Crunchy Cutlet Peanut Pasta Salad
chicken cutlets / mains / pasta / nonnie
Wondering what to do with that huge tray of chicken cutlets you just made? Let me help you!
This Thai-inspired Crunchy Cutlet Peanut Pasta Salad is fresh, colorful, crunchy, and seriously packed with flavor. Tender pasta gets loaded up with purple cabbage, sweet peppers, cucumber, carrots, sugar snap peas, green onions, cilantro, and mint, then tossed in the creamiest sweet-and-savory peanut dressing with a little heat, tang, and sesame flavor. Crushed peanuts and sesame seeds add even more crunch before the whole thing gets topped with a golden, crispy chicken cutlet.
It’s creamy without feeling heavy, loaded with fresh veggies, and has that perfect mix of sweet, salty, tangy, and spicy in every bite. And the combination of the cool, crunchy pasta salad with a hot crispy cutlet on top? SO freaking good.
Here are the Ingredients for this Crunchy Cutlet Peanut Pasta Salad:
Chicken Cutlets - click for full recipe, tips and tricks
Pasta - Short pasta like radiatore, rotini, fusilli, or bowties
Vegetables - Purple Cabbage, Cucumbers, Mini Sweet Bell Peppers, Sugar Snap Peas, Carrots, Green Onions
Herbs - Cilantro, Mint
Peanuts & Seeds - Roasted Peanuts, Sesame Seeds
Peanut Dressing - Creamy Peanut Butter, Low-Sodium Soy Sauce, Rice Vinegar, Thai Sweet Chili Sauce, Honey, Lime Juice, Toasted Sesame Oil, Fresh Ginger or Ginger Paste, Red Pepper Flakes, Sesame Seeds
Crunchy Cutlet Peanut Pasta Salad
A fresh, colorful pasta salad packed with crunchy veggies, fresh herbs and crushed peanuts, all tossed in a creamy Thai-inspired peanut dressing and topped with crispy chicken cutlets!
Ingredients
- 1 lb short pasta
- 1/3–1/2 head purple cabbage, thinly sliced or shredded
- 6–8 mini sweet bell peppers, thinly sliced
- 1 large English cucumber, thinly sliced
- 2 large carrots, shredded
- 1 1/2 cups sugar snap peas, thinly sliced
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- 1/3 cup fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts, roughly crushed
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 4–6 crispy chicken cutlets, sliced, for serving
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
- 3 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger or ginger paste
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, plus more to taste
- 1/3–1/2 cup warm water, as needed to thin
- Extra crushed peanuts
- Sesame seeds
- Thinly sliced green onion
- Fresh cilantro
- Fresh mint
- Lime wedges, optional
- Extra peanut dressing, if desired
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to the package directions until al dente. Drain and rinse under cold water until completely cooled. Drain very well, then transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- Thinly slice or shred the purple cabbage. Slice the mini peppers, cucumber, sugar snap peas and green onions. Shred the carrots and roughly chop the cilantro and mint.
- In a bowl or blender, combine the peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sweet chili sauce, honey, lime juice, sesame oil, ginger, sesame seeds and red pepper flakes. Whisk or blend until smooth and creamy.
- Gradually add the warm water, starting with 1/3 cup, until the dressing is smooth and pourable. It should be slightly thinner than you think you need. tThe pasta will soak up quite a bit of dressing as it sits. Taste and adjust with additional lime juice, soy sauce, honey or red pepper flakes as desired.
- Add the cabbage, peppers, cucumber, carrots, sugar snap peas, green onions, cilantro and mint to the cooled pasta. Add the crushed peanuts and sesame seeds and toss everything together.
- Pour about three-quarters of the peanut dressing over the pasta salad and toss really well, making sure everything is coated. Add more dressing as needed until it's nice and creamy. Save a little dressing for serving, especially if you're making the salad ahead. The pasta will continue to absorb it.
- Spoon the pasta salad into bowls or onto a large serving platter. Slice the crispy chicken cutlets and arrange them right over the top.
- Sprinkle with extra crushed peanuts, sesame seeds, green onion, cilantro and mint. Drizzle with a little extra peanut dressing and serve with lime wedges, if desired.
Notes
You can prep the vegetables and peanut dressing ahead of time and keep them refrigerated separately. If assembling the whole pasta salad in advance, reserve some of the dressing and toss it in just before serving to bring the creaminess back.
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