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This delightful Chicken Broccoli Salad has a tasty peanut butter dressing, and this is a unique salad meal that’s good any time of year. Peanut butter fans will love this salad that’s relatively low in carbs and high in protein, and it stays good in the fridge for several days, making it great for Weekend Food Prep!

PIN Chicken Broccoli Salad to try it later!


Chicken Broccoli Salad shown in serving bowl with spoon.

Today I’m updating the photos to entice you try this Chicken Broccoli Salad that’s made from chunks of shredded chicken, small bites of crunchy broccoli, and finely diced red bell pepper tossed with a flavorful slightly-sweet dressing made of peanut butter, soy sauce, lime, ginger and garlic. I’d love this for lunch or dinner any time of year!

You’ll probably like this wonderful salad even more when I tell you how easy it is to make, and if you have cooked chicken on hand you could easily have this on the table in 15 or 20 minutes! And I was eating leftovers of this from the fridge for several days, so it’s a great salad for Weekend Food Prep.

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

What inspired this Chicken Broccoli Salad?

Years ago I spotted the original version of this salad in Sunset Magazine and started thinking about how I could adapt it to be lower in carbs. I switched green peas for diced red bell pepper, used natural peanut butter without added sugar, sweetened the dressing with Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link), and upped the ginger for a more highly-flavored dressing, and the result was an amazingly good combination that I’ve ended up making over and over.

How can you make the Chicken Broccoli Salad lower in carbs?

This tasty salad is pretty low in net carbs, but if you prefer even fewer carbs just use more chicken and less broccoli!

More Peanut Butter Love from Danica's Kitchen:

Process shots collage for Chicken Broccoli Salad showing steps for the recipe

How to make Chicken Broccoli Salad

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

  1. Whisk together the oil, peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, minced ginger, minced garlic, Monkfruit Sweetener, and water to make the dressing. 
  2. Chop up enough leftover cooked chicken breast to make 3 cups diced chicken.
  3. We tossed the chicken with part of the dressing to marinate while we chopped the vegetables.
  4. Chop up 5 cups of broccoli into small bite sized florets.
  5. Chop up a large red bell pepper into 1/2 inch pieces.
  6. Chop up peanuts, if using.
  7. Mix the broccoli and red bell pepper with the chicken/dressing mixture and then stir in as much of the reserved dressing as you prefer.
  8. Stir in chopped peanuts, saving a few to sprinkle on top if desired.
  9. I ate the leftovers from the fridge for two days, and was sad when they were gone!

Chicken Broccoli Salad in serving bowl on green-white napkin.

More Fun Ideas for Broccoli Salad:

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe has been added to my category for Weekend Food Prep where you’ll find recipes you can make on the weekend and have leftovers to reheat or eat again during the week!

Chicken Broccoli Salad shown in serving bowl with spoon.
Yield: 6 servings

Chicken Broccoli Salad

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes

Chicken Broccoli Salad has a delicious peanut butter dressing, and this is a main dish salad meal that’s good any time of year. And leftovers will stay good in the fridge for several days!

Ingredients

Dressing Ingredients:

  • 3 T peanut oil (or other neutral-flavored oil)
  • 1/2 cup natural peanut butter without sugar (see notes)
  • 3 T soy sauce (see notes)
  • 2 T fresh-squeezed lime juice
  • 1 T minced ginger (see notes)
  • 1 tsp. minced garlic
  • 3 T Granulated Monkfruit Sweetener
  • 1/3 cup water

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups diced cooked chicken breast
  • 1 red bell pepper, cut into small 1/2 inch dice
  • 5 cups chopped broccoli, cut into small bite-sized pieces (see notes)
  • 1/4 cup chopped peanuts for garnish (optional)

Instructions

    1. Whisk together the peanut or vegetable oil, natural or sugar-free peanut butter, soy sauce or gluten-free soy sauce, lime juice, minced ginger, minced garlic, granulated Monkfruit sweetener, and water to make the dressing.
    2. Cut up chicken into bite sized pieces so you have about 3 cups of diced, cooked chicken, put chicken in salad bowl, and mix in about half the dressing. Let chicken marinate in dressing while you cut up other ingredients.
    3. Trim broccoli and chop into bite-sized pieces, to make 5 cups chopped broccoli.
    4. Trim ends and remove seeds from red bell pepper, and cut into half-inch strips and then into squares.
    5. Coarsely chop peanuts, if using.
    6. Add the chopped broccoli and pieces of red pepper to the chicken dressing mixture and stir to combine. Add additional dressing until the salad is a moist as you prefer.
    7. Stir in chopped peanuts (if using). We saved some to sprinkle on top of the finished salad.
    8. Serve right away or refrigerate for a few hours if making ahead.
    9. This will stay good in the fridge for several days, and I was sad when my leftovers were gone.

Notes

I'm a fan of Adams 100% Natural Peanut Butter or Skippy Sugar-Free Peanut Butter.

Be sure to use Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (affiliate link) if needed.

You can use minced ginger and minced garlic from a jar or minced fresh ginger root and garlic, whichever you prefer.

We started with about a pound of broccoli pieces that we trimmed to get 5 cups small pieces of broccoli.

This recipe adapted from Broccoli Chicken Salad in Sunset Magazine, submitted by Sunset reader Betsy Dasenko.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 405Total Fat: 24gSaturated Fat: 4.2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 17.8gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 650mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 7.1gSugar: 4.8gProtein: 33g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Did you make this recipe?

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating (under the PRINT button in the recipe) or share a photo of your results on Instagram! THANKS!

© Danica Thomas
Category: Salads

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
As long as you use natural peanut butter without added sugar and use an approved sweetener to sweeten the dressing, this Chicken Broccoli Salad would be a great choice for low-carb diets or for any phase of the original South Beach Diet.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use the Salad Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Danica's Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe was first posted in 2013, and I’ve made it quite a few times since then. It was updated with better photos and more information in 2023.

 
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