Chicken Cucumber Salad is an easy delicious recipe made with a store bought rotisserie chicken and a homemade parsley pesto . This flavor packed lunch or dinner salad is not only easy, it’s backed full of greens. The fresh parsley and spinach in the recipe are used to make a homemade pesto sauce. This chicken salad lays on a bed of fresh arugula, and then theres the edamame, seriously, could we fit any more greens in this amazing salad?
How Many Different Ways Can I use a Pesto Sauce?
According to Casa Dillisio Pesto can be used on pasta, fish, chicken, pizza, bread and more. Use Pesto the same way that you would use tomato sauce except use less because of it’s concentrated flavor.
Epicurious has a fantastic list of ways to incorporate more pesto into your life, here are a couple of they’re delicious suggestions:
- Use pesto as a pizza topping
- Spread your favorite pesto sauce over chicken thighs or breast, coat the chicken in bread crumbs and pan fry or bake until they are crispy. Serve with a side of pesto.
- Stir pesto into eggs and scramble them
- Spoon over grilled salmon
- Use it to make a “pull apart loaf
Let’s gather the ingredients for this easy chicken salad recipe and make it together.
Chicken Cucumber Salad Ingredients:
- 2 cups flat leaf parsley
- 1 cup fresh spinach
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1 medium garlic clove, smashed
- 1/4 Teaspoon pepper
- 1 Teaspoon salt
- 4 Tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
- 2 cups rotisserie chicken, shredded
- 2 cups shelled and cooked edamame
- One 15 ounce can chickpeas
- 1 cucumber, sliced
- 4 cups arugula
Chicken Cucumber Salad Recipe Steps
Step One
We start the recipe by making the homemade parsley pesto. Using a food processor to make the homemade pesto means it literally comes together in minutes. Like…PRESTO we’ve got Pesto easy! Humor me, I’m old. Next, place the parsley, spinach, lemon juice, 1 Tablespoon of the roasted pine nuts, grated Parmesan cheese , smashed garlic and salt and pepper into the bowl of the food processor. Process the ingredients until they are smooth. With the processor running add the olive oil through the food processors lid in a steady stream while the processor is on. Process the ingredients until they are smooth. Remove the homemade pesto from the food processor into a bowl.
Step Two
Place the 2 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken, edamame, chickpeas and sliced cucumbers in a large bowl., toss the ingredients to combine them. Add the homemade pesto to the bowl and again toss the ingredients to coat them. If you’re serving this delicious salad in bowls ,place about 2/3 cup of arugula in each bowl and top it with 1 cup of the chicken mixture. Garnish the salad with roasted pine nuts. You’ll get about 4 servings, depending on how big your bowls are. Refrigerate any leftover chicken mixture in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap.
Chicken Cucumber Salad is What’s For Lunch or Dinner and you’re going to love it!
Looking For More Recipes From Bunny’s Warm Oven? Try These!
Lemon Herb Chicken...Mustard Chicken Marinade...Chicken Enchiladas with Homemade Red Enchilada Sauce...Crock Pot Tuscan Chicken...Chicken Breasts in Sour Cream Sauce
Chicken Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
Pesto Ingredients:
- 2 cups flat leaf parsley leaves
- 1 cup baby spinach
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 Tablespoons toasted pine nuts, divided ( 1 Tablespoon for the pesto, 3 Tablespoons to top the salad)
- 1 medium garlic clove, crushed
- 1 Tablespoon grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1 Teaspoon salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup olive oil
Salad Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
- 2 cups shelled and cooked edamame
- 1 15 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup chopped cucumber
- 4 cups arugula, packed
Instructions
How To Make The Parsley Pesto:
- Place the pesto ingredients (parsley, spinach, lemon juice, 1 Tablespoon toasted pine nuts, grated Parmesan cheese, smashed garlic and salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Process the ingredients until they are smooth. With the food processor running, add the olive oil through the spout at the top of the food processor in a slow steady stream to the ingredients in the processor bowl. Process until the ingredients are smooth, about 1 minute.
- Place the 4 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken, 2 cups cooked edamame, the drained and rinsed chickpeas ,1 cup chopped cucumber and 4 cups arugula in a large bowl. Add the pesto to the bowl and toss the ingredients to combine them.
- To serve, divide the arugula between 4 plates, top the arugula with the chicken mixture. Top the salad with the remaining toasted toasted pine nuts. Serve immediately. Place any leftovers covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator.
