Chinese Chicken Salad
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Make a restaurant-quality Chinese chicken salad at home with this easy recipe featuring crisp veggies and tender chicken tossed in a delicious sesame-ginger dressing.
Chinese chicken salad is a California-style dish that perfectly blends the flavors of Chinese and American cuisine. Although it was a trendy restaurant menu item in the 1990s, for me, it’s a timeless favorite that will never go out of style. In fact, I would happily eat a salad like this every night of the week if I didn’t have a family to feed! The combination of fresh veggies, like Napa cabbage, crunchy carrots, and crisp bell peppers, combined with tender chicken and a sesame-ginger dressing make for a light and refreshing meal that always leaves you feeling satisfied.
In this version, I’ve swapped out the traditional fried wonton strips with nuts to make the salad a bit healthier. However, if you prefer the crispy crunch of wontons, go ahead and add them in! The recipe is very easy to throw together, especially if you use leftover or rotisserie chicken instead of cooking your own — give it a try to see why it’s one of my all-time favorites!
Table of Contents
“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
Make the dressing: In a food processor or blender, combine all of the dressing ingredients.
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.
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Chinese-Style Chicken Salad with Sesame Ginger Dressing
Make a restaurant-quality Chinese chicken salad at home with this easy recipe featuring crisp veggies and tender chicken tossed in a delicious sesame-ginger dressing.
Ingredients
For the Dressing
- ⅓ cup unseasoned rice vinegar
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 3½ tablespoons honey
- ¼ cup Asian/toasted 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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Maybe I’m not seeing it, but how do you prepare the chicken for the salad? I’m wondering if it’s better to poach the chicken or if rotisserie is ok?
Thanks!
Hi Jennifer, I don’t include a chicken recipe here as I’ve assumed most people would use rotisserie chicken, but if you’d like to make your own, see the guidance in this recipe. Hope that you enjoy the salad!
This is a solid recipe. The dressing is fantastic all by itself! I didn’t use chicken since I had some salmon I had to use and it was very good. This will go into the rotation.
The salad is delish !! What sides pair well for a luncheon?
Glad you like it! The salad would be nice with these smoothies and some steamed veggie dumplings. Hope that helps!
I made this salad for the first time this week & ate it for 3 days straight & will be meal prepping more for the coming week. It’s a fantastic recipe that’s easy, tastes great & is filling.
This salad is on repeat in my home! I use grilled chicken instead of shredded. Very simple and the dressing is so good. I keep the dressing in the fridge and put it on everything. Thanks Jenn, another favorite!
Made this recipe yesterday and it was absolutely delicious. Definitely a recipe to pass along and to serve to guests. I tell my friends about your blog.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was very good. I made the dressing as written, but next time will add more acid to suit my taste. To punch it up, I drizzled a little sriracha on top. 👍
Tried it last night and it was really good. Did not add the peanuts and used a rotisserie chicken. Will certainly make it again.
Hi, I’m making this salad and I’m the type of home chef that needs specific directions and photos are also helpful. It’s the reason I keep coming back your site year after year…that being said I’m perplexed at what is in the photo of your food processing bowl? It says to combine the ingredients for the dressing, but what is in there that I may have missed? It looks like carrots?
Hi Jenna, so glad you find the recipes/photos easy to follow! That’s ginger in the food processing bowl; that’s a tiny food processor, and so the ginger looks much bigger in that picture than it actually is. Hope you enjoy the salad!
The salad was really good. I especially liked the dressing.