This chopped Thai chicken salad with peanut dressing is a must-make for all peanut sauce lovers! It is super easy to prepare, is made with wholesome ingredients, and tastes incredibly delicious. Plus, it is great for meal prep. Just make a large batch of this salad and enjoy it for lunch the next day!
Whoever said that salads are boring, hasn’t heard of this chopped Thai chicken salad with peanut dressing. The salad combines crunchy vegetables with a super flavorful Thai peanut sauce and shredded chicken. The best part is that it is ready in only 30 minutes and super simple to make. No need to spend a lot of time in the kitchen or eat boring salads. Just make this delicious and flavorful Thai chicken salad.
Ingredients
To make this chopped Thai chicken salad with peanut dressing, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Shredded Chicken: You can either make the shredded chicken yourself or use rotisserie chicken. I usually cook chicken breast in water and then shred it.
- Vegetables: This salad is made with crunchy vegetables that are super healthy and taste great. These are shredded green cabbage, carrots, red bell pepper, and green onion. If you want to make only a few servings of this recipe, feel free to use pre-cut cabbage.
- Cilantro: Cilantro adds lots of flavor to this salad! And since this salad is supposed to be super delish, don’t skip the cilantro.
- Peanuts: Chopped peanuts add a bit more crunch and texture to this salad. So feel free to add them to your Thai chicken salad.
- Homemade Thai peanut dressing: To make the peanut dressing, you’ll need lime juice, natural peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, chili garlic sauce or sriracha, rice vinegar, ginger, and a bit of water.
How to make this chopped Thai chicken salad with peanut dressing
Preparing this chopped Thai chicken salad is super easy. Simply follow these steps:
- Prepare the shredded chicken. Add water to a pot and bring it to a boil. Then, add the chicken breast to the pot, cover the pot, reduce the heat and let the chicken simmer for 20-25 minutes until it is cooked through. Take the chicken out of the pot and shred it using two forks. Alternatively, use rotisserie chicken and shred it.
- Chop the salad ingredients. Simply chop all of the salad ingredients and place them in a large bowl.
- Make the Thai peanut dressing. Add the peanut dressing ingredients to a small bowl and stir until everything is well combined.
- Combine. Now, add the shredded chicken and the peanut dressing to the salad ingredients and toss everything. Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!
Cooking tips for the best Thai chicken salad
This Thai chicken salad recipe is super simple and very easy to follow, but there are some tips I would like to give you. Because I want everyone to succeed at making this absolutely delicious dish.
- Cabbage: It is super important to have finely shredded cabbage, just like the one you would use for coleslaw. You can either do this with a mandolin or buy pre-cut cabbage. I bought a mix of green and red cabbage when I made this recipe. Just go with what’s easiest for you!
- Peanut Dressing: To thin the peanut dressing, you’ll probably have to add some water. Make sure you don’t add too much water at once, as you want the dressing to be creamy, and not watery. And only use as much dressing as you want to for the salad.
Variations
As with most recipes, you can modify this chopped Thai chicken salad recipe according to your taste and preferences. Here are some ideas for you:
- Spice it up: If you want to make this Thai chicken salad with peanut dressing spicy, add some chile pepper or crushed red pepper flakes. I can absolutely recommend the spicy version!
- Add fruit: If you love adding fruit to savory dishes, try adding apple, mango, or papaya dices to this salad. I usually don’t like fruit in my dishes (yep, I probably won’t ever love Hawaiian pizza), but with this salad, I actually like it! So feel free to go for it, you have my blessing.
- Make it vegan and vegetarian: This salad is not only great with shredded chicken but tastes amazing when topped with crispy tofu. Just follow the tofu preparation instructions of my veggie tofu stir fry recipe, and add the tofu to the salad. Your vegan and vegetarian friends will love this!
Storage tips
This salad is great for meal prep, but there is one thing to consider. Please store the peanut dressing and the chopped chicken salad separately, as otherwise, the salad becomes soggy. You can store the chopped Thai chicken salad in your refrigerator for 2-3 days.
More healthy Asian-Inspired recipes
If you love Asian recipes, try one of the following recipes. They all taste super delicious, are healthy, and very easy to prepare.
- Cold Soba Noodle Salad with Ginger Soy Dressing
- Thai Peanut Curry with Chicken
- Teriyaki Chicken Bowl
- Ground Beef Stir Fry
- Veggie Tofu Stir Fry
Chopped Thai Chicken Salad with Peanut Dressing
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breast or shredded rotisserie chicken
- 6 cups green cabbage shredded
- 2 carrots cut into matchsticks or spiralized
- 1 red bell pepper cut into thin slices
- ½ cup green onion sliced
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
- ¼ cup peanuts chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Thai Peanut Dressing Ingredients
- 1 lime juiced
- ½ cup natural peanut butter
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp honey or another sweetener of choice
- 1 tbsp chili garlic sauce or sriracha
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp ginger grated
- water to thin the sauce
Instructions
- Add water to a pot and bring it to a boil. Add the chicken breast to the pot, reduce the heat, cover the pot and let the chicken simmer for 20-25 minutes, until it is cooked through. Then, take the chicken out of the pot and shred it with two forks.
- While the chicken cooks, prepare the salad ingredients and the Thai peanut dressing. Simply chop the salad ingredients and add them to a large bowl. Mix the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and add water to thin the dressing until it has reached the desired consistency.
- Add the shredded chicken and peanut dressing to the salad ingredients. Toss everything, season with salt and pepper to taste and serve!
Notes
- To get the right texture, you'll need to use finely shredded cabbage. You can either shred the cabbage using a mandolin or buy pre-cut cabbage. I used a mix of green and red pre-cut cabbage.
- The amount of water you should use to thin the dressing depends on the peanut butter you have. I used 6 tbsp of water to thin the peanut dressing. Just make sure you don't add too much water at once.
- You can make a spicy version of this salad by adding thinly sliced chile pepper or crushed red pepper flakes.
- If you prefer a sweet version with fruit, feel free to add apple dices, mango, or papaya.
Lissa
This was delicious! I pan fried the chicken breast so it was super juicy. I added some sugar snap peas to the salad and also a handful of fresh basil. What a great summer dinner! Big thumbs up!
Beri
I'm happy that you like the recipe, Lissa! 😊