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Thai Chicken Salad

Turn up your salad game with a Thai Chicken Salad.  A filling salad topped with chicken, veggies, and a peanut dressing to make it hearty and full of flavor!

a serving bowl with thai chicken salad

 

This Thai Chicken Salad has been a staple in our house for many years! It first showed up on the blog in 2015, but not it is time for a face lift. I love a good hearty salad that I can throw together for lunch or a quick dinner, and have the dressing just waiting for me. This is super customizable with adding different veggies or even protein to make it what you want. The peanut dressing makes it all come together in a hearty and filling meal.

This Chinese Chicken Salad is one of my favorites, this just has a twist to make it something new with slightly different flavors. But if you like Asian style flavors, that is one you won’t want to miss either.

thai chicken salad ingredients

Why You’ll Love This Thai Chicken Salad

  • Filling – tons of vegetables, plus plenty of chicken and a peanut based dressing means this is going to be a hearty and filling salad you are not going to feel deprived by eating.
  • Easy – yes, there is a homemade dressing, but it takes 2 minutes to whisk together. And most of the veggies you could buy pre-chopped and use leftover or rotisserie chicken. So it really can be a clean out the fridge, grab whatever you have and use it in this salad.
  • Healthy – this is loaded with veggies and lean protein for a healthy meal that you will love.
  • Customizable – mix up the veggies, use different greens, just make it what you want! Salads are so versatile for whatever you have on hand or enjoy.
peanut dressing ingredients

What You’ll Need

Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the post for the FULL PRINTABLE recipe card.

For The Salad

  • Coleslaw Mix – you can definitely chop your own cabbage and add shredded carrots, this just makes for a super fast shortcut.
  • Shredded Chicken – great use of leftover chicken or use a rotisserie chicken
  • Cilantro
  • Bell Pepper
  • Sliced Almonds
  • Green Onions
  • Wonton Strips – you can usually find these with the other salad toppings and croutons in the grocery store.

 For The Dressing

  • Peanut Butter – I like creamy for the best dressing
  • Rice Wine Vinegar
  • Honey
  • Low Sodium Soy Sauce
  • Ginger
  • Garlic
  • Lime Juice
  • Sesame Oil
  • Red Pepper Flakes
  • Water
peanut dressing poured over salad

How To Make Thai Chicken Salad

  • Mix Salad Together. In a large bowl add all of your vegetables and mix together.
  • Make Dressing. In a bowl or liquid measuring cup whisk all of the ingredients for your salad dressing together until you get a good consistency. If you want it thinner you can add a little bit more water.
  • Toss Together. Pour the dressing over the top and give the salad a good mix. Add your crunchy toppings, and mix together to serve.
a serving bowl with wooden spoons scooping out salad

Recipe Tips & Suggestions

  • Don’t add your dressing until you are ready to serve the salad. It will get soggy as it sits. So I like to only add the dressing to what I am going to eat in one sitting, and then store the dressing and vegetables separately for later.
  • Make your dressing ahead of time and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Let it come to room temperature to serve.
  • Get creative with your toppings. Below is a list of additional things you can add, but it is not comprehensive, use what you like and what you have.
  • Rotisserie chicken is great for this, you can use it warm or cold. You could also use cooked tofu, shrimp, leftover shredded pork.
  • Use whatever base you like. This uses a coleslaw mix to make it easy. But you can definitely shredded your own cabbage, use iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, or any kind of green you like.
thai chicken salad on a plate

What Else Can I Add To This Salad

Get creative! Use whatever you have an like to make the salad what you want. Here are a few other idea that I like.

  • Chopped Cucumber
  • Sugar Snap Peas
  • Bean Sprouts
  • Fresh Mint
  • Chopped Peanuts
  • Edamame
looking down on a serving bowl with a salad in it

More Hearty Salad Recipes

Yield: 4

Thai Chicken Salad

close up thai chicken salad on a plate

Turn up your salad game with a Thai Chicken Salad.  A filling salad topped with chicken, veggies, and a peanut dressing to make it hearty and full of flavor!

Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

Salad

  • 16 oz bag coleslaw mix
  • 3 cups cooked shredded chicken
  • 1 cup chopped bell pepper
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1/2 cup sliced green onions
  • 1/2 cup sliced almonds
  • 1/2 cup wonton strips

Peanut Dressing

  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
  • 3 Tablespoons honey
  • 3 Tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons lime juice
  • 2 Tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 cup water (approximately)

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl toss together coleslaw mix, chicken, bell pepper, cilantro and green onions.
  2. In a separate bowl or liquid measuring cup whisk together the ingredients for the dressing. Add the water a little bit at a time to get your desired consistency.
  3. Before serving add about half of the dressing to the salad and mix together.
  4. Top with almonds and wontons strips and serve, with the rest of the dressing on the side if necessary.

Notes

If you will not eat all of the salad at one time, do not toss with dressing. Leave separate and store in the fridge until the next day.

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 467Total Fat 33gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 23gCholesterol 63mgSodium 680mgCarbohydrates 21gFiber 6gSugar 8gProtein 26g

Did you make this recipe?

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Beth

Wednesday 27th of March 2024

Healthy and delicious is always my favorite combo! I love all the bold flavor in this salad. It's so much better than a plain, boring one.

Louise from Delishogram

Monday 8th of June 2015

We love Thai flavours. I spent a wonderful week in Thailand after we got married. Such amazing food and flavours :-) I will be trying this soon.

I have recently started a food sharing site and would love to have you contribute this and other recipes from your site.

Medeja

Thursday 4th of June 2015

I love Thai flavors too! This salad looks like something I must try too :)

Joshua Hampton

Wednesday 3rd of June 2015

That salad looks gorgeous. My mouth watered just looking at the pictures. Yum.

Janel from NellieBellie

Wednesday 3rd of June 2015

This looks delicious! I am in love with the Thai salads. All of them. :)

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