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This delicious Teriyaki Pasta Salad includes farfalle, spinach, mandarin oranges, water chestnuts, peanuts, Craisins, chicken and a simple teriyaki sauce dressing. It's been our family's favorite for years!
Years ago my Aunt Diane brought this salad to a family party and we all fell in love with it! It has since become a huge family favorite. We often enjoy it as a main dish, but it's also hugely popular served as a side dish at BBQ's and potlucks.
How to make Teriyaki Pasta Salad:
- Prepare the dressing by combining all of the ingredients.
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain water and add noodles to a large bowl.
- Toss the cooked noodles in about half of the teriyaki sauce and refrigerate until cooled.
- Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and grill until cooked through. Use two forks to shred the chicken.
- Combine the spinach, cooked chicken, peanuts, dried cranberries, sliced water chestnuts, mandarin oranges, and chopped onion in a large salad bowl.
- Add the pasta to the bowl and toss to combine. Add additional dressing, to taste.
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Teriyaki Pasta Salad
A delicious pasta salad with farfalle, fresh spinach, mandarin oranges, water chestnuts, peanuts, Craisins, chicken and a simple teriyaki sauce dressing.
Ingredients
- 1 pound baby spinach leaves
- 16 ounces farfalle pasta, (bowtie) noodles
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, (or 2 cups rotisserie chicken)
- 1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1 small can small can water chestnuts, , sliced
- 11 ounce can mandarin oranges
- 2 Tablespoons sweet onions, , chopped
For the dressing*
- 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce, (**see note)
- 1/4 cup oil, (vegetable or canola oil)
- 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
Instructions
- Prepare the dressing by combining all of the ingredients.
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Rinse and drain pasta and add to a large bowl.
- Toss the cooked noodles in half of the teriyaki sauce and refrigerate until cooled.
- Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and grill until cooked through. Use two forks to shred the chicken.
- Combine the spinach, cooked chicken, peanuts, dried cranberries, sliced water chestnuts, mandarin oranges, and chopped onion in a large salad bowl.
- Add the pasta to the bowl, along with desired amount of remaining dressing, and toss to combine.
Notes
*Nutrition facts do not include dressing.
**For the dressing, my favorite teriyaki sauce is "Yoshida's" brand, but any good quality, thicker style teriyaki sauce works best.
Nutrition
Calories: 416kcal, Carbohydrates: 55g, Protein: 31g, Fat: 11g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 58mg, Sodium: 186mg, Potassium: 1135mg, Fiber: 10g, Sugar: 18g, Vitamin A: 8959IU, Vitamin C: 44mg, Calcium: 139mg, Iron: 5mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
I first shared this recipe May 2013. Updated July 2020 with new photos.
Do you need to drain the water chestnuts and mandarin oranges?
Yes!
Super delicious and healthy. My husband had 3 helpings and still wanted more! And he hates pasta! 😀
I made this tonight for dinner but I added a red chili to it cause we like it spicy 🌶!! I also only made half the recipe cause it was just the two of us . Will be making this again FOR SURE !!
Just made tonight. So delicious!!! Thanks!!
hanks Shelley! So happy you liked it.
How many people will this serve?
I love this salad!
This is a really dumb question… But I made this with a pound of spinach, and the spinach seemed to drown the rest of the salad! Do you cut it up, or just add it to taste? Mine didn’t look like your picture at all – more like a spinach salad with some oranges and noodles thrown in. ?. What’s your secret to getting the right proportions, or making the spinach blend in better? It tasted amazing, but I feel like I must have done something wrong?! Love all your recipes, BTW!
I thought the same thing! Ended up spending some time tossing and tossing untill the spinach gave a bunch. Would recommend others to crunch the spinach by hand before adding. Was great after working it a bunch though!
I did the exact same thing, and am also searching for the answer. I wished I wouldn’t have added so much spinach… I also feel like I’ve done something wrong, even though it still tasted pretty good!
OK you TOTALLY just copied Creme de la Crumbs recipe!!!!!!! http://lecremedelacrumb.com/2015/02/mandarin-pasta-spinach-salad-with-teriyaki-dressing.html You didn’t even waste any time posting it up either! You say that all of these recipes are from scratch but I see you just change a few things in other bloggers popular recipes with NO CITINGS!!! This is SO WRONG!!!
Hi Janet,
I’d have rather addressed this mean and false comment via email, but seeing as your listed email is invalid, I will address your comment here. You’ve accused me of copying from other bloggers, among other things that are completely false, unwarranted, and unfair.
First, I wanted to point out that this recipe was posted on May 6, 2013 (you can check the date stamp above. It was one of the first recipes I shared when I started blogging years ago)….well before Tiffany’s from Le Creme de la Crumb, which was posted in just February of THIS year.
Also, our recipes are different. Yes, they both have spinach , noodles, and mandarin oranges, but the other ingredients, and the entire dressing recipe, is very different. My recipe came from my Aunt Diane several years ago.
Any recipe that I share that I adapted from someone is absolutely given credit. You will see an “adapted by” link at the bottom of the recipe.
I take what I do really seriously. And when I talk about being passionate about “cooking from scratch” I’m referring to cooking at home, with real ingredients. (Not buying and using packaged/frozen/boxed products or other processed foods).
Anyways, I hope that helped to clear up the issues you seemed to have with my post. Feel free to email me in the future if you have any problems with my recipes.
Classy response to a sparky comment. Well done. I’ve loved EVERY recipe I’ve tried from your blog. 👍
Wow, it is always so shocking to me how many people have time to waste on posting rude (and obviously inaccurate) comments on blogs and websites! You are awesome Lauren and I hope you don’t let this mean comment get you down! We LOVE your site and your recipes and hope you continue to post great content for years to come! All the best.
So agree Katie! Are they really looking for recipes? Or, something to complain about? They must live a sad existence to go about accusing others or finding faults, instead of just trying these awesome recipes! Really, if they have time to waste, waste it in the kitchen! Just love your site and amazing recipes! I make this family so happy with your homemade recipes. Luv ya! ?
I love chicken and pasta, never thought about adding spinach before, sounds delicious, thanks for sharing.
Simon
This is one of my favorites, and the spinach is one of the best parts 🙂 Hope you enjoy it!
Lauren, just lovely use of pasta. It would be great if you linked in to Food on Friday: Pasta and Noodles. The showcases from this Food on Friday have not yet been selected. This link will take you to my home page where you will find a sidebar with links to all the different Food on Fridays. So that I know you have linked and can be sure to pin to the board I have for each one, please do leave a short comment. Cheers