This simple chopped Thai chicken salad has BIG flavors – peanut, lime, soy, chili, cilantro. Topped with a homemade peanut dressing! Healthy and fresh.
SCALE
INGREDIENTS
Thai Chicken Salad
- 3–4 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 1 head of green cabbage (3–4 cups shredded)
- 1–2 large carrots (2 cups grated)
- 1 green papaya or mango (1–2 cups grated) (optional)
- 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1/2 cup peanuts, chopped
- 1/2 cup green onions, sliced
- 3–4 red serrano peppers, sliced
- salt and lime juice to taste
Peanut Dressing
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup sesame oil (toasted or dark)
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons chili paste (sriracha works, too)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- a small knob of fresh ginger, peeled
- a clove of fresh garlic, peeled
- 1/4 cup water to thin to desired consistency
INSTRUCTIONS
- Chop: Put on some good music, pour a drink, and start choppin’!
- Dressing: Pulse all ingredients in the food processor or blender. Adjust consistency with water.
- Thai Chicken Salad Assembly: Toss the salad ingredients in a big bowl with a drizzle of peanut dressing so everything gets coated. Season with salt and lime juice, and maybe a shot of fish sauce if you’re feeling wild. Serve chilled.
NOTES
Chicken: Pulled rotisserie chicken works great. You can also cook chicken breasts in the Instant Pot (12 minutes, with about a cup of water, plus salt and pepper) and then shred them.
Cabbage: You want the cabbage to be very thin, like it would be for coleslaw. I did this with a mandoline.
Vegetarian: You can make this with tofu instead of chicken! Just follow one of the methods in this post.
Leftovers / Make Ahead: You can keep this for a few hours once it’s tossed with dressing – like if you make it for lunch, it’ll be pretty okay for dinner. But for best results, keep the leftover salad and dressing separate until ready to serve.
