I partnered with Gardein to showcase this idea for a super tasty meatless meal featuring meatless meat! It’s a vegan crispy chicken asian noodle salad that’s bursting with flavor. You might already know that Gardein makes some of my favorite products, like these chipotle lime crispy chicken fingers. I usually eat them straight up with my maple mustard dip or a chipotle mayo. Yum!
But for this salad, I sliced them up and made it super fresh and flavorful. I threw in mint, cilantro, cabbage, carrot, green onion and then topped it all with a quick homemade sesame ginger dressing that ties it all together. It’s the perfect thing to take to a summer party, potluck or BBQ. And I’m sure the omni’s will devour this one without hesitating! Meatless meats like the ones from Gardein are perfect for introducing meat eaters to the lighter, plant based side of eating. Just tell them they’ll be able to eat more if they make the switch!
It really amazes me to see how far vegan products have come over the years! From ground beef to chicken, there’s a vegan version on the market for pretty much everything. No more excuses, people! Now, let’s get onto the recipe for this vegan crispy chicken asian noodle salad.
vegan crispy chicken asian noodle salad
I always throw noodles in my salads and the morsels of crispy chicken are just a bonus! This is a perfect dish for summer parties and BBQ's.
Ingredients
salad
- 1 pkg Gardein chipotle lime crispy fingers
- 225 g spaghetti or chow mein style wheat noodles
- 2 C shredded or ribboned carrot
- 2 C shredded or finely chopped green cabbage
- 2 green onions, finely chopped (about 3/4 cup)
- 1/2 C packed cilantro, finely chopped
- 1/4 C packed mint leaves, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes (optional)
sesame ginger sauce
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 3 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
- 2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tsp agave nectar or sugar
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper or ground black pepper
Instructions
-
Bake Gardein chipotle lime crispy fingers in an oven preheated to 450°F for 30 minutes, to get them extra crispy.
-
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook noodles to al dente. Drain and rinse under cool water. Drain well in a strainer before adding to a large mixing bowl.
-
Whisk the sesame ginger sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Toss the recently drained and still warm noodles in about 1/4 cup of the dressing so that they don’t stick.
-
Toss noodles in the large mixing bowl with all the salad ingredients, cooked and sliced chicken fingers, and the remaining dressing until well combined.
-
Serve immediately and garnish with additional cilantro, if desired.
Recipe Notes
You can also pack this up in a container and refrigerate until serving. If doing this, I recommend leaving the chicken fingers separate from the noodle salad if you're eating it later at a picnic or bbq so they remain crispy and don’t get too soggy from the dressing.
13 thoughts on “vegan crispy chicken asian noodle salad”
This looks so amazing!!
Have you tried meal prepping and if so how long would it last in the fridge (days)?
Hi Amanda,
Although I didn’t use this recipe for meal prepping, I made this for dinner and then had leftovers for lunch the next day. It is definitely much better day of than it is as a leftover! It still tastes good, but the cabbage and the carrot almost became like a coleslaw and absorbed a lot of the dressing so they didn’t have the crisp freshness of the first day. For the best experience I would definitely stick to only having fresh, I just found it didn’t keep great.
The BEST noodle salad ever!
yessss! thank you so much!
Made this today and could not stop myself from getting seconds. Left the cilantro out bc my 3 children fear flavor, can’t wait to have it again with alllll the herbs. Thank you!
This was phenomenal! It tasted so fresh and so delicious!
Im confused, is the sesame ginger dressing something we buy or are we making it w/ the remaining ingredients? Its listed as one of the ingredients so not sure, in the instructions it sounds like we make it.
sorry there was a formatting issue in the recipe – its’ fixed – the sesame ginger dressing is a header and then the ingredients follow!
Hiya! I was just wondering about the sauce, is there another flavour that would go well with this salad? I love sesame but not so much a strong ginger. Would maybe a garlic type thing suit this?
Very good salad. Ate. It. Up.
Delicious! I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it since I’m not a huge fan of mint but I’m so glad I made it anyways. It was great! Filling but still light and fresh. Husband has already requested to have it again 😊 next time I’m going to make a double batch (but only one thing of the “chicken” for the night of) so that we can make lunches for the week.
happy to hear!
I just made this for my family and it was a huge thumbs up. I didn’t have spring onions and substituted arugula