Chinese Chicken Salad
This Chinese Chicken Salad has shredded chicken breast, crunchy colorful vegetables, crispy wonton strips, and tossed in a savory Asian sesame dressing. A wonderful summer salad that is packed with texture, nutrition, and flavor.
Hello, new favorite salad!! This Chinese Chicken Salad tastes like Asian stirfry but in a salad form. Loads of fresh veggies, shredded chicken, cilantro, green onion, and tossed in a savory, salty Sesame soy dressing. Crispy wonton strips/ fried noodles and toasted sesame seeds for added crunch and texture. Though this salad is far from being authentic Chinese, You will find all Chinese elements and flavors in it.
This makes a giant salad, but who is complaining? It is delicious, a great way to have your quota of veggies, and can easily be prepared ahead. It does involve quite a bit of chopping, but that will take only 15 minutes and a sharp knife. The chopped veggies stay fresh for days, and so is the dressing. Hence, most of the time I do the prep at the beginning of the week, so you will have this incredible Chinese Chicken Salad ready in under 10 minutes for lunch.
Ingredients
For Asian Sesame Dressing
- Sesame Oil – Primary driver of flavor in the dressing. use toasted sesame oil.
- Vegetable Oil –
- Soy Sauce – Always low sodium soy.
- Rice Vinegar
- Minced Garlic & Ginger -use a Microplane to grate garlic.
- Sugar
- Red pepper flakes
Salad
- Chinese Cabbage– Also called Napa cabbage, used to make Kimchi. Add get crunch and base for the salad. Alternatively use regular cabbage, finely shredded.
- Other veggies – I have added carrots, purple cabbage, and red bell peppers.
- Chicken: Here we have multiple options. You can either get a ready-made rotisserie chicken or use any leftover cooked chicken. Sometimes I also poach the chicken breast in seasoned chicken stock and then use it.
- Fried Wonton strips/crispy fried noodles.
- Fresh cilantro and green onion
Other Variations
This Chinese Chicken Salad is customized in many ways. The veggie base of the salad is not limited only to the above mentioned ones. Use whatever veggies you have on hand or you prefer.
- Want to cut down the chopping time, then use ready-made packaged coleslaw mix.
- Other veggies you can add like bean sprouts, colored bell peppers, edamame, and tender broccoli florets. I love the savory flavor of the salad, but you would find many recipes that add mandarin oranges.
- Chicken alternative would be crispy fried tofu. Though I have not tried it, cooked shrimp will also work with the rest of the ingredients.
Asian Sesame Salad Dressing
The Asian Sesame Salad dressing is really good and brings together all the components together. The dressing is salty and savory with a nutty flavor from the toasted sesame oil.
Mix together low-sodium soy sauce, ginger, garlic, oil, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil and red pepper flakes. Put all the ingredients in a glass jar and shake to combine. I sometimes find it convenient to use my milk frother to whip the dressing.
Don’t skip the sugar, as it is important to balance the salty sauces. I don’t like the aftertaste that honey gives in the dressing but that’s just a personal preference. You may use honey or brown sugar as well.
You could use ground ginger powder instead of fresh one if you want to or skip ginger altogether. But fresh garlic is a must.
Instead of red pepper flakes, use black pepper or a dash of sriracha for some heat
Poaching Chicken Breast For the Salad
Poaching chicken doesn’t take long and is easy. I love using poached chicken, as it takes up all the flavors from the salad well. You can also use leftover rotisserie chicken for convenience but let me walk you through the easy way to poach boneless chicken breast
Wonton strips for Crunch
Crispy fried wonton strips are another crunch element to the salad. Wonton strips are easily available in Asian stores or you can easily make them at home by deep frying wonton sheets cut into strips. Deep-fried crispy chow mien noodles are equally good as an alternative. I always keep some extra wonton strips on the sides while serving, because they are so addictive.
Looking for a healthy alternative, add some roasted salted peanuts instead.
How to make
Major work in making the Chinese Chicken Salad lies in chopping and prepping.
- To prepare the dressing – take all the ingredients required like oil, sauce, vinegar, ginger, garlic, sugar, and pepper in a jar. Shake them well to get the vinaigrette ready.
- To make the salad – chop the veggies. I love to shred the veggies or cut them into julienne, as it looks aesthetically pleasing. But really, you can just chop them the way you want. Toss the veggies with the dressing and serve immediately.
Store
Leftovers
Like any other salad with veggies, the leftovers don’t stay well. Once the veggies are tossed in the dressing, the veggies will start releasing water and lose crunch in no time(especially the cabbage). You would find a puddle of watery dressing at the bottom. Hence I wouldn’t recommend storing the leftovers. Instead, make just as much as you can consume.
To prep ahead
Prepare the veggies in advance and refrigerate them for up to 3-4 days. I usually line the container with a kitchen towel to absorb any extra moisture. Shredded chicken can also be stored for up to 3 days or can be frozen too.
Serve With
This salad is so wholesome and filling on its own, I can’t think of any other dishes to pair with it. Works perfectly as lunch or dinner. But If you are planning to serve as a side, then pair it with some Oven BBQ Chicken, Korean Chicken Thighs, BBQ pork Tenderloin.
More Summer Salad Recipes
Chinese Chicken Salad
Ingredients
For Sesame Salad Dressing
- ¼ cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce
- 1 teaspoon Garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon Ginger grated
- 2 tablespoons Sugar
- 2 tablespoons Vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoon Rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoon Sesame Oil
- ½ teaspoon Red pepepr flakes
For Chinese Chicken Salad
- 2 medium Chicken breast shredded ( about 2 cups)
- 3-4 cups Chinese Cabbage Chopped
- 1 cup Purple Cabbage Chopped
- 1 large Carrot Julienned
- 1 Red bell pepper Sliced
- 1 cup Fried wonton strips or fried noodles
- ½ cup Green Onion
- ½ cup Fresh Coriander
- Toasted sesame seeds to garnish
Instructions
- In a glass jar add all the ingredients mentioned under salad dressing. Shake well until everything is mixed.
- In a salad bowl, big enough to hold all the ingredients, add all the veggies except fried noodles.
- If serving immediately, add fried noodles, pour the dressing and mix everything well.
- If serving later then store veggies, dressing and fried noodles separately. Mix everything before serving.
Notes
- Make sure you use low sodium soy sauce.
- Poach chicken breast in a well-seasoned chicken stock for about 8 minutes / Cooked through. Then cover and let it rest for 10 minutes. Shred using a fork.Â
- The amount of veggies might look a loot, but once the dressing is added, the veggies start to release water and the quantity reduces.Â
Nutrition
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This was absolutely delicious! It was a hit with the family and will be making regular appearances at our table 🙂
Thanks!!
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