Thai Chicken Salad Recipe
This salad hits all the Thai flavors: sweet, sour, salty, and spicy. The key is the homemade peanut dressing, which pulls everything together. The recipe starts with poaching the chicken, which ensures it’s moist and tender enough for a cold salad.
Ingredients
For the Peanut-Lime Dressing
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2-4 tablespoons hot water, as needed
For the Salad
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound total)
- 4 cups shredded Napa cabbage
- 2 cups shredded red cabbage
- 1 large carrot, julienned
- 1 mango, julienned
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 fresh red chile (like Fresno), thinly sliced
- 4 scallions, sliced on the diagonal
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 4 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
- 3/4 cup roasted, salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
Poach and Shred the Chicken
Place the chicken breasts in a saucepan and add enough cold, salted water to cover them by an inch.
Bring the water to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Do not let it boil rapidly. Once simmering, reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165F.
Transfer the cooked chicken to a cutting board and let it cool completely. Once cool, shred the meat with two forks. You can do this step a day ahead.
Make the Dressing
While the chicken cooks or cools, make the dressing. In a medium bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, lime juice, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic.
The mixture will be very thick. Whisk in the hot water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dressing reaches a smooth, pourable consistency.
Assemble the Salad
In a very large bowl, combine the shredded chicken, both types of cabbage, the carrot, mango, bell pepper, red onion, red chile, scallions, cilantro, and mint.
Pour about 3/4 of the peanut dressing over the salad and add half of the chopped peanuts. Toss everything together until well-coated. The cabbage will seem like a lot at first, but it will wilt down as you toss.
Taste the salad and add more dressing if needed.
Serve immediately, garnished with the remaining chopped peanuts. The salad is best eaten right away, as the vegetables will start to lose their crunch after about 15 minutes.
Thai Chicken Salad
Ingredients
For the Peanut-Lime Dressing
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger grated
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2-4 tablespoons hot water as needed
For the Salad
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound total)
- 4 cups shredded Napa cabbage
- 2 cups shredded red cabbage
- 1 large carrot julienned
- 1 mango julienned
- 1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
- 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
- 1 fresh red chile like Fresno, thinly sliced
- 4 scallions sliced on the diagonal
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped
- 4 tablespoons fresh mint chopped
- 3/4 cup roasted salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
Method
- Place chicken in saucepan, cover with salted water by 1 inch.
- Bring to gentle simmer, reduce heat, cover and cook 10-15 minutes until 165°F internal temperature.
- Cool chicken completely, then shred with forks.
- Whisk peanut butter, lime juice, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic.
- Add hot water gradually until dressing reaches pourable consistency.
- Combine shredded chicken, both cabbages, carrot, mango, bell pepper, onion, chile, scallions, herbs in large bowl.
- Add 3/4 of dressing and half the peanuts, toss well to coat.
- Adjust dressing to taste, top with remaining peanuts.
