- 1 tablespoon oil
Noodle salad
- 250g vermicelli noodles
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- ½ cucumber*, sliced into sticks
- 100g bean sprouts* or other sprouts
- 2 large carrots, cut into thin matchsticks
- 1 large capsicum, sliced
- 150g (½ packet) mesclun salad*
Dressing
- Juice and rind of 1 ½ lemons*
- 2 teaspoons sweet chilli sauce
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce or ½ teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 clove garlic, grated or ½ teaspoon crushed garlic
* These ingredients are shared with other recipes from week two of the spring weekly meal planner.
Method
- Mix the chicken and pepper in a bowl. Heat a frying pan on the stove over high heat, add oil to the pan and fry chicken in batches. Set aside.
- Cook noodles according to package instructions and portion into bowls or wide plates.
- Evenly distribute the fresh salad ingredients over the cooked noodles.
- Mix all the dressing ingredients in a bowl, test taste adding more sweet chilli or fish sauce if needed. Drizzle sauce evenly over the noodle salad.
- Top salad with cooked chicken and serve.
Cooking tips:
• Try using different seasonings such as lemongrass or honey soy to flavour your choice of protein.
Adapt it:
• You can switch the chicken for pork, beef, lamb, white fish, salmon, tofu, tempeh, or another protein alternative.
Kid-friendly alternatives:
• For younger children, vermicelli noodles can be a choking hazard, so swap for thicker rice or egg noodles and chop after cooking if needed.
• Use reduced salt soy sauce.
• Adapt the salad veges based on what your kids will eat.
Leftovers:
Eat for lunch the next day.