This Thai Chicken Salad is packed with healthy vegetables and since it calls for Rotisserie chicken, it’s super fast and easy to make.
About Thai Chicken Salad
I’m really hooked on this Thai Chicken Salad.
First, because I absolutely love vegetables, especially when they’re wonderfully fresh and crunchy.
Next, it’s fast and easy because one ingredient is already cooked rotisserie chicken.
Then there’s the rich, totally satisfying Peanut Dressing.
It’s savory and tangy and well, just perfect.
Don’t be put put off by the number of ingredients.
Yes, the list is long but it’s mostly due to the peanut dressing.
Of course, that’s what makes this salad so fabulously wonderful.
So let’s make it.
Ingredients for Thai Chicken Salad
The Salad:
- Napa Cabbage: I love this crinkly, slightly sweet cabbage
- Rotisserie chicken: An easy addition. All you do is shred it
- Baby Carrots: For flavor, health, color and crunch
- Scallions: For a bite, plus the gorgeous green color
- Cucumber: For healthy crunchy flavor
- Red bell pepper: For additional health and color
- Cilantro: For fresh flavor
- Roasted peanuts: For crunch
The Peanut Sauce:
- Peanut butter: I like to use crunchy for more texture
- Rice vinegar: For a slight sour taste
- Lime: For fresh tang
- Vegetable oil: For a neutral tasting oil
- Sesame oil: For toasty nut flavor
- Low Sodium Soy sauce: For a rich salty taste
- Honey: The sweet balances the vinegar
- Garlic: For health as well as a bite
- Ginger: A sharp tang of freshness
- Sea salt: I prefer Himalayan Pink Sea Salt. A little goes a long way
- Red pepper flakes: For a touch of heat
How to Make Thai Chicken Salad
Once you have all of these ingredients together here comes the easy part. Just putting it all together.
For the salad just add shredded Napa cabbage to a serving bowl.
Then add the shredded chicken and the diced carrots, scallions, cucumber, red bell pepper and cilantro leaves.
After the salad ingredients, here comes the dressing.
Just add the peanut butter, either crunchy or creamy, rice vinegar, lime juice, vegetable oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, honey, garlic, ginger (freshly grated is best), salt and red pepper flakes to a processor and mix to blend.
Then just just drizzle that wonderful dressing over the top of the salad and top it with some peanuts and cilantro (or not).
Me? I’ll always go for the cilantro.
Notes
A quick word about the cilantro.
There’s two schools of thought on cilantro.
You either hate it or you love it. I know the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten won’t even have it in her kitchen.
Me? I love it and have ever since I had the first bite of a California Pizza Kitchen Asian Salad.
However there are those who despise it.
National Public Radio even did a whole study on it. So, I’ll say it’s optional if you want the cilantro in it.
Thai Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Napa cabbage Shredded
- 1 Cup Cooked rotisserie chicken Shredded
- 1 Cup Carrots Diced
- 1/2 Cup Scallions large diced
- 1 Med Cucumber Peeled and diced
- 1 Red pepper Diced
- 1/4 Cup Cilantro leaves Chopped
- 2 Tbsp Peanut butter Smooth
- 1 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 1 Small Lime Juiced
- 1 Tbsp Vegetable oil
- 1 Tsp Sesame oil
- 2 Tsp Soy sauce
- 2 Tsp Honey
- 1 Clove Garlic Minced
- 1 Tsp Fresh ginger Grated
- 1/2 Tsp Sea salt Prefer Himalayan Pink Sea Salt
- 1/2 Tsp Red pepper flakes
- 2 Tbsp Roasted peanuts
Instructions
- For the Salad: Add cabbage, chicken, carrots, scallions, cucumber, red pepper, and cilantro leaves to a serving bowl.
- For the Peanut Dressing: Add peanut butter, rice vinegar, lime juice, vegetable oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, honey, garlic, ginger, salt and red pepper flakes to a food processor and mix well to blend.
- Drizzle Peanut Dressing over the top of the salad and top with peanuts and additional cilantro.
Nutrition
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