Crunchy Thai Chicken Salad with Peanut Dressing packs a ton flavor. Napa cabbage, cucumbers, onions, red pepper and peanuts all topped off with a 3 minute Peanut Dressing.
This delicious recipe will have you falling in love with salads again. A creamy Thai style dressing the you mix up in your blender. Makes a big batch…nothing worse than not having enough sauce!
Ingredients for Thai Chicken Salad and Peanut Dressing –
- Chicken – rotisserie chicken is a great short cut.
- Napa Cabbage – traditional and crunchy for this recipe. Feel free to swap out a mixture of romaine and regular head cabbage if that’s whats on hand.
- Carrots – you can now buy shredded to make this super easy.
- Cucumber – we like English cucumbers for this. Use a spoon to remove the seeds to keep it crunchy.
- Red Bell Pepper – sliced thin
- Green Onions – cut them on the diagonal for a traditional Thai look
For the Peanut Dressing
- Peanut Butter – we just use your basic regular smooth or crunchy variety.
- Vinegar – rice vinegar is best but if you have regular white or cider add a teaspoon of sugar.
- Lime – juiced and slices for garnish.
- Honey – adds a nice sweetness and glossy appearanace to the dressing.
- Sesame oil – do your best to not substitute this ingredient, it really adds a nice umami.
- Garlic, Ginger and Soy Sauce
Begin by chopping and slicing all the veggies. The main ingredient of this salad is cabbage.
What is Napa Cabbage ?
- Napa cabbage is an asian variety of cabbage – Available in most grocery stores produce section. It’ has long crinkly leaves and softer texture than the head cabbage we are used to. I’d describe it as a cross between romaine and head cabbage.
- You can substitute any hearty lettuce, like iceberg or romaine and toss it with a bit of regular cabbage for extra crunch.
PRO Tip- When cutting your english cucs, use a spoon to remove the seeds. This will keep your salad nice and crunchy.
How to make Peanut Dressing –
We are huge fans of the Nutribullet blender. It makes the best dressings and smoothies and so easy to use but a food processor, immersion blender or just a regular blender will get the job done.
Add all the Peanut Dressing ingredients and blend. Doesn’t get much easier than that.
Can I use any nut butter to make this dressing?
- Absolutely ! Almond butter or cashew butter would be fabulous in this dressing.
I usually transfer all my dressings to these great food squeeze bottles. I use these for everything from olive oil to dishwashing liquid. My fridge is full of them. I like to be able to control the amount of dressing I add and this is the best way I have found.
A few more tips to make this Crunchy Thai Peanut Salad
- use left over chicken or buy a rotisserie chicken from your super market
- use store bought shredded carrots
- substitute cooked shrimp for the chicken
- mix up the veggies and add what you have on hand. Zucchini, asparagus, broccoli…skies the limit!
Need some help with this recipe? Check out this Thai Chicken Salad video here!
More Salads we think you will love –
LET’s EAT!
Kathi and Rachel
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Crunchy Thai Chicken Salad with Peanut Dressing
Ingredients
Peanut Dressing
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/3 cup rice vinegar regular vinegar plus one teaspoon of sugar will work in a pinch
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoons sugar
- 2 cloves garlic - chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and chopped or 1/2 teaspoon ground
- 1 teaspoon salt
- pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
For Salad
- 1 1/2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
- 4 cups shredded napa or regular cabbage iceberg or romain will work as well
- 2 carrots - julienned
- 1 english cucumber - seeded and sliced
- 1 red pepper - sliced
- 2 green onions - sliced on the diagonal
- 1/2 cup peanuts for garnish
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
Instructions
- For Dressing: combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until smooth and creamy. If too thick, add one tablespoon of water at a time until it reaches desired consistency. I find 2-3 tablespoons will do.
- For Salad: Combine all ingredients in a bowl and toss.
- Top with desired amount of Peanut Dressing and and garnish with chopped peanuts if desired.NOTE: You will not use all the dressing. It is delicious on left over chicken as a dipping sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
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Monica says
This is a great summer recipe. I doubled it. The only thing I did different was grill the chicken because I don’t like boiled chicken unless it’s in a soup. My husband had three bowlfuls. I made enough to share it with my daughter and son in law and they also loved it! Thank you for a great recipe!!
Nick F says
I had this recipe book marked for many months and finally made it today. I followed the recipe exactly and the results were awesome. In addition to the peanuts for garnish, I added crispy wonton strips as well for an extra little savoury asian crunch. It presents beautifully and has such a fresh summery Thai flavour. We loved it! I’ll add a little more red pepper flakes and I thought I might do a variation with sliced pork spring rolls on top instead of chicken. Thanks so much for this awesome recipe and the inspiring pictures!!
Kathi & Rachel says
We are so glad you loved it Nick! Thanks for the 5 stars and nice comment:).
Wendy says
Best use of natural peanut butter in the bottom of the jar that’s slightly drier than you want to spread. I cut about a tsp or2 of the sugar and it was balanced as well. A slightly saltier version that works. I think adding pasta to the veggies will work with the saltier version.
Oops I should admit I took a risk chopping the ginger roughly, next time it’ll be finer. Surprisingly the blender left some in bigger chunks that some will be fine with and some won’t be.
Thanks
Kathi & Rachel says
Hi Wendy – We use the peanut dressing on everything! Makes a great dipping sauce for chicken too! Glad you loved it!
Beth says
I really enjoyed this salad and my boys LOVED it. Will definitely make this again.
Deb from Whidbey Island says
Go whole hog with the fragrance of magical Thai flavors – use a dash of fish sauce ( no. Don’t be afraid) instead of the salt and a slice of Serrano for the pepper flakes. It will be that much more fresh tasting.
Chelsie says
This was amazing!!! The dressing was soooo good! I doubled it, because I love dressing. Any idea how long it’ll last in the fridge?
LaughingSpatula.com says
So glad you liked it! I would say 4 days or so before the peanut butter gives gets a bit runny.
Sue Coulter says
We really enjoyed the salad ! It is even better if the cucumber is left out, add 2 cups more cabbage, add a tablespoon of corn starch to the dressing and stir fry the ingredients! I had a partial crown and could not eat crunchy food – hence the stir fry.
Wonderful recipe either way!
LaughingSpatula.com says
So glad you liked it! 5 stars maybe? :).
Sarah says
I’ve never written a recipe review before, but this salad deserves it! Absolutely delicious!
LaughingSpatula.com says
High praise! Thank you Sarah, means a lot to us!
Jody Helmin says
Made this salad tonight and both my husband and I LOVED it!
This will go in my favorites file!