The BEST Chinese Chicken Salad you will ever make! All the great flavor of a traditional Chinese Chicken Salad and loaded with fresh ingredients!
I always need a week to recover when coming back home from a vacation or trip. That week is spent catching up on laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, emails and I’m always tired just getting the kids back into the swing of things as well. And getting my 4 year old up in the morning and ready for school is a feat in itself. She is so not a morning person.
That first week back home usually means quick and easy dinners: making spaghetti, ordering pizza and picking up a rotisserie chicken. We love rotisserie chicken. I will usually make rice or mashed potatoes and roast some veggies and we are set.
The other day I discovered two half eaten rotisserie chickens in the fridge, salad, carrots and cabbage. So, it’s like this Chinese Chicken Salad was meant to be.
I’ve also joined a running group with my friend who is training for a half marathon (I’ll be training and running with them but not running the actual half marathon this time around because I’ll be out of town) so I’m trying to eat healthier and lighter for the next few months.
GNOs (girls night out) don’t count. On those nights, I am allowed whatever I want to eat, drink and dessert. Or two. Because you don’t mess with GNOs. Makes perfect sense to me.
I had this salad the other day for lunch and devoured it again for dinner. It’s that good. (My Barbecue Pulled Chicken Salad is another great hearty salad for summer!)
I wouldn’t call this a traditional Chinese Chicken Salad. . but it’s close enough and I was able to use what I had in the fridge, which is a win-win in my book. At any given time, if you open my fridge, I’m sure to have a spring mix salad, baby arugula and baby spinach .. so use what you have.
And if you want to go more traditional, pick up some romaine lettuce. Either way, it’s all good.
The dressing, the amazing salad dressing, the fresh real oranges (please don’t use oranges from a can or container), the rotisserie chicken (time saver!) and all the bright, colorful veggies make this salad. I hope you try this soon!
The Best Chinese Chicken Salad
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
- 1/4 cup brown rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce or coconut aminos low sodium
- 2 to 3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon sweet red chili sauce I used Thai Kitchen
- 1/2 tablespoon Gochujang; Korean hot pepper paste
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil split
For the salad:
- 3 to 4 cups cooked rotisserie chicken* shredded
- 3 to 4 carrots peeled and julienned or grated
- 4 to 6 scallions diced; split
- 1/2 head green or Napa cabbage shredded or chopped
- 1/2 head red cabbage shredded or chopped
- 3 to 4 cups fresh spring greens mix or romaine lettuce chopped
- orange slices from 1 to 2 oranges supremed or chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves chopped, optional
- sliced almonds**
Instructions
For the dressing:
- Using a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the orange juice, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, honey, hoisin, sweet red chili sauce, gochujang, avocado oil and 1 tablespoon of the sesame oil. Taste and adjust any ingredients as needed. Set aside.
For the salad:
- If you want to keep the salad fresh, simply toss together the carrots, scallions, shredded cabbage and mixed greens in a large mixing bowl. Add the shredded rotisserie chicken, oranges, cilantro (if using) and the almonds and toss together again. Drizzle the dressing on top, toss and serve!
- For the slightly warm Chinese Chicken Salad: Using a large skillet, heat the remaining sesame oil over medium heat. After a minute or so, add in the shredded rotisserie chicken, carrots and half of the scallions. Mix until heated through and add in the shredded green cabbage and red cabbage and drizzle in half of the dressing and mix again until everything is well coated with the dressing. Sauté for about 3 minutes and remove from the heat and into a large serving dish or bowl.
- Add in the fresh greens and toss together, drizzling with a bit more dressing if desired. Serve and garnish with orange slices, fresh cilantro, sliced almonds and the remaining dressing. Enjoy!
Notes
Recipe adapted from Cooks Country
Oh the magical rotisserie chicken! LOVE this. It looks so tasty and fresh. Can’t wait to try this! Good luck training for that half marathon!! 🙂
I make something similar, but I haven’t used orange in the dressing. Great idea!
Alice – No one messes with GNOs. Calories don’t count on those nights. Laughter and great conversation is all that matters. 😉 This salad looks delicious. I love the homemade dressing. I could see myself making this salad several times a week.
Thanks so much, Erin!! yes. . GNOs are so therapeutic for me. . love my girlfriends. . and eating :P!
This salad looks gorgeous, Alice! I love the pretty colors and flavors. Definitely a great meal to throw together after a long trip!
Mmm, rotisserie chicken is just the best, right? So good by itself, and the leftovers and amazing in salads and soups. Love the use of hoisin in this recipe too – it’s a favorite in my household.
Thank you for sharing; this looks soooo tasty!
Thank you so much, Amber!!! yeah, I had fun testing this dressing recipe! 🙂
This salad is beautiful, Alice! So perfect after a trip away from home! I love the rotisserie chicken in here and the dressing sounds amazing! Yay, that’s awesome, good luck with the training too 🙂
Love this salad! It looks so fresh and delicious and I absolutely love all the flavours! Rotisserie style chicken is always great in any recipe!
Just in time for lunch! I love all of the fresh ingredients and flavors. I love using rotissere chicken. The color is gorgeous too!
I love all the colors in this salad. So beautiful! Lately I haven’t been a morning person either so I can totally relate to the kids my dear!
