Asian Peanut Chicken Salad

A wooden bowl filled with a colorful vegetable salad topped with a drizzle of orange dressing. Sliced cucumbers, chopped red cabbage, greens, and ginger surround the bowl.

5 from 1 vote

Asian Peanut Chicken Salad

🥗🥕🥒🙌 There’s lots of CRUNCH in this hearty salad made with bell peppers, red cabbage, lettuce, cucumber, carrots, and more! The protein-packed edamame and chicken make this salad very filling, and the creamy peanut dressing infuses the salad with layers of Asian-inspired FLAVOR! Put your leftover chicken to use with this FAST and EASY salad that's great for work lunches or as a lighter dinner idea!

Prep Time20

Cook Time0

Total Time20

Course: 30-Minute Meals, Dinner, lunch, Salad

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: easy peanut sauce, peanut chicken

Servings:

Calories: 476cal

Ingredients

Peanut Dressing

⅓ cup cup creamy peanut butter (heaping or domed)
¼ cup honey
¼ cup toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar
1 to 2 teaspoons ground ginger or to taste
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or to taste
1 clove garlic finely minced or pressed, optional
pinch cayenne pepper or dash of sriracha optional and to taste

Salad

2 cups cooked chicken* diced or shredded (see Notes below for chicken options)
1 head of romaine lettuce shredded (or a 10 ounce bag hearty salad greens)
2 cups frozen edamame cooked according to package directions and cooled
1 cup red cabbage shredded
1 red bell pepper diced small
1 medium cucumber diced or sliced(peeled if desired, I remove seeds OR use an English cucumber)
1 large carrot shredded or peeled into ribbons
¼ cup sliced or slivered almonds or peanuts I prefer salted, but unsalted are fine
2 green onions thinly sliced
3 to 4 tablespoons fresh cilantro finely minced
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh basil leaves thinly sliced

Instructions

Peanut Dressing - To a medium bowl, add all the ingredients for the dressing, whisk until smooth and combined, taste, and make any necessary seasoning or flavor adjustments. (i.e. more honey, more peanut butter, more salt, more sesame oil, etc.). I like my sauce on the thicker side but you can add more vinegar/honey to thin it if desired; set aside.
Salad - To a large bowl, add all the ingredients, and toss to combine.
Assembly - Pour half the dressing over the salad, and mix to coat evenly. Then, before serving, top with the remaining dressing, if desired and to taste. I love lots of dressing but some people prefer things a bit drier.
Storage - Extra peanut sauce dressing will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 1 week. Extra salad ingredients will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 3-5 days if the salad has NOT been tossed. After you toss the salad with the dressing, like with any salad, it's best consumed promptly because it gets soggier as it sits.
Make Ahead - If you're making this for an event or for a work lunch and want to mix up everything that moring to have it ready, that's fine. But I wouldn't mix it up and dress it more than about 4 hours prior to consuming.

Notes

Chicken Options - You may use any leftover cooked chicken you have on hand, including roasted chicken, baked chicken breasts, grilled chicken, or poached chicken. You can also buy a rotisserie chicken at the store and shred or dice it to use in the salad.

Nutrition