Change up your usual boring salad with this crispy and flavorful Chinese Chicken Salad recipe! Made with crunchy napa cabbage, crispy ramen noodles and a delicious asian dressing this salad will become a weeknight staple and family favorite.

I’m not gonna lie, one of the things I was most excited for when we moved was how close we would be to a restaurant that serves one of our favorite Chinese Chicken Salad recipe. I’m not gonna say that was the reason we moved to this neighborhood, but I’m also not gonna say it wasn’t…This salad is so delicious and so coveted they literally have a separate section of their restaurant with a special fridge to store the salads. If you don’t get there early the chinese chicken salad will sell out!

Now, we’re continuing to support our local restaurants by ordering takeout but we also eat this chinese chicken salad so much that I wanted to experiment to see if I could master it at home. I have to say, I think I came pretty darn close. If you subscribe to my weekly meal plan, don’t be surprised to see this on the list next week – it’s quickly become a staple around here!

The taste of this salad is hard to beat and the crunch from the ramen noodles and napa cabbage is so refreshing. It’s just one of those salad recipes you’ll keep coming back to!

Chinese Chicken Salad Ingredients:

There are 3 parts to this chinese chicken salad recipe: the chicken, the salad and the dressing. Full amounts of each ingredient below!

• chicken – boneless, skinless chicken breasts marinated in a delicious combination of soy sauce (or tamari), hoisin sauce, sesame oil and pepper.
• napa cabbage – any cabbage works but napa cabbage is a type of Chinese cabbage that pairs perfectly with the rest of the salad ingredients!
• carrot – grate one large carrot or buy a bag of pre-shredded carrot sticks for a shortcut.
• shelled edamame – an extra protein source.
• green onion – we’ll just be using the white and light green parts of the onion!
• ramen noodles – if you’re gluten-free feel free to use a gluten-free version such as Lotus Foods brown rice noodles. Regular ramen noodles work just fine too!
• almonds – raw almonds work great as we’ll toast them during cooking!
• sesame seeds – we’re also toasting these for the ultimate flavor punch.
• cilantro leaves – optional but a delicious herb topping!
• rice wine vinaigrette – combine olive oil, honey, rice vinegar, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper.

How To Make Chinese Chicken Salad:

STEP 1: MARINATE CHICKEN

Marinate chicken in combination of soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil and pepper in a large bowl for 30 minutes.

STEP 2: BAKE CHICKEN

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake chicken (with any remaining marinade juices) in a shallow dish for 15-20 minutes or until chicken runs clear. Let chicken rest for 5 minutes and then cut into thin strips. You can also choose to grill the chicken if you prefer.

STEP 3: COMBINE VEGGIES

Combine cabbage, carrots, edamame and onion in a large salad bowl.

STEP 4: TOAST ALMONDS + RAMEN

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add almonds. Cook for about 2 minutes and then add ramen noodles to toast for another 2 minutes or starting to brown. Add sesame seeds and cook for 1 more minute or until everything is lightly browned.

STEP 5: MAKE CHINESE CHICKEN SALAD DRESSING

Combine all dressing ingredients in a small bowl using a whisk or mason jar(giving it a good shake).

STEP 6: TOSS SALAD

Add almond mixture to salad and top with chicken, cilantro (if using) and desired amount of dressing. Mix well.

Easy Swaps You Can Make:

• Not a fan of chicken? You can easily replace chicken with tofu. You can also use rotisserie chicken if you’re short on time.
• Gluten-free? Replace soy sauce and hoisin sauce with gluten-free versions made with tamari. For the ramen noodles use rice noodles instead.
• If you can’t find hoisin sauce feel free to use teriyaki sauce.
• Use red cabbage in place of napa cabbage or swap cabbage entirely for equal parts iceberg or romaine lettuce.
• Feel free to skip the cilantro if that isn’t your thing.
• Out of fresh ginger for the dressing? Feel free to use dried ginger, just decrease the amount by half (3/4 tsp).
• Add oranges – mandarin orange is a delicious addition to this Chinese Chicken Salad.

How to Store This Chinese Chicken Salad:

To make this salad last I recommend dressing it just before eating. Store the dressing in a jar in the fridge and the salad separately in a tupperware or glass container. Just before eating dress the salad to ensure it doesn’t get too soggy. If you want to make sure your ramen noodles stay crispy you can also keep those separate and stir them into the salad just before eating.

Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days if you ensure that the dressing and salad are stored separately.

More Delicious Salad Recipes:

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