This Sesame Chicken Salad is layered with shredded veggies, juicy chicken, and crunchy textures. It's a restaurant-style salad that tastes even better when you make it at home!
About This Recipe
This recipe has all the makings of a perfect salad: it's bright, fresh, and hearty enough to be a full meal. It's full of flavor and the textures are the best part... everything is finely shredded so it tastes like a chopped salad but with more crunch!
The flavors are Asian-inspired and this recipe is similar to restaurant-style Chinese Chicken Salads. It's big on flavor and looks impressive but is super simple to make in about 15 minutes.
Ingredients
Here's what you'll need to make this recipe. The full recipe and ingredient list can be found at the bottom of the page.
For the salad:
- Chicken breasts (cooked & shredded)
- Romaine lettuce
- Red cabbage
- Grated carrots
- Mandarin oranges
- Green onions, chopped
- Cilantro
- Sliced almonds
- Sesame seeds
For the dressing:
- Olive oil
- Rice vinegar
- Soy sauce
- Honey
- Sesame seeds
- Garlic powder
- Ground ginger
How to Make Sesame Chicken Salad
Here's how to make this recipe in 5 simple steps:
- Make the dressing: in a small bowl or jar, stir together the dressing ingredients.
- Marinate the chicken: pour half of the dressing over the shredded chicken and toss until most of the dressing is absorbed.
- Assemble the salad: add all of the salad ingredients to a large bowl (lettuce, cabbage, carrots, mandarin oranges, green onion, cilantro and almonds).
- Add chicken & dressing: top the salad with the chicken and drizzle with as much of the remaining dressing as desired.
- Serve: toss to mix. Sprinkle sesame seeds, peanuts or wonton strips (optional) on top for extra crunch. Enjoy!
Substitutions
Here's some of the most popular substitutions and additions for this recipe:
- Chicken: use pre-cooked chicken (like rotisserie chicken) or cook your own. If you cook your own, there's no need to add seasoning since it will be tossed in the dressing.
- Oranges: instead of mandarin oranges, you could use 1 cup of clementine slices or a naval orange cut into bite-sized chunks.
- Wontons: add wonton strips for some extra crunch. These are often found in the salad toppings/dressing section of the grocery store.
- Dressing: this recipe includes an easy homemade Sesame Ginger dressing. If you don't want to make your own, you could use any store-bought variation.
About The Dressing
The dressing for this salad is a simple Sesame Ginger Dressing. It's made with pantry ingredients and is packed full of flavor. This dressing is absolutely delicious and you'll want to keep it on hand to pair with any Asian-inspired salad!
If you want to skip making your own dressing, you could use a store-bought version. There are many dressings that would pair well with this salad.
Other dressing that would be tasty include: Asian Sesame, Ginger Miso, Orange Ginger, Sesame, Peanut, or any similarly flavored dressing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Add your chicken to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and cook it for 25-30 minutes at 425°F, until cooked through. Let it cool slightly and then shred it using 2 forks or your fingers.
Yes, you could swap out the chicken for tofu or chickpeas.
This recipe makes about 4 servings as a main course.
Storage
Store you leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 - 3 days. To help preserve the texture of the salad, store the dressing separately.
Similar Recipes
If you need a few more chicken salad lunch or dinner ideas, here's a few favorites:
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave a comment & rating at the bottom of this page!
Sesame Chicken Salad
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
This Sesame Chicken Salad is layered with shredded veggies, juicy chicken, and crunchy textures. It's a restaurant-style salad that tastes even better when you make it at home!
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded (about 1.5 pounds)*
- 3 cups shredded romaine lettuce
- 1 cup shredded red cabbage
- 1 cup grated carrots
- 1 cup mandarin oranges
- 4 green onions, chopped
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- ⅓ cup sliced almonds
- Optional for topping: sesame seeds, peanuts, wonton strips
Dressing:
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Make the dressing: in a small bowl or jar, stir together the dressing ingredients.
- Marinate the chicken: pour half of the dressing over the shredded chicken and toss until most of the dressing is absorbed.
- Assemble the salad: add all of the salad ingredients to a large bowl (lettuce, cabbage, carrots, mandarin oranges, green onion, cilantro and almonds).
- Add chicken & dressing: top the salad with the chicken and drizzle with as much of the remaining dressing as desired.
- Serve: toss to mix. Sprinkle additional sesame seeds, peanuts or wonton strips (optional) on top for extra crunch. Enjoy!
Notes
*To cook your own chicken: add your chicken to a parchment paper lined baking sheet and cook it for 25-30 minutes at 425°F, until cooked through. Let it cool slightly and then shred it using 2 forks or your fingers.
Pre-cooked chicken: you could also use pre-cooked or rotisserie chicken to save the time of cooking your own.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: Asian Inspired
Keywords: asian, chicken, sesame, ginger, dressing, cabbage, red cabbage, romaine, shredded, chopped, mandarin, orange, green, lunch, dinner
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