This easy chow mein noodle chicken salad with veggies is tossed with a light ginger dressing. Makes a great salad for a backyard party or weeknight lunch.
A colorful and delicious way to use up leftover chicken, this Chinese Chicken Salad makes for a quick and easy light lunch.
How to make the salad dressing
I experimented with a few different dressings and finally settled on this one, which I feel is just the right mix of soy sauce, rice vinegar (or rice vinegar; they’re the same), ginger, garlic, and sesame oil.
Whisk everything together, taste and season to taste, then toss with the salad. Dressing stored alone will also keep for at least a week or more.
Make-ahead tips
If you want to make this salad ahead of time for a party or take it to lunch, cook the chicken and gather all the salad ingredients in a storage container, except for the chow mein noodles. Combine the ingredients for the salad dressing in a separate mason jar. Keep everything in the fridge until ready to serve.
Just before serving, shake the jam jar to mix the dressing, then toss with the salad. Garnish with chow mein noodles and serve.
Do you have a favorite Chinese chicken salad dressing? Please let us know in the comments.
More easy salad recipes for parties and lunches!
- Lentil salad with summer vegetables
- Greek pasta salad
- Curry Chicken Salad with Mango
- Chinese chicken salad with mashed cucumber
- Pasta and Bean Picnic Salad
Chinese chicken salad, an American dish
This isn’t a traditional Chinese dish, but more of an American salad that uses some traditional Asian ingredients in the dressing as well as chow mein noodles to give the salad a great crunch.
In the mid-20th century, the dish made frequent appearances on American menus. Wolfgang Puck is sometimes credited with the dish for putting something similar on the menu at his famous Chinois restaurant in the 1980s, but versions of salads with the name or other names with Asian descriptions can date back to the 1930s.
From the editors of Simply Recipes
Chow Mein Noodle Chicken Salad
ingredients
For the salad:
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1 lb Boneless skinless chicken breastcut into short strips
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Kosher salt
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1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
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1 tablespoon rape or peanut oil
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1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
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1 head iceberg lettuce or Chinese cabbage, thinly sliced
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1/2 Cute pepper paprikathinly sliced
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3 to 4 spring onionscut
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1 carrotjulienned
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1/2 Cup packed loosly coriander leaveschopped
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1/2 Cup roasted peanuts
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Chow Mein Noodlestaste
For the dressing:
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1 tablespoon soy sauce (use gluten free soy sauce for the gluten free option)
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2 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
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1 teaspoon mustard powder
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1 teaspoon freshly grated Ginger
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1 clove garlicchopped
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1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
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2 teaspoon sugar
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1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
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1/4 Cup peanut or rapeseed oil
method
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Roast Chicken:
Heat both oils over high heat in a large skillet for 1 minute, then add the red pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds.
Pat the chicken strips dry, sprinkle with a little salt and add to the pan. Sear the chicken over high heat, stirring, until cooked through, 3 to 6 minutes depending on how hot your stovetop gets. Remove and set aside to cool.
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Make the dressing:
In a small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the dressing. Adjust the spices to taste.
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To serve, toss the salad:
In a large bowl, combine the chicken and salad ingredients. Just before serving, toss with dressing and garnish with the chow mein noodles.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 397 | calories |
| 26g | Fat |
| 14g | carbohydrates |
| 28g | protein |
