A gorgeous, colourful salad loaded with tropical Hawaiian flavours! Lots of healthy greens, chicken marinated in pineapple and coconut, coconut rice, drizzled with a tasty cilantro / coriander lime dressing.
Now THIS is what I call a proper salad! Plus itโs transforming leftovers from a recipe I posted a few weeks ago. Thrifty, convenient, healthy, satisfying andย super tasty. What more can you ask for inย a salad??
A TROPICAL CHICKEN SALAD!!
This recipe is based on this Hawaiian Coconut Pineapple Chicken Skewers and Coconut Lime Cilantro (Coriander) Rice I posted a few weeks ago. Itโs a re-purpose of leftovers and I enjoyed the salad so much, I decided to share it here.
Truth be told, much of what I share here on RecipeTin Eats is a consequence of a never-ending plan to use up ingredients I have in the fridge or freezer. Between client photography assignments, my monthly feature in Super Food Ideas magazine and the recipes I share here,ย excess ingredients is a regular โproblemโ I have. I actuallyย have a whiteboard on my fridgeย on which I map out ideas all stemming from a list of โMUST USEโ items.
I hate waste. I was brought up being scolded if I didnโt clear my plate. โA farmerย worked hard to grow that rice!โ,ย my mother scold,ย if I dared to leave a single grain of rice in my bowl.
OK, a little off track here. Back to the salad!
So it starts with a tasty coconut-pineapple marinated chicken using the same marinade as the Hawaiian Chicken Skewers.ย There is actually enough marinade in that recipe to sneak in the chicken breast for this recipe. ๐
Or you could marinate the chicken for the skewers for 24 hours, take it out then marinate the breast for the next 24 hours.
Then add a stack of greens. After all, this is a pretty full loaded salad! I rummaged through my fridge to use what I had on hand, but really, the skyโs the limit.
I also used leftover Coconut Cilantro/Coriander Rice which I servedย as a side for the Hawaiian Chicken Skewers. Itโs a perfect match for this salad, and a great way to fill it out!
PSย This recipe calls for a can of pineapple pieces. So I use the juices for the marinade and sear the pieces to throw into the salad. ๐
Regular readers know that salad isnโt really my โthingโ. I should shareย more of them. It just takes a lot for me to get excited about a salad.
THIS Iโm excited about. A salad worth sharing!ย โ Nagi x
MORE CHICKEN SALADS YOUโLL LOVE
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More giant Salads for Meals
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Hawaiian Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- Marinade (Note 1):
- 1/3 cup coconut milk (from a can)
- 1/4 cup pineapple juice (from can, save pineapple pieces)
- 1 tbsp tomato sauce/ketchup
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- Zest of 1 lime
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/4 tsp EACH onion powder , cumin, paprika, ginger powder, salt
- Chicken & Salad:
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large chicken breast , halved horizontally
- 1/2 cup corn
- 1/2 - 3/4 cup pineapple pieces (from can)
- 4 - 6 cups chopped lettuce
- 1/2 avocado , cut into wedges
- 1/2 red onion , finely sliced
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes , halved
- 1 small carrot, finely shredded
- 1 - 1 1/2 cups Coconut Lime Cilantro / Coriander Rice (Note 2)
- Dressing:
- 1 1/2 tbsp lime juice
- 2 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro/coriander
- 1/2 garlic minced
- 1/2 tsp sugar or honey
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Mix together Marinade ingredients, marinate chicken for minimum 3 hours, preferably overnight.
- Shake Dressing ingredients together in a jar, set aside for at least 15 minutes.
- Heat oil in a non stick skillet over high heat (or BBQ). Add chicken and cook each side for 3 minutes or until golden. Remove and cover loosely with foil for 5 minutes, then slice thickly.
- Sear 1/2 cup pineapple pieces and corn in the skillet until golden.
- Pile salad ingredients on a platter and top with sliced chicken. Drizzle over Dressing. Serve and pretend you're in Hawaii!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer โ Because he didnโt realise there was chicken in this salad, he was off snoozing in the sun somewhere. Probably on the sun lounge. As he does.