I love that I’m not the only one who has mystery stuff in the back of the fridge. I did a major purge on Easter or there wouldn’t have been room for leftovers. Now on to your outstanding salad! Besides being beautiful, it’s healthy and delicious. I would devour it, too!!!
I love all of the beautiful colors in this dish! And I am also a BIG fan of rotisserie chicken. It is just so good! Why can’t I make mine taste as good as theirs???
Do you ever get a craving for something, but you don’t know exactly what it is? (Or am I just weird?) I’ve been having this crazy craving all week, and it wasn’t until I saw this recipe that I thought, YES – this is it! I’m SO making this, asap! And I love the dressing… especially the addition of gochujang 😉 Pinning madly!
What a nice chicken salad! I love all of the colours!
I love how bright and colorful this salad is, and so full of flavor! I too am participating in a training program, for a 5k, so have lightened my eating up as well! I’m adding this salad to my list! Thanks, Alice!
That salad looks amazing. Chinese chicken salads are one of my favourites, such a great main dish salad! And this one is so colourful!
I hear you, Alice. I recently pushed myself, along with other family members to exercise regularly and doing more 5k run. It’s been fun and this chicken salad is a good reason to celebrate it.
I swear I would drink that dressing!
This looks so good. And I love that it just uses what you’ve got on-hand. I need more salad in my life and I always feel like I’m making the same kinds, so this is much needed salad inspiration. I think I need to go out and buy a chicken just so I can try this!
That salad looks awesome!! SO many tasty ingredients in there! 🙂
This is such a gorgeous salad! I DREAM of the days when I get to wake my children up instead of the other way around — I think I will do it with glee! Lol.
Alice this looks so pretty!! I love how all the ingredients are simple and will be easy to whip up.
Girl, I love this salad! I’m also trying to eat lighter these days, not training for marathon or anything, just to get in shape before summer. This sounds perfect for quick and light dinner. I made your cauliflower rice last night and I’ve been munching on it all day today. So good!
Yeah, this salad is on my list! Love it and it is so easy to make! Awesome colors and flavors!
This salad is seriously beyond stunning, Alice! I love any kind of chicken salad, but I still have yet to try it Chinese-style! Love how uber-fresh and healthy it looks! Pinned. 🙂
Gorgeous salad Alice, such an awesome use of the ingredients you had lying around! And you definitely don’t mess with GNO!!
Love with you can make an amazing meal out of leftovers. I feel so proud of myself when I do it successfully and the husband likes it. Ha! I’m with you on the girls night out, I eat whatever, have a few cocktails and don’t even think about it. That’s the way it should be!
Looks delicious, Alice!!! Someone very close to me orders the Chinese Chicken Salad at a popular restaurant every time she goes there so I know she will love it! Yum!
Alice, I kid you not, I dropped my phone in pure joy when I saw this in my Insta food–it’s like you read my mind: this is exactly what I want to eat forever and ever 🙂 I may have forced Warren to add all the ingredients to our shopping list, which he claimed was “crazy” because we are leaving town tomorrow. It was not crazy at all and it was SOOOO good.
What a lovely salad! I could eat my weight in Chinese Chicken Salads! How wonderful that you’ll be training for the half marathon.. I’ve got huge admiration for runners! Go Alice!
A week?! I need more like 2 months to recover! Haha. This salad looks amazing, Alice! Pinning for later!
This salad looks super flavorful and delicious. I love all the colors <3
Chinese Chicken Salad is my husbands very favorite dinner. It’s what he asks for on his birthday every year. So cute! You version sounds delicious! And yes, rotisserie chicken is a lifesaver after getting back in the swing of things from vacation : )
You are pretty impressive, training for the half marathon even though you’re not running it. I am full of admiration, Alice!
I love the way this salad looks. Tradition, whatever. This looks SO good. I’m craving it!
You go running in that running group — good for you! This salad is a fresh and healthy way to eat, and so many great flavors are going on — love the fresh orange! I haven’t had a Chinese chicken salad in ages so this needs to happen! Pinned.
I’m in awe of you, Alice – you’re super woman! You run this amazing blog, keep your household in order, take care of the girls and Paul, and now you’re training for a marathon! How do you do it?! I love this simple and delicious chicken salad. Whenever Tony and I are both burnt out from work, we totally turn to take out food. I’d much rather buy a rotisserie chicken and make this salad. Gorgeous photos – I love all the vibrant colours from the veggies!
Oh this recipe is the exactly what I would like to have for lunch tomorrow Alice. Delish
You crack me up – “I had half of TWO rotisserie chicken” – well you certainly made something beautiful of them. This looks so fantastic!
Yum! This looks delicious. I love cabbage salads– so much crunch. And your dressing sounds like it has a ton of flavor! Pinning 🙂
We are going on vacation next week and I’m totally dreading how the time will be spend when we return – tons of laundry, chores, getting back into the routine of cooking. Ahhhh! I’ll just think about this delicious salad and that will ease the after vacation woes. Looks great, Alice! 🙂
What a beautiful salad Alice!! That dressing sounds good enough to drink!
Thank you for posting this! Timing couldn’t be more perfect as I was hoping to make something similar tomorrow and had no idea where to start 🙂
Hooray! Let me know how you like it!