Chinese Chicken Salad is refreshing, super healthy, and so easy to make.
Crispy, Napa cabbage is our "lettuce" base. Shredded carrots, sugar snap peas, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, cashews, and mandarin oranges are the fixings that make every bite of the salad fun and delicious. Next, chopped seared chicken thighs are added in for our savory protein. Chopped cilantro and green onion add an aromatic, freshness that can't be beaten. Then, the salad is topped with Homemade Sesame Soy Dressing, which is savory, sweet, and tangy.
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How to Make Homemade Sesame Soy Dressing:
Making your own salad dressing at home is one of the best things you can do for your health and your wallet. Not only can you control what ingredients you use/the quality of ingredients that go into your dressing, but you most likely have most, if not all, of the ingredients already in your pantry. This dressing is a staple recipe, for sure.
- To a small mixing bowl or mason jar, add all of the Sesame Soy Dressing ingredients (gluten-free soy sauce, extra virgin olive oil, sesame oil, rice vinegar, honey, and sesame seeds.) Tip: I used to use La Choy Original Soy Sauce before finding out it has corn syrup in it, now I use San-J Organic Tamari GF Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce. I can't even tell a difference in taste. You can find a big bottle of it inexpensively from Thrive Market. (Get 40% off your first order + sometimes a gift.)
- Whisk together until well-combined, or shake in a jar with the lid on until combined.
- Enjoy! Pour over salads right before eating. Store leftovers in a jar in the refrigerator.
Sesame seeds will gather mostly at the top of the dressing, so you will need to shake well before pouring it onto your salad so you don't end up stealing all of the glorious sesame seeds. Your family will fight you if you do that, guaranteed.
How to Make Chinese Chicken Salad:
If cooking chicken thighs:
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Rinse and trim chicken thighs of excess fat. Sprinkle with pepper and a TOUCH of salt to taste. Tip: Add little-to-no salt to recipes that are soy-sauce based.
- Warm an oven-safe grill pan, cast iron skillet, or non-stick frying pan over medium heat on the stovetop until hot. Add a few pats of butter.
- Sear chicken thighs on each side until golden brown. Then, finish cooking in the oven until the internal temperature reads 165 F. at the thickest part. Let rest until completely cool before slicing. I let mine cool while I prepped the salad.
Tip: To save a step, you can use leftover shredded chicken in this recipe, or rotisserie chicken. I prefer using chicken thighs in my salad because I find them to be juicy and flavorful. If using rotisserie chicken, you may want to use low-sodium soy sauce because the seasoning of the chicken will contain salt.
Prep and Assemble Chinese Chicken Salad:
- Rinse all veggies and dry off. I like to set them on a clean towel while I'm working.
- Slice Napa cabbage into thin strips. Chop sugar snap peas in half. Chop green onions. Chop cilantro leaves. *Note: I took homemade to a serious level on this recipe - I peeled and shredded my carrots. Y'all, just buy a bag of shredded carrots. I forgot to do this at the store and sure as heck wasn't going back for it, so that's why I just did it on my own.
- Add all ingredients from above plus shredded carrots to a large mixing bowl.
- Add in a can of drained bean sprouts and (optional) a can of drained and chopped water chestnuts.
- Add in cashews. Note: There are no cashews pictured because we had a huge snowstorm and my Sam's Club box didn't make it here in time. You can enjoy this salad with or without nuts, but I prefer adding the cashews to have that extra flavor component.
- Toss with a pair of tongs until the ingredients are well-dispersed.
- Add in strips of chicken.
- Toss with tongs.
- Add in a can of well-drained mandarin oranges. Toss with tongs, being careful not to over-toss so you don't break up the oranges too much.
- Serve salad chilled with 2-3 tbsp. of Homemade Sesame Soy Dressing poured overtop per serving.
- Enjoy!
Store Chinese Chicken Salad leftovers in the fridge, covered. Eat within 3 days. Keep dressing separate, and stored in a glass mason jar.
I like to meal prep this salad for weekday work lunches. To meal prep: Simply place a serving of salad in a container. Then, add the dressing to a separate container.
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Chinese Chicken Salad with Sesame Soy Dressing - Gluten Free
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Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 2 lbs. chicken thighs trimmed of excess fat
- several pats of butter
- black pepper to taste*
For the Salad:
- 7 cups Napa cabbage shredded
- 1 ½ cups shredded carrots
- 2 cups sugar snap peas chopped
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
- 2 green onions chopped
- 1 16 oz. can bean sprouts
- 1 8 oz. can whole water chestnuts chopped
- ½ cup cashews
- 1 16 oz. can mandarin oranges in light syrup
For the Sesame Soy Dressing:
- 10 tbsp. mild olive oil
- 6 tbsp. gluten free soy sauce I use San-J
- 6 tbsp. rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp. honey
- 1 tbsp. sesame seeds
Instructions
For the Chicken:
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Trim chicken of excess fat. Pepper to taste.
- Heat an oven-safe pan over medium heat on the stove top until hot. Add a few pats of butter along with the chicken to the pan. Sear on both sides until golden brown. Finish cooking in the oven until the internal temperature of the chicken reads 165 F. at the thickest part. Once cooked through, set aside and allow to cool completely before slicing into strips. While the chicken is cooling, prepare dressing and salad.
For the Sesame Soy Dressing:
- Add all ingredients (olive oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, and sesame seeds) to a small mixing bowl or medium-sized mason jar. Whisk or shake until well combined.
For the Salad:
- Rinse all veggies and dry them off on a towel. Slice Napa cabbage into thin strips. Chop sugar snap peas in half. Chop green onions. Chop cilantro leaves. Add all to a large mixing bowl. Add in shredded carrots.
- Add in the can of drained bean sprouts and (optional) drained and chopped water chestnuts.
- Add in cashews.
- Then, toss with a pair of tongs until the ingredients are well-dispersed.
- Add in sliced chicken thighs. Toss with tongs.
- Add in the can of well-drained mandarin oranges. Toss with tongs, being careful not to over-toss so you don't break up the oranges too much.
- Serve salad chilled with 2-3 tbsp. of Homemade Sesame Soy Dressing poured over top per serving.
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