He lives a hard, hard lifeโฆโฆ
PPS Dozer makes regular appearances on Instagram tooโฆ..in case FOOD isnโt enough of an incentive for us to be friends on Instagram! ๐
I am with you on the wastage, I hate it! My mom used to say that a farmer worked hard to grow and or tender to the animals too. It is such a great way to create amazing recipes using recipes, some of my most favourite eats come from doing just that. Loving your salad, looks gorgeous and makes me wish for summer.
Itโs so cool reading about how many of us heard that from our moms when we were growing up!!! N x
Such a brilliant idea to add coconut rice into a salad! Donโt know why I have never thought of that. Thanks for the inspo!
Thanks Rachel!! Coconut rice is a fab addition to MANY things, so good I can totally eat it PLAIN!!! N x
update on the Peruvian Roast Chicken with Garlic Butter Rice and your delightful chocolate cake for desertโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆ.my guest stated they thought they had died and gone to heavenโฆ. thank you for three fabulous recipes. They all took a little โdoggieโ bag home
You ROCK Jane!!! I am just so thrilled you try my recipes, thank you! N x
We love, love, love salads at our house! Canโt wait to give this one a try!! Pinned! ๐
Oooh! I hope you do!!! N x
Every recipe I have cooked on your blog Nagi have been delicious and I keep all of them and live seeing Dizer so relaxed and chilled out ???? thanks so much .
Thank you for reading and trying my recipes Kristine!!! And Dozerโs ENTIRE life is relaxed and chilled outโฆ. ๐
This sounds like a delicious salad, love all the flavours going on here. I have yet to try pineapple in a savoury salad, so Iโm looking forward to trying it!
Thanks Fida!! Pineapple is lovely in a savoury salad, especially when itโs caramelised! ๐
Nearly moved to Hawaii way back โ so am an Islands person even if not quite a pineapple one โ go and make sense of that ๐ ! Lovely salad and I eat them thruโ winter her Down Under!! With variations could have the above every second day!!! OK: the obstreperous me will put both real onion and ginger in: well ) !! And as my long work days definitely do not reach to Instagram [and all its bedfellows!!] do hope Dozer will remain on the modelling calendar here also ..
A pineapple one??? OK, Iโm NOT making sense of that!!!!
Your salad looks so good! So colourful, vibrant and fresh!
I especially like the third picture in your post, the big flatlay with all the ingredients. Looks great! ๐
Your salad looks so good! So colourful, vibrant and fresh!
Thanks so munch Sarah! I do love the colours in this! ๐
Hi Nagi, such a colorful and delicious-looking salad! ๐ It definitely doesnโt look like you used leftovers, and Iโm a big fan because we both like big flavor. Weโre trying to keep up with the huge amount of veggies weโre getting weekly from our CSA, particularly greens, so I appreciate this kind of recipe where you can throw in whatever you like!
You have such a gorgeous view from your deck โ and Iโm envious of Dozer getting to take a nap there! ๐
Iโm envious of him taking a nap there too!!! I definitely donโt get much lounging time โ glad at he is making the most of the view! N x
Hi Nagi! Beautiful summer salad! When itโs really hot I find that heavy foods just donโt appeal to me. And with all the additions this is a very satisfying meal. Grilled shrimp might be an interesting twist in this. Dozer has it made and he knows it! ๐
Grilled shrimp is fab with ANY salad, isnโt it??? I know itโs stinking hot over there at the moment but itโs FREEZING here!!! Youโll have to bear with me switching between summer recipes for you and winter recipes for Aussies! ๐ N x
Wow, talk about a gorgeous salad!! I missed this one on Instagram, so Iโm glad you reposted it here. It looks wonderfully flavorful and filling!
Thank you so much!!! N x
Hi Nagi,
Such an awesome quick & filling salad for the summer! And you said you made it with leftovers?! Love recipes like this. My mom always say the exact same thing about the farmers! Haha~ Itโs ingrained in our brains, so we also like to be creative with our excess ingredients too. ๐
Anyways, pinning this for later!! Thanks ๐
Amy
HA HA!!!! So motherโs everywhere are saying the same thing to their kids โ I love it! ๐