This delicious Bowtie and Spinach Chicken Salad is made with a base of spinach, bowtie noodles, and chicken. Topped with mandarin oranges, honey nut peanuts, Craisins, green onions and topped with a delicious Teriyaki Vinaigrette! Perfect for a main dish or side dish!
16ozBowtie pastaCooked al Dente, Drained and Cooled
10ozSpinach
2CupsCooked ChickenRotisserie
½CupCraisins
2CansMandarin Oranges (11 oz)Drained
4Green Onionsthinly sliced (white and green parts)
⅓CupSesame Seeds
½CupHoney Roasted Peanuts
8ozWater ChestnutsCanned, Drained and Slivered (optional)
Teriyaki Dressing
1CupAvocado Oil
½ CupTeriyaki SauceBottled
⅓ CupRice Vinegar
⅓CupApple Cider Vinegar
¼CupSugar
½TspSalt
½TspPepper
Instructions
Cook your Bowtie Noodles until al dente.
While your noodles are cooking, combine all the dressing ingredients and combine until smooth (I like to use my blender).
Mix about 1 cup of the dressing with the cooked pasta in a large bowl or gallon Ziploc bag and marinate for at least one hour. I often times cook the noodles in the morning and marinate them in the dressing all day until I need to assemble the salad.
Combine the remaining salad ingredients in a large bowl.
Just before serving, add the pasta to the rest of the salad ingredients and toss everything together.
Add additional dressing to taste and toss. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
CAN YOU MAKE THIS SALAD AHEAD OF TIME?
Not 100%, but mostly! If you don't plan on serving the salad right away, then I suggest waiting to assemble it all. It's best to not coat everything in the Teriyaki dressing too far ahead of time. As mentioned in the recipe instructions above, you will coat your noodles in the dressing, but not everything else.While the noodles are boiling, go ahead and prep all the other ingredients. But, instead of combining them together, just store everything in individual Ziploc bags. When the noodles are done, go ahead and coat the noodles in 1 cup of the dressing and store the rest of the dressing until you're ready to assemble the entire salad.Then when you're ready to assemble the salad, you can just dump the ziplock bags of ingredients in with the noodles, mix and dress the salad!
HOW LONG DOES THE SALAD STAY GOOD?
Because the entire salad is coated in the Teriyaki dressing, it doesn't stay good for more than 24-36 hours. However, you could pick the spinach out and add some new spinach to make the salad last an extra day or so!