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–+ servings
Chinese Chicken Salad

Chinese Chicken Salad with Sesame Soy Dressing - Gluten Free

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Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Chinese Chicken Salad is super healthy, easy to make, and bursting with flavor. Chicken thighs are seared, sliced, and tossed with Napa cabbage, a bounty of fresh veggies and herbs, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, cashews, and mandarin oranges. Finally, tangy and savory Homemade Sesame Soy Dressing is poured overtop.
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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.

Notes

*Always add little-to-no salt in recipes that are soy sauce based.
**You can sub chicken thighs for leftover shredded chicken or rotisserie chicken to save on time. Just note that rotisserie chicken has added salt, so you will want to use low-sodium soy sauce, and possibly less.
Store salad leftovers in the fridge. Store Homemade Sesame Soy Dressing in a separate container from the salad. Pour overtop fresh at each serving.
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.
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