This easy sheet pan salad is perfect for a make-ahead meal prep work lunch or dinner! It uses the oven to roast carrots and chicken. Then you simply add all the salad veg and herbs to a cutting board and chop it all up at once with the chicken. It all gets tossed in very simple tangy, salty peanut dressing and topped with crunchy nuts.
Ingredient highlight
Carrots! These sweet, bright orange root vegetables are super high in beta-carotene, which gets converted into vitamin A – an essential nutrient for immune function. They’re also rich in bone-building vitamin K, vitamin B6, and potassium (to name a few!).
Servings 4
Prep Time 15 minutes 
Cook Time 20 minutes Ingredients
- 1 lb carrots, chopped small (about 3 cups)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt, divided
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 cucumber, ends trimmed off, halved lengthwise*
- ¼ small cabbage (from 1.25 lb cabbage or about 8-10 oz wedge), core removed, halved lengthwise
- ½ bunch scallions, ends trimmed, stalks quartered
- Peanuts or chopped toasted almonds, for topping
- Lime wedges, for topping
- Sriracha or chili oil, for topping (optional)
For the dressing:
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- ¼ cup natural peanut butter
- 2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tbsp grated ginger (optional)
- *Depending on your cucumber and preference, you can peel the skin off or keep it on.
- Note: ~ only chop everything up together all at once on one cutting board (vs. separately) if you have an XL cutting board and knife, otherwise it will be quite messy and take much longer. It may be easier for you to just chop things separately!
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450F convection. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- To the baking sheet, add the carrots, olive oil, and ½ teaspoon salt. Toss to coat well. Make spaces on the baking sheet to add the chicken and drizzle with a bit more oil, sprinkle with the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and use your hands to rub it all around. Bake for 25 minutes or until chicken and carrots are beginning to brown or char in spots.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients until smooth. If your peanut butter is cold and it’s not mixing in well, pop it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds and keep whisking. The dressing should be pretty thin, so add water or more vinegar, if needed.
- Transfer the chicken to a large cutting board and roughly chop it. To the cutting board, add the cucumber, cabbage, and scallions. Use your knife to chop everything up until it is all roughly in uniform bite-sized pieces (or you can chop them all separately, see note). Transfer to the large bowl along with the warm carrots and toss to coat in the dressing. Taste and add more salt, soy sauce, or vinegar, if needed.
- Serve topped with chopped nuts, a squeeze of lime, and sriracha or chili oil (if using).
Items you can prep ahead (optional)
- Chop 1 lb carrots into small pieces (about 3 cups)
- Bake the carrots and chicken
- Make the dressing
- Make the salad
Substitutions:
- To make vegetarian/vegan, replace the chicken with crumbled up, pressed tofu and add an extra tablespoon of oil and sprinkle of salt. Or simply leave out the chicken and stir about 1-2 cups of thawed edamame into the salad.
- Replace the carrots with chopped sweet potato, potato, or you could use about 2 cups worth of any cooked grain (farro, rice, quinoa).
- You could just leave out the chicken and make it a simpler veggie salad, then just eat it topped with your protein of choice.
- To make nut-free, use tahini in place of peanut butter.
Storage:
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Leftovers + Repurposing:
- Eat this right out of the fridge or pop it in the microwave for 15-30 seconds to take the chill off. Top it with a squeeze of lime, maybe a dash of soy sauce, and some more herbs if you have any (scallions or cilantro), and nuts.
- This would be delicious topped with a fried egg and/or avocado.
- Bulk it up and serve it over a bed of rice or with a piece of avocado toast.
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