Chinese Chicken Salad
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Made with leftover rotisserie chicken, romaine, napa, crispy wonton strips and the best sesame ginger dressing ever!
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reasons to make Chinese chicken salad at home
- Restaurant quality, tasting even better at home
- Goes well with everything, pairing beautifully with so many main dishes
- Great way to repurpose leftover rotisserie chicken
- Can be made ahead of time, keeping prep time to a minimum
tips and tricks for success
- 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.
- 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 salad.
- Mix it up. Use a different kind of protein, swap the cashews for sliced almonds, or use scallions in place of cilantro.
what to serve with chinese chicken salad
Chinese Chicken Salad: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, we love this Instant Pot rotisserie chicken recipe! So easy and so flavorful (and makes for great salads).
Bell peppers, zucchini and snap peas are all great additions.
These crispy wonton strips are very easy to make with only 2 ingredients!
Absolutely! The dressing can be stored in the fridge, and everything else can be prepped/chopped and 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.
Chinese Chicken Salad
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.
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Really delicious! I used sugar snap peas instead of edamame (just personal preference). I also used a blend of radicchio, arugula, and spinach (I like a heartier green). Can’t wait to make again! Such a great meal-prep for lunches!
I just used the salad dressing on a bag of store bought, pre sliced Cole slaw, yum! Fabulous cole slaw in 2 minutes!
I haven’t finished my salad yet, but you use the marinade from what you cooked your chicken in, for your dressing?
I’m going to try this tonight but it looks like the sesame vinaigrette is your dressing. The first few ingredients listed are to cook the chicken in.
I want to make this for a luncheon tomorrow. If I were to buy a cooked chicken (in an effort to same time) and chopped it up, would I use the marinade to coat the cooked chicken, less the sesame oil. thank you. And I really love your recipes, even the ones I haven’t made yet. This pandemic has a definite plus side for those playing around in the kitchen with recipes.
I LOVE Chinese chicken salad and have been searching, relentlessly, for many, many years for the perfect recipe. This is it!! I’m obsessed!! I made it last week for dinner and wanted to make it again for lunch today but couldn’t remember which recipe I used so I tried another one. Bad idea! I’m so glad I found your recipe again! I just added some cilantro and mandarin orange chunks and instead of using ramen noodles, I used crispy rice noodles (aka vermicelli/rice sticks).
I love this dressing! I used to make this salad using the seasoning packet from Ramen noodles. Tasty but so bad for you. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to make a dressing with the same flavor punch, but this really delivered. I did my own thing for the salad, and followed the dressing directions as written except for adding a little dash of white pepper.
Thanks for sharing this!
it looks really good def gonna try it
This is an excellent recipe that I’ve made many times. The fact you cook the chicken in the oven means you can do your chopping & prep work simultaneously.
Recommend no changes. 5/5
Great, thank you Jennifer!
This was delicious!! I made a couple of changes based on my taste. I added a little sriracha to the chicken marinade to make it a little spicy, a tiny bit of grated ginger, and a touch of honey. I cooked the chicken in a cast iron skillet on the stovetop to make it caramelized and yummy. I will definitely be making this again!!
Is there a difference between rice vinegar and rice wine vinegar ? I am only seeing rice vinegar at the supermarket. Can you tell me which brand you use? Thank you!
You can certainly use rice vinegar here. But I do not have a particular brand that I prefer. Hope that helps!
This recipe looks amazing! I’m printing it out today to try very soon. To the person who doesn’t use ginger enough, you can wrap it well and freeze it for future use – don’t even thaw before using, then re-wrap it and return it to the freezer’
Thank you for this tip. I did not have the issue but I have thrown away so much ginger that I am delighted with your comment! I learned something super awesome today. Thank you again!
I love this tangy concoction you have put together! I never would have thought of it! Seriously one of my favorites!
Where to buy the crispy noodle?
Most grocery stores should carry them by the produce aisle.
Asian section in market
Get extra from last take out, but use quickly!
I don’t trust the cooking time. Ours was totally raw.
WOW! Sorry but can’t you figure out how to test your chicken! How long have you been cooking!!
Didn’t have rice wine vinegar, subbed in 1/4 c + 1tbsp rice vinegar and 1tbsp white wine vinegar. Wok fried thighs(didn’t have breasts) in the marinade with a splash of ponzu and garlic powder to finish. A little fresh diced mango in the salad mix. I don’t think I’ve ever altered a recipe so little. Flavors as it was written were bright and balanced, very subtle layering. Definitely going on my GOTTA DO THIS AGAIN!! list
Wonder how a Thai chili would work somewhere in the mix?
For the dressing, the first item is “1/4 cup”….. cup of what?
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar.
What does 1/4 cup PLUS mean?
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar.
We made the taco lettuce wraps last night, and last week the Mexican quinoa, and the pork chops with sweet and sour glaze. They were all amazing (especially the quinoa and pork chops). I love how you use fresh ingredients in every recipe, and cant wait to make them all! Tonight I am making the Chinese Chicken Salad, and am at work counting down the minutes to go home and start dinner!
Made this salad last night on 2-1-16, and it was fabulous but I couldn’t find the shelled edamame’s at our local store here. But if I had added shelled edamame it would have been great too! I will make this salad again, I really liked the crunch from the Chow Mein Noodles and the Almonds. I served this salad with some Asian potstickers and had some Litehouse toasted sesame ginger dressing & Litehouse mild Thai peanut dressings for dipping or adding extra to the salad also. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us. ❤️
I couldn’t find shelled edamame either, so I bought the frozen steam in a bag edamame. I figured I can just let them cool and pop them out of their shells into the salad! Might be more work, but I love edamame.
Fresh Shelled edamame at Trader Joes
Great recipe! I have made it several times and it always tastes great! I love all the colors and the vinaigrette is great!