I always get a little pit in my stomach whenever one of those dramatic restaurant exposes comes up online or on the news. You know what I’m talking about. A picture of a beautiful green salad or light sandwich is shown, but then the announcer comes on with his dark and scary “mwahaha” voice and challenges, “Do you KNOW what you’re eating?” Dum..dum..DUM!!!!
Ok, by this point in life, I know that most of the healthier-seeming options in restaurants are often less than such. But every now and then I’m still blown away by the nutrition facts. And more often than not, big beautiful salads tend to win the awards for most fat and calories. I remember when I recently looked up the nutrition facts for one of my favorite Asian chicken salads from a large well-known restaurant chain, it scored in at a whopping 98 grams of fat. Nope, no typo there. 98, people!!!!
Gah. This is why I like salads made at home!
So for anyone else out there who might like Chinese chicken salads, today I’m happy to be sharing with you a Lighter Chinese Chicken Salad recipe. No fried chicken, crispy fried wontons or heavy peanut-y dressing here. Just lots of greens and veggies tossed with marinated chicken and almonds, topped with a yummy sesame ginger vinaigrette. Quick, easy, and full of flavor you can feel good about. Just the way I like it.
I vote we leave the number 98 for boy bands. ;)
Lighter Chinese Chicken Salad
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
Description
A lighter version of the ever-popular Chinese Chicken Salad!
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients:
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
- salt and pepper
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 head Romaine lettuce, shredded
- 4 cups shredded red cabbage
- 1 cup edamame
- 2/3 cup shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup chow mein noodles
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
- sesame ginger vinaigrette (see ingrediente below)
Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup vegetable or olive oil
- 3 Tbsp. honey
- 2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
- 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tsp. sriracha chile sauce (optional)
- 1 tsp. sesame oil
- pinch of salt and pepper
Instructions
To Make The Salad:
- Combine chicken breasts, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar in a large bowl or ziplock bag and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. Remove the chicken from the marinade, and season both sides of each chicken breast with salt and pepper.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken for 4 minutes per side or until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink inside. Remove and let rest for at least 5 minutes. Then cut into thin strips.
- In a large bowl, toss together Romaine, red cabbage, edamame, carrots, chicken, chow mein noodles and almonds until combined. Toss with your desired amount of vinaigrette. Serve immediately.
To Make The Vinaigrette:
- Whisk together all ingredients until combined. You can add more sriracha for an extra kick.
This salad is so delicious that I crave it every single day and probably have it every other day. I highly recommend it, please try it.
Gorgeous photos of a colour bomb dish, nice recipe, thanks!
I was looking for some low carb recipes… I wonder if we’re more into that in Europe than you are in the US? I’ve read a lot of ‘skinny’ options, which is often no potato/rice/pasta… but covered in heaps of honey and sugar = definitely not low carb! Maybe you could add another category in your list?
…Hopeful ready, who loves what I’ve seen of your blog so far!
Just made this for dinner tonight. Absolutely delicious and worth making. My 6 yr old & 13 yr old sons enjoyed it too! Thanks for a great recipe.
You’re *supposed* to eat fat with vegetables. You’re not going to get the full nutritional value from them any other way.
About the only good thing about preparing at home vs getting the salad in the restaurant is you have control over what fats go into your food. But you DO still need the fats. The honey in this recipe is more problematic, for crying out loud, than the oil is. Honey’s biochemically almost the exact same thing as table sugar. It’s just been refined by insects instead of people.
Incidentally… if you make this, people, skip the “vegetable oil.” That name is so misleading. It’s soybean oil. I know the soy industry wants you to believe it’s a health food, but… really not. I’ve gotten most soy out of my diet, including switching to coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, and it has been such a help. Olive oil is much, much better for you. Sesame is OK, but don’t make it a daily habit.
This salad was DELISH!! We did everything as directed in the recipe but even though I bought edamame, I forgot to add it, darnit! Anyway, I used rice noodles instead of chow mein and we added green onion. Next time, we’ll also add mandarin oranges, which I think will be a great addition to this already excellent salad! All in all, GREAT recipe!! The whole family loved it. I will say that I was surprised how spicy this salad was, but it wasn’t unbearable. Thanks for the recipe!
This looks so good I think I could eat it every day!
This sounds delicious, I definitely have to try it sometimes :)
Also, spectacular pictures!
This recipe is so delicious. My husband and I are both looking at new recipes to add to our boring meal plans. This recipe did not disappoint.
Why can’t I print your recipes when I hit the print button? I have no problem printing recipes from other sites
I was hoping for the nutritional information.