Chinese Chicken Salad
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Salad for dinner? Yes, please! Packed with crunchy veggies and tender chicken, this Chinese chicken salad is the light, feel-good meal you’ll crave all summer long.
Chinese chicken salad is a California-style dish that blends Chinese and American flavors in the best way. It may have peaked on restaurant menus in the ’90s, but to me, it’s just as crave-worthy today. Honestly, I could eat a salad like this every night of the summer—if I didn’t have other people to feed.
With crisp Napa cabbage, crunchy carrots and bell peppers, tender chicken, and a sesame-ginger dressing, it’s light, refreshing, and always hits the spot. I swap the usual fried wonton strips for toasted nuts to keep it a bit healthier, but if you love the crispy crunch of wontons, go ahead and add them in. And it’s super easy to throw together, especially if you’ve got leftover or rotisserie chicken on hand.
“Great salad—crunchy and flavorful, and very easy. I used some of the dressing to marinate pounded chicken breasts for a couple of hours then grilled them. Will definitely make again!”
What You’ll Need To Make Chinese Chicken Salad
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the dressing. In a food processor or blender, combine the rice vinegar, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, vegetable oil, garlic, and ginger. Blend until completely smooth.
Step 2: Assemble the salad: Combine the Napa cabbage, chopped romaine, bell pepper, scallions, grated carrots, fresh cilantro, salted cashews or peanuts, and shredded chicken. Add the dressing, little by little, and toss to combine, until the salad is dressed to your liking. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, serve, and enjoy!
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With crisp veggies, tender chicken, and a punchy dressing, this Chinese chicken salad is the ultimate meal for those too-hot-to-cook days.
Ingredients
For the Dressing
- ⅓ cup unseasoned rice vinegar
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 3½ tablespoons honey
- ¼ cup sesame oil
- ⅓ cup peanut or vegetable oil
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1½-inch square piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped (see note)
For the Salad
- 4 cups chopped Napa cabbage
- 4 cups chopped romaine (or substitute more Napa cabbage)
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 2 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
- ½ cup grated carrots, from 2 carrots
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- ⅓ cup salted cashews or peanuts
- 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
Instructions
- Make the dressing: In a food processor or blender, combine all of the ingredients and blend until smooth.
- Assemble the salad: Combine all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl. Add dressing, little by little, and toss to combine, until the salad is dressed to your liking. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve immediately.
- Note: For easy guidance on how to peel, grate, and chop fresh ginger, click here.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 608
- Fat: 48 g
- Saturated fat: 9 g
- Carbohydrates: 28 g
- Sugar: 19 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 19 g
- Sodium: 989 mg
- Cholesterol: 53 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Absolutely delicious and easy to make!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was awesome. Constantly changing flavors coming through alive in your mouth. Another awesome recipe.
Wonderful recipe, light yet filling. Perfect for those days that are in the triple digits. Served with garlic bread and fresh fruit for dessert.
I had a salad similar to this while visiting Seattle Washington and have been craving ever since, this was perfect! I added a few black sesame seeds. Thanks for another wonderful recipe!
This salad is amazing! I wouldn’t change a thing, but my husband prefers it without the chicken added.
I eat this salad 2 to 3 times a week ( depending on my work schedule) . I love it!!!
This salad was So Good! the only thing i changed was that I put a Thai pepper in the blender with the rest of the dressing ingredients, just because we always like a little heat. I will surely be making this time and time again as it makes perfect summer dinner.
The chinese chicken salad was delicious. So easy and everyone enjoyed it. I served it to guests for a summer lunch. I will be serving this recipe again.
Everything is better with ginger! I saw a great tip on a cooking show yesterday and want to share it. Buy fresh ginger peel and freeze it in chucks then take out of freezer and grate frozen. It grates really well and I did not notice any difference in taste. I don’t know about you but I hate thinking I have fresh ginger and finding it with mold on it, such a waste.
This is a great cool dish for a hot summer’s night — paired with mojitos! I adjusted it a bit for less salt and healthier oils by using only 3 Tbsp of lite soy and decreasing the peanut oil to 1/4 cup. I made up the difference with canola. It might have lost a little taste, but was still delicious! I also only used 1 head of romaine with the same mix of vegetables and chicken, and thought the balance was good.
Will definitely make again!