Chinese Chicken Salad
Make Chinese Chicken Salad as a main dish for lunch or dinner. Ingredients include mandarin oranges and chow mein noodles with a delicious homemade sweet and sour dressing.
Pin Chinese Chicken Salad to make later.
When I grill chicken I will often add an additional piece or two to save so I can make this salad for lunch or dinner. It’s such a time saver to make a couple of additional pieces when you’ve got the grill going.
If you live in an apartment or don’t have a grill, a grill pan works beautifully. As you can see, you can still achieve gorgeous grill marks.
No time to grill? No problem! Use any leftover chicken, bake the breasts in the oven, or purchase a rotisserie chicken from the market.
Are there other things I can add to Chinese Chicken Salad?
While we enjoy this salad as is, here are some optional ingredients you can add in for texture and flavor.
- Water chestnuts
- Shredded Napa cabbage
- Red cabbage
- Sesame seeds
- Sliced scallions
- Sliced almonds
- Swap out the iceberg for Romaine lettuce
What prep work can I do in advance?
Time is always at a premium and I am all for getting meal prep done in advance. Do this no more than 2 days in advance. Here are some ways you can prep this salad.
- Cook and slice the chicken. Cold chicken is perfectly delicious on this salad.
- Grate the carrots and store them in a Ziploc bag or plastic container.
- Cut up the cucumbers and store them in a plastic container.
- Chop up the lettuce and store.
- Make the dressing and keep it in the refrigerator.
My Chinese chicken salad dressing is one of our favorites. It’s kind of like a sweet and sour dressing but not too much either way.
In the mood for more salads? Try my strawberry salad with candied almonds, Columbia’s 1905 Salad, or this strawberry salad with grilled chicken and strawberry balsamic vinaigrette.
Â
Chinese Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts grilled and sliced
- 2 cups roughly chopped iceberg lettuce
- 5.5 ounces mandarin oranges drained
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1 medium cucumber peeled and sliced
- 3/4 cup chow mein noodles
For the Sweet and Sour Dressing
- ¼ cup of vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons sugar adding more if needed, to taste
- 2 Tablespoons white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Dash of black pepper
Instructions
- In a mason jar, combine all of the dressing ingredients and shake until combined.
- In a large salad bowl combine salad ingredients except for chicken and chow mein noodles.
- Drizzle about half of the salad dressing, shaking first, over ingredients, and toss. Divide among salad bowls, top with sliced chicken and chow mein noodles. Serve with remaining dressing on the side.
