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Chinese Chicken Salad combines shredded chicken, cabbage and other salad vegetables, with mandarin oranges – all tossed with a delicious Asian-inspired dressing. Top with sesame seeds, toasted cashews, and crispy wonton strips for extra crunch and flavor.
Delicious and Filling Salad with Asian-Inspired Flavors
Chinese Chicken Salad is one of my all-time favorites meals to order anytime we go out to eat at a restaurant, and I’m craving a filling and delicious salad. With today’s easy recipe – we can all enjoy it at home too!
This salad combines poached shredded chicken, with a mix of salad greens plus Napa cabbage and red cabbage, carrots, scallions, cooked shiitake mushrooms, and fresh cilantro.
We added a sweet ginger sesame dressing, plus canned mandarin orange sections. Then, when served, we sprinkled toasted sesame seeds, toasted cashews, and crispy wonton strips over the top. These little additions add a nice crunch and salty taste that balances the sweetness.
Recipe Origins
You won’t see Chinese Chicken Salad on the menu at an authentic Chinese restaurant.
This salad is more of an “Asian-American” salad with Asian-inspired flavors. It is believed to have been created in the 1960’s in Los Angeles at Madame Wu’s restaurant which catered to Hollywood stars.
It reached the height of popularity in the 1980’s when Wolfgang Puck added a version of this salad to his restaurant menus.
Still today, you can find versions of Chinese Chicken Salad on the menu at many restaurants including The Cheesecake Factory and others. It’s always a favorite!
Why you’ll love Chinese Chicken Salad
- The combination of flavors and textures in this salad is so good. Plus, it’s as pretty to look at as it is delicious!
- This recipe can easily be adapted to suit your tastes. Plus, we’ve listed a few shortcuts below to make it even easier to prepare.
- This salad holds up well, even after it’s been assembled. It’s a great option to take to a potluck dinner or cookout.
Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Chicken – We suggest using a combination of boneless, skinless chicken thigh and breast meat for this salad, but you can use all of one or the other if you prefer. Or – buy a pre-cooked, large rotisserie chicken and pick the meat if you are in a hurry.
- Poaching Liquid – You’ll poach the chicken in a combination of water, soy sauce, and rice wine vinegar. (Skip this if you are using a rotisserie chicken.)
- Salad Mix – We shredded and sliced a combination of red cabbage, Napa cabbage, romaine lettuce, carrots, scallions, Shiitake mushrooms, and fresh cilantro. You could also buy a bagged coleslaw mix and add it to some salad greens for convenience.
- Salad Toppings – For crunch and a salty balance of flavor, we added toasted sesame seeds and cashews, as well as fried wonton strips as our salad topping. (We also added more sliced scallion tops).
- Mandarin Orange Segments – We bought canned mandarin orange segments for our salad. Fresh, peeled mandarin orange segments could also be used.
- Asian Dressing – Our homemade dressing is a mix of rice vinegar, soy sauce, apricot preserves, grated fresh garlic, grated fresh ginger, canola oil, toasted sesame oil, salt, pepper, and toasted sesame seeds. If you have a favorite bottled Asian dressing or vinaigrette – use that for convenience.
Special Tools Needed
- Cutting Board and Sharp Knife
- Various Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Medium Pot with Cover – To poach the chicken.
- Spider Strainer or Large Slotted Spoon – To easily remove the poached chicken from the pot.
- Medium Sauté Pan – Used to toast the sesame seeds and cashews, as well as to sauté the mushrooms.
- Spatula
- Strainer
- Small Mixing Bowl – To mix the dressing.
- Whisk
- Large Bowl – To mix and serve the salad.
- Tongs
- Large Platter or Bowl – For serving.
How do I make Chinese Chicken Salad ?
- Trim any fat or gristle off the chicken, then cut into 1-inch strips.
- Fill poaching pot with water, soy sauce, and rice vinegar and bring to a boil.
- Add chicken strips, cover, and turn off heat. Let the chicken sit in the hot liquid until cooked, about 10-15 minutes. (Check every five minutes to avoid overcooking.) Remove chicken to a plate to cool.
