Cabbage Salad with Honey Lime Dressing — {easy meal idea}

This cabbage salad uses a store-bought rotisserie chicken to create a quick, easy, and healthy meal. Your whole family will love it. 

Does anyone else default to a rotisserie chicken on grocery shopping days? Ummm….I don’t know about you, but I can only do so many things in the day. Sample days for me are: 

3 loads of laundry + going to the park + making dinner = done for the day.

Play date + one load of laundry + shower = done.

Cleaning the house + making dinner = done.

3 freelance projects + running errands + making a friend dinner = done.

Going to the zoo = done.

Or whatever. You get the point. I do shower on days other than play date days, for the record. Usually.

Just to be clear: I don’t do all of this in one day! Yikes! I’m not superwoman, for sure. Each example on the list is one whole day.

Grocery shopping with two kids nearly maxes me out some days so I need a quick dinner to fall back on. I mean—all those people! And for Pete’s sake…STOP standing in the middle of the aisle staring off into space! Move left or right. Pick a lane. Grab something and move on. Not that difficult people.

And then there is the parking lot, don’t even get me started. Please try not to run my children over. And please, please, please…just put your carts away. ESPECIALLY if you don’t have kids waiting in the car. What’s your excuse?

Rant over….long story short, I love rotisserie chickens but we rarely ever eat them as is. I used to buy one every Sunday night for Ben and E so I can enjoy my popcorn + smoothie dinner, but these days I actually cook a Sunday dinner! I know! Regular ol’ Susie homemaker here. So the rotisserie chicken typically ends up in a salad or pasta of some sort, or a sandwich or soup. The possibilities are so fun!

We love this salad made of crunchy cabbage, sugar snap peas, carrots, mandarin oranges and a great honey-lime dressing.  Lots of great veggies and fresh flavors. And yes, meat from the rotisserie chicken. I think your whole family will love it!

If you’re looking for more great recipes that you can use making a rotisserie chicken, try my enchilada flatbread or bbq chicken burrito bowls.

Looking for more main dish salads?

I’m happy when I can eat a salad for a main dish, one that incorporates enough protein so I’m not hungry an hour later. Try:

 

• Taco Salad
• Roasted Romaine Salad (sheet pan dinner)
• Tortellini Pasta Salad
• Southwest Chicken Salad
• Kale Quinoa Salad with Feta, Walnuts, and Cranberries
• Quinoa Salad with Avocado Dressing and Pinto Beans
• Lentil Salad with Feta, Lemon, and Parsleyhone

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Cabbage Salad with Honey Lime Dressing

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 2 minutes

Total Time: 22 minutes

This cabbage salad uses a store-bought rotisserie chicken to create a quick, easy, and healthy meal. Your whole family will love it.

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Ingredients

For the Salad

• 1 cup fresh snap peas
• 2 cups shredded green cabbage
• 2 cups shredded red cabbage
• 1-2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 15-ounce can mandarin oranges, (reserve 2 tablespoons juice for dressing, then drain)
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 4 cups shredded or diced cooked chicken (rotisserie chicken is perfect)
• 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

For the Dressing

• 3 tablespoons light olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons juice mandarin oranges
• 1 teaspoon honey
• Sriracha to taste, optional
• salt to taste
• 1/2 cup chow mein noodles for topping, optional

Instructions

1. Bring a small saucepan of salted water to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add snap peas and return to a boil. Once boiling again, drain and put into a bowl of ice water so that the peas retain their color. Drain again once cooled.
2. Meanwhile, to a very large bowl, add both types of cabbage, green onions, mandarin oranges, shredded carrot, chicken and cilantro. Add snap peas when they are done cooking.
3. In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine olive oil, lime juice, mandarin orange juice, honey, sriracha and salt. Whisk until combined and pour over salad. Toss to combine everything, top with chow mein noodles and serve immediately.

Notes

• Use prepackaged cole slaw mix to save prep time.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 578Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 21gCholesterol: 127mgSodium: 404mgCarbohydrates: 43gFiber: 8gSugar: 26gProtein: 38g

RachelCooks.com sometimes provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as they are not calculated by a registered dietitian. Please consult a medical professional for any specific nutrition, diet, or allergy advice.

Verdict: One of my favorite meals with rotisserie chicken.
Husband’s take: He’s not a huuuuuge cabbage fan so sometimes I sub out half of the cabbage with some romaine but other than that, he really likes the salad. E (my three-year old) kind of picks her way through it but loves the chow mien noodles and the carrots.
Changes I would make: None are necessary. If you’re vegetarian, this salad would be great with black beans or tofu in place of the chicken.
Difficulty: A bit of prep time to chop all the veggies and get the meat off of the chicken but totally doable!