Chinese Chicken Salad

Chinese Chicken Salad is great for lunch or as dinner. It is loaded with chicken, vegetables, crispy wontons, and crunchy peanuts. But the superstar of this dish is the tangy zip of the dressing.

This will be your go to salad entrée for all occasions, from ladies' luncheons to happy hour or an early evening dinner. We love to serve this salad with these great side dishes and appetizers. Edamame, Coconut Shrimp, or Chicken Skewers with Peanut Sauce.

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Ingredients for Chinese Chicken Salad

Salad Ingredients

• Shredded Chicken breasts - one boneless chicken breast
• Fresh crispy Iceberg Lettuce - one head of lettuce
• Water Chestnuts - sliced
• Scallions - Green onions - julienned
• Peanuts - shelled and chopped
• One bunch of Fresh Cilantro - no stems, use the leaves only
• Wonton strips - You can make your own at home, see recipe below. You can find them near the salad dressings in your grocery store.

(See the recipe card at the bottom for exact quantities of each ingredient)

Dressing Ingredients

• Soy Sauce - we use light soy sauce
• Rice vinegar - rice wine vinegar is a good substitute
• Toasted Sesame Oil - Don't skip using the toasted sesame oil. This is an important ingredient.
• Hot Asian Mustard - Is found in the condiments aisle of the grocery store

(See the recipe card at the bottom for exact quantities of ingredients)

How to make a delicious Chinese Chicken Salad

Follow these simply steps to a delicious salad:

• First, make our simple shredded chicken recipe. This recipe can be used in a variety of dishes. Short on time, use a roasted chicken from the market.
• Slice lettuce across the head into a quarter-inch-thick, long strips. (see photo below)

• Place lettuce in large bowl while you prepare other ingredients.
• Julienne cut the scallions. Using a cutting board take each scallion and cut them lengthwise down the middle. Cut the half's into two long thin strips. Cut the long thin slices into three inch pieces (see photos below) To curl the slices place them in a bowl of ice water for 10 to 15 minutes (optional).

• Drain water off the water chestnuts. Take pre-sliced chestnuts and cut them into slivers.
• Chop peanuts into small pieces using a chopper. We like to use this manual chopper for nuts. PrepWorks nut chopper You can also chop with a large knife.

• Remove individual cilantro leaves from the stems. Use leaves only.
• In a large bowl, toss lettuce with salad dressing. Add dressing to the lettuce only prior to adding additional ingredients.
• Then add chicken, water chestnuts, scallions, peanuts, and cilantro leaves. Garnish with additional cilantro leaves and chopped peanuts.
• Top the salad with the fried wonton strips. We like to add them after the dressing to keep them crunchy and crisp. You can make your own wonton strips. See instructions to make your own below in this post. You can also find wonton strips at the grocery store.
• Once the salad is fully assembled, serve and enjoy!

How to make a great Chinese Chicken Salad Dressing

NOTE: A little of this dressing goes a long way. This recipe makes two servings of dressing.

• Combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, toasted sesame seed oil and the hot Chinese mustard in a medium bowl.
• Whisk dressing until smooth.
• Toss over lettuce prior to adding ingredients
• Then add all ingredients to salad and lastly the wonton strips.
• Serve immediately.

What are some variations to Chinese Chicken Salad?

There are many variations to Chinese Chicken Salad here are a few you can try.

You can add in different types of cabbage, carrots, snap peas or peppers.

Additional fun ingredient variations include different varieties of chopped nuts like cashews, almonds or pecans. You can also toast the chopped nuts for an additional pop.

Instead of wonton strips try crispy rice noodles, soba noodles or rice vermicelli noodles to add that crunch.

Make your own Wonton strips

The ingredients you will need to make homemade wonton strips is simply wonton wraps and frying oil. You can find wonton wraps in the produce session on the grocery store near the prepared salads and tofu. You will want to use a high smoke point oil for frying like canola, peanut, coconut or vegetable. We used coconut for this salad.

• Separate each wonton wrap and place a stack on a cutting board.
• With a sharp knife slice the wontons into ¼ inch strips.
• Separate strips and place on a plate.

• Pour about 5 inches of oil into a wok or pot. Heat oil to 350° degrees on a candy or frying oil thermometer.
• Cook strips in small batches. Carefully adding them to the hot oil. Cooking in smaller batches will keep them from becoming greasy.
• Cook about 20 to 30 seconds watching carefully, stir with a slotted spoon to get both sides evenly fried. Remove from heat with the slotted spoon.

• Place them on a plate double lined with paper towels and let them drain excess oil.
• Let them cool completely before adding to salad or serving.
• They can be stored for a few days in an airtight container.

Your Sommelier Suggestions:

• Riesling - An off-dry Riesling is a great pairing for Asian cuisine. It brings a particularly good balance for this salads sweet and spicy dressing.
• Pinto Grigo -Is known for it's clean and refreshing components while offering a light contrast that will not overpower the flavors of our salad.
• Sauvignon Blanc - This is your crisp and zesty pairing especially with it's herbaceous and citrus notes. This wine pairs well with the fresh vegetables and zesty dressing on the salad.

These dishes pair well with Chinese Chicken Salad

• Coconut Shrimp
• Spicy Garlic Edamame
• Ahi Poke
• Chicken Skewers with Peanut Sauce
• Tofu Rice Bowls with Vegetables
• Asian Cucumber Salad

Did you enjoy our Chinese Chicken Salad? We would love to hear from you in our comments below. Please feel free to comment on this or any other recipe on our blog. Your feedback helps us to develop more recipes for you to enjoy!