- Toast sesame seeds in a dry pan. Set aside to cool.
- Toast cashews in a dry pan, then add olive oil and salt and cook for one more minute. Set aside to cool.
- Cook mushrooms in the same pan until cooked. Set aside to cool.
- Drain mandarin orange segments in a strainer.
- Shred red cabbage, Napa cabbage, and romaine into a large bowl.
- Add drained mandarin orange segments, cooked mushrooms, sliced scallion whites, toasted sesame seeds, and cilantro.
- Shred chicken and add to the bowl.
- Combine and whisk dressing and add to the bowl and toss.
- Sprinkle on some of the toasted cashews, toasted sesame seeds, scallion greens and wonton strips for garnish. (You can have extra cashews, sesame seeds, scallions, and wonton strips in bowls on the side to add to individual servings if you’d like.)
- Serve immediately.
Tips & Tricks
- Because the wonton strips will get soggy over time from the dressing, we suggest adding just a few of the wontons to the top of the platter for garnish. Then, add more to each serving to maintain crispness.
- Only dress as much of the salad as you plan to eat. This recipe makes a large quantity so if you hope to get a few meals out of it, place some (undressed) in a covered container and refrigerate it, while dressing and serving the rest.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make Chinese Chicken Salad ahead of time? You can do much of the preparation ahead of time, but (for best results) we suggest assembling and dressing the salad once you are ready to serve.
- How do I store leftovers? Store refrigerated for up to two days. (If you haven’t dressed it, this salad should be good for up to three days.)
You might like these other Asian-Inspired Recipes:
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Chinese Chicken Salad
Chinese Chicken Salad combines shredded chicken, cabbage, and other salad vegetables, with mandarin oranges – all tossed with a delicious Asian-inspired dressing. Top with sesame seeds, toasted cashews, and crispy wonton strips for extra crunch and flavor.
Ingredients
1 pound boneless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into one-inch wide strips
1 pound boneless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into one-inch wide strips
1 quart water
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 8.25-ounce cans mandarin orange segments, drained
4 tablespoons sesame seeds, divided
1 cup raw cashews
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps cut into thin strips
2 cups red cabbage, shredded
3 cups napa cabbage, shredded
3 cups romaine, shredded
1 cup shredded carrot, about one large carrot
4 large scallions, sliced (whites separate from greens)
1 cup cilantro leaves, not chopped
1 4-ounce bag fried wonton strips
Dressing
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup apricot preserves
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated fresh garlic
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
2 1/2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds from above (some go in salad and some in the dressing)
Instructions
- In a medium pot, place water, soy sauce and rice vinegar and bring to a boil.
- Add the chicken strips, cover, and turn off the heat. Let the chicken sit in the hot poaching liquid until fully cooked, about 10-15 minutes. Remove with a spider to cool. Discard poaching liquid. Once cooled, shred the pieces by pulling slivers apart with your hands. Check every five minutes in the poaching liquid and do not overcook.
- Drain Mandarin oranges in a strainer over a bowl. Discard liquid.
- In a medium saute pan over medium heat, dry toast the sesame seeds until golden. Remove from the pan to cool.
- In the same pan, add cashews and dry toast until browned. Add the olive oil and salt and cook and toss for one more minute then remove to cool.
- In the same pan, over high heat, dry cook the shiitake mushrooms until browned and tender, about 8-10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl, toss shredded red cabbage, shredded Napa cabbage, shredded romaine, shredded carrot, sliced scallion whites, and cilantro leaves.
- Add the shredded chicken, cooked mushrooms, drained mandarin orange segments, 2 tablespoons of the toasted sesame seeds, and half the toasted cashews.
- Make the dressing using one tablespoon of the toasted sesame seeds with the other dressing ingredients.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and toss. Top with remaining sesame seeds, remaining toasted cashews, sliced scallion greens and toasted wonton strips. Save a little of each if you wish to top individual portions.
- Pour onto a large platter for serving or portion into individual bowls.
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