Crunchy Thai Peanut Salad with Chicken
Crispy fried chicken with crunchy cabbage, carrots, peanuts, cilantro and the EASIEST and BEST homemade peanut sauce that coats every bite!! A salad that you'll CRAVE over and over!!
Servings: 4
Calories: 946cal
Ingredients
Salad
- 10 ounces coleslaw mix
- 2 cups red cabbage chopped
- 1 pound fried chicken breast tenders* use grocery store deli counter to save time, sliced into bite-sized pieces; or see notes for more options at home
- ½ cup salted peanuts
- 2 to 4 tablespoons fresh cilantro finely minced
Peanut Dressing
- heaping 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 to 2 teaspoons ground ginger or to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 teaspoon pepper or to taste
- 1 clove garlic finely minced or pressed, optional
- pinch cayenne pepper optional and to taste
- ¼ cup coconut milk optional and only to thin it out if desired
Instructions
Salad:
- To a large plate or bowl, add the coleslaw mix, red cabbage, chicken, peanuts, cilantro, and stir to combine.
Peanut Dressing:
- To a medium bowl, add all ingredients, whisk to combine, taste to check for seasoning and flavor balance, and make any necessary adjustments (i.e. more honey, more peanut butter, more salt, more sesame oil, etc.). If you like your sauce on the thicker side you may want to omit the coconut milk.
- Drizzle over the salad as desired; you will likely have extra peanut sauce. Extra peanut sauce will keep airtight for up to 10 days in the fridge. Salad is best fresh.
Notes
Chicken: If you want to make your own scratch fried chicken, feel free. Use my Crispy Fried Chicken recipe. If you want to use baked chicken tenders that imitate the taste of fried chicken, I recommend using Baked Chicken Nuggets. If you have an air fryer, my Air Fryer Breaded Chicken is great. You could also use frozen store bought chicken tenders and bake them.
The nutritional info is on the high side because it takes into account all the peanut sauce, including the optional coconut milk, but it's unlikely you will use all the peanut sauce.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 946cal | Carbohydrates: 66g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 64g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 45g | Cholesterol: 58mg | Sodium: 1862mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 31g
