Meet your new no-cook lunch crush: crazy flavorful and filling Chicken Edamame Salad with vibrant veggies, crunchy cashews, and a punchy sesame soy ginger dressing. Made with convenient coleslaw mix, rotisserie chicken, and frozen edamame, it comes together in 20 minutes with minimal prep (um, yes please). Did I mention it packs a whopping 35g protein and 11g fiber per serving?
I don’t think I need to convince anyone that a no-cook lunch is in order. I mean…are are you not sweating? This zippy stunner of a salad is the sister to my hella flavorful (and also quite zippy) reader-fave Vietnamese chicken and cabbage salad.
Because we deserve a nourishing lunch at 1:17pm and we welcome those teensy tricks that make it a bit more accessible. Ahem, a bag of pre-shredded cabbage and store-bought chicken that’s already cooked [to perfection].
All we’re doing is dressing up that nourishing veg + protein with a dynamite sauce. The result? A satisfying filling salad you’ll be dreamin’ about the second it’s gone.
Oh! On night two I served it atop a pile of fluffy basmati rice and called it dinner. ‘Twas very well-received!
Let’s make it
What I learned from recipe testing
- Fresh garlic and ginger add so much. developed this recipe with fresh for the most flavor bang but on my second test, I used dried in *hopes* that it would deliver the same oomph with less manual labor. Negative! Fresh really is superior.
- Rotisserie chicken is the most flavorful (and convenient) since it tends to be perfectly juicy and well-seasoned. If you’re using plain chicken you’ve cooked (breast or thigh, your preference), it’s super important to season it liberally since it’s the base of our salad. Kapeesh?
- Don’t skip the green onions and cashews! That would be tragic since cashews bring salty, crunchy, much-needed texture and green onions add that sharp bite to bring everything together. When I made this recipe with them, it was most definitely not as extraordinary. In a pinch, roasted salted peanuts work, too.
Ok now go eat lunch!!
Quick Edamame Chicken Salad with Sesame Soy Ginger Dressing
-
Prep Time:
20 minutes -
Cook Time:
0 minutes -
Total Time:
20 minutes -
Yield:
6.5 cups (4 servings) -
Category:
Salads -
Method:
No Cook -
Cuisine:
Asian-Inspired -
Diet:
Gluten Free
Description
Meet your new no-cook lunch crush: crazy flavorful and filling Chicken Edamame Salad with vibrant veggies, crunchy cashews, and a punchy sesame soy ginger dressing. Made with convenient coleslaw mix, rotisserie chicken, and frozen edamame, it comes together in 20 minutes with minimal prep (um, yes please). Did I mention it packs a whopping 35g protein and 11g fiber per serving?
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the dressing:
For the chicken salad:
Instructions
- Place all dressing ingredients in a jar or small bowl. Shake jar (or whisk in bowl) to combine.
- Toast cashews either in the oven at 350F or on a skillet over medium heat for 7-10 minutes.
- Place edamame, coleslaw mix, cilantro, green onions, and toasted cashews in a large mixing bowl. Add dressing and toss to combine. Serve immediately or enjoy the next day (this salad is best eaten within 2 days. I like to brighten up leftovers with a squeeze of lime juice.)
Notes
*If your chicken isn’t seasoned, add a big pinch of kosher salt, garlic and black pepper before cooking so it’s well-seasoning.
Gluten free: Sub tamari or coconut aminos to make this gluten free (if using coconut aminos, you will need less honey and more salt).
