Chinese Chicken Salad
by Chungah
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Crunchy Chinese chicken salad! With leftover rotisserie chicken, romaine, napa, crispy wonton strips and a homemade sesame ginger dressing!
Featured Comment
Perfect in every way, so easy to make. I have been craving Chinese Chicken Salad but could never find a good one at any restaurant. This was exactly what I wanted and remember from my favorite restaurant back home. My daughter and her friends loved it too.
Why you’ll love this Chinese chicken salad
- Restaurant-quality salad. This homemade version allows you to control all of the ingredients, avoiding excess salt, sugar, and preservatives (particularly in the dressing!).
- Pairs well with everything. This is just one of those salads that pairs beautifully with so many main dishes. It’s light, crunchy, and packed with sweet and savory flavors all around.
- Budget-friendly. Ordering out can get so costly but a homemade batch uses affordable ingredients and staples, and even allows you to repurpose leftover rotisserie chicken!
- Can be made ahead of time. This keeps prep time to a minimum, making weeknight dinners feel so effortless during busy work and school days.
What is a Chinese chicken salad?
This is a type of American-Chinese fusion salad typically made with shredded chicken, cabbage, and carrots, topped with a crunchy ingredient (ex. fried noodles or almonds) and tossed in a sesame-ginger dressing.
Key ingredients
- Base: romaine lettuce and napa cabbage
- Protein: shredded chicken, such as leftover rotisserie chicken
- Vegetables: cilantro and green onions; carrots, bell peppers, and snow peas can also be added
- Citrus: mandarin oranges
- Crunch: cashews, wonton strips (homemade or store-bought); sliced almonds or crispy chow mein noodles can be substituted
- Dressing: homemade sesame-ginger dressing (recipe below)
How to make chinese chicken salad
- Make the dressing. Whisk the rice vinegar, orange marmalade, canola oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger, and sesame seeds until well combined.
- Combine the salad ingredients. Add the romaine lettuce, cabbage, chicken, mandarin oranges, cilantro, cashews, and green onions in a large shallow bowl.
- Dress and toss. Add the sesame-ginger dressing in stages, tossing until evenly coated.
- Add crunch. Top with wonton strips and sesame seeds just before serving.
what to serve with chinese chicken salad
- Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
- Quick Ramen Noodle Stir Fry
- Vegetable Potstickers
- Easy Hot and Sour Soup
- Sesame Chicken Kabobs
Tools For This Recipe
Salad spinner
Chinese Chicken Salad: Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have a recipe for rotisserie chicken?
Yes, I love this Instant Pot rotisserie chicken recipe! It’s so easy and so flavorful, and makes for great salads.
Can I substitute a different protein?
Yes! You can substitute pan-fried or baked tofu, shrimp, or salmon.
Can I add additional vegetables?
Carrots, bell peppers, and snow peas are all excellent additions.
How can I make homemade wonton strips?
These crispy wonton strips are very easy to make with only 2 ingredients!
Can you make this salad ahead of time?
Absolutely! The dressing can be stored in the fridge, and everything else can be prepped and chopped, stored in separate containers (especially the mandarin oranges to avoid sogginess). When ready to serve, gently toss all of your ingredients together with the dressing until evenly coated.
Chinese Chicken Salad
Crunchy Chinese chicken salad! With leftover rotisserie chicken, romaine, napa, crispy wonton strips and a homemade sesame ginger dressing!
Video
Ingredients
- 1 head romaine, shredded
- 4 cups shredded napa cabbage
- 3 cups leftover shredded rotisserie chicken
- 1 (15-ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- ½ cup roasted salted cashews
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 2 cups crispy wonton strips, homemade or store-bought
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
for the sesame ginger dressing
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons orange marmalade
- 2 ½ tablespoons canola oil
- 2 ½ tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- To assemble the salad, place romaine lettuce in a large bowl; top with cabbage, chicken, mandarin oranges, cilantro, cashews and green onions. Pour the sesame ginger dressing on top of the salad and gently toss to combine.
- Serve immediately, topped with wonton strips and sesame seeds.
for the sesame ginger dressing
- In a small bowl, whisk together rice vinegar, orange marmalade, canola oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger and sesame seeds; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Equipment
Notes
- Prep ahead of time. Save time by making the dressing up to 1 week in advance, and prepping and dicing the vegetables 1-2 days prior and storing them in airtight containers in the fridge.
- Dry the greens thoroughly. Wash and dry the greens thoroughly using a salad spinner to avoid the dressing from sliding off or causing the greens to go limp and soggy very quickly.
- Homemade wonton strips goes a long way. Store-bought will save some time in the kitchen but the homemade version requires only 2 ingredients and tastes so much more fresh, crisp and light-textured.
- Add some heat. Need a spicy kick? Add a little bit of Sriracha or sambal oelek to the dressing.
- Make it more filling. Add rotini pasta or soba noodles for a more filling, hearty salad.
- Mix it up. Use a different kind of protein, swap the cashews for sliced almonds, or use scallions in place of cilantro.
- Toss the dressing just before serving. This will avoid a soggy salad and allow for maximum, crisp freshness.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
I rarely leave reviews..but,
Only changes I made the second time was cooking the chicken in the souv
This recipe absolutely deserved one!
It’s 104 here today and it’s my second time making this salad, it’s something you can make in advance and am so happy for the left overs to scarf in the coming hot days!
Bravo chef!
Thank you for the tip! Repurposing rotisserie chicken for a homemade Chinese chicken salad sounds delicious. I love the idea of enjoying a restaurant-quality salad at home. Can’t wait to try it!
Any chance you have the calorie and macro breakdown?
So easy and fresh! The dressing is perfection. Definitely worth it to make the homemade wonton strips- easy!
This is very delicious. Light, fresh and so tasty. A big hit with friends and family.
I made this for 50 people and they absolutely loved it! Thank you. I made noodles out of wontons
cut 1/4″ wide, spread on parchment, spread on a cookie sheet, sprayed them with Pam. Baked for
5-6 minutes at 340 degrees. They stayed crispy for two days and were inexpensive to make.
Made it as written and this salad was exceptional! It will be on the menu rotation.
I’m looking forward to serving this delicious salad at my dinner party. Do you have an appetizer recipe and a dessert recipe that would pair well with the salad? Thank you!
This is really damn delicious!! I used two cans of oranges and left out the onions (sensitive) but will definitely double the dressing next time as I want to eat it on EVERYTHING! Great recipe!!
Perfect in every way, so easy to make. I have been craving Chinese Chicken Salad but could never find a good one at any restaurant. This was exactly what I wanted and remember from my favorite restaurant back home. My daughter and her friends loved it too. I didn’t not make enough.
I just needed the dressing for a salad that was already made, and this was perfect in every way.
This was excellent. Wonderful mix of colours, textures and tastes!
Perfect combination of crunch, sweet and salty.
Making this for church potluck next Sunday. Putting shopping list together now and checking pantry for what I already have. Can taste this already!
UPDATE: Turned out great! And already made it again!
Great salad. Will make it again and again. Full of flavours and very satisfying.
Fantastic! The dressing is amazing. I used leftover dressing in a stir fry and it was great.
Awesome looks so good
Great recipe. Are we missing an ingredient? In the second photo that shows the ingredients, there is an open jar next to the sesame seeds. What is that?
Looks like Dijon next to the sesame seeds
Loved the flavor and crunch!! Very pretty too and my husband liked it a lot. This will be on our summer menu now!
So good! My whole family loved it so much they asked for it two days in a row. Your recipes never fail.