Spicy Thai Chicken Salad Recipe
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Jump to RecipeThis spicy Thai chicken salad is an easy high protein recipe that with fantastic flavors from lime, sesame oil, Thai hot sauce, and fresh vegetables. Great as a lunch, easy dinner, or dip for crackers – or on top of a large bed of leaf lettuce.
This a simple and flavorful recipe to make if you have leftover rotisserie or cooked chicken. Make this salad once and meal prep for a week of easy lunches!
I love a good easy, make ahead, meal prep recipe – especially one loaded with juicy chicken, crunchy veggies, and amazing Thai flavors! This spicy Thai salad with chicken packs a lot of flavor in each bite, and is high in protein! There are tons of fresh vegetables like red cabbage, carrots, green onions, and fresh greens.
For the greens you can use any kind, but I made my salad with spinach, romaine lettuce, or watercress. I love pretty much all lettuce, but I find watercress is especially delicious. I love how flavorful each bite of this salad is too – the dressing takes about 5 minutes, but completely makes this salad!
This Spicy Thai Chicken Salad Recipe Is
- Bright
- Fresh
- Satisfying
- High in Protein
- Tasty
- Easy to Make
- A Great Meal Prep Recipe
High Protein Recipes
This delicious and satisfying chicken salad recipe (loaded with the best spicy peanut dressing) is great for those who are interested in increasing their protein intake. You can still have a filling lunch without added starches.
I love that the peanut chili vinaigrette dressing is so flavorful, too. This is a Thai-inspired recipe, using ingredients like peanuts, Thai chili paste, ginger, and sesame oil for flavor. You can see all our high protein recipes to find your next favorite!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Be sure to visit the recipe card below for full ingredient amounts and recipe instructions!
- Green Onions, Cabbage, Carrots, Ginger
- Cooked chicken breast – you can use a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, or chicken breasts for this recipe.
- Vegetable Oil – or any light neutral flavored oil like a mild olive oil.
- Rice vinegar
- Tamari: tamari is a gluten-free version of soy sauce. Tamari has a bright salty flavor, and adds a really nice depth of umami to this dish.
- Fresh Ginger
- Light Sesame Oil: The sesame oil gives the perfect sweet flavor to the sauce of this dish.
- Thai Chili Paste- I love chili paste, or making my own hot sauce with Thai chili peppers! It gives a little heat and melds the Thai peanut dressing together. You can also add red pepper flakes for extra heat.
- Peanut butter – for a bit of creaminess in the sauce. You can use almond butter or sunflower seed butter too to make this allergy friendly.
- Honey or Low Carb Sweetener of Choice – For a low carbohydrate version, I used monk fruit which has no carbs or calories.
Additions and Variations
- Red Bell Peppers, or even jalapenos for a kick would be great chopped into this salad.
- If you don’t have red cabbage available, Napa cabbage that’s been shredded, or chopped green cabbage are great alternatives.
- Red onion, or chopped spring onions for a little extra flavor.
- Top with sesame seeds for an optional crunch!
- Lemon juice or fresh lime juice for extra acidity.
How To Make This Recipe
- In a large bowl, add the cooked chicken, carrots, red cabbage, and green onions. Set Aside.
- In a pint mason jar or medium bowl, add all the dressing ingredients together and shake for 2 minutes or until all ingredients in the spicy peanut sauce are well combined.
- Pour dressing over the chicken salad, and stir until well combined.
- To serve, add fresh lettuce/greens to a plate or bowl, top with a scoop of the chicken salad, and enjoy!
- Store leftover chicken salad in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
You can dice the chicken by hand, shred cooked chicken with a fork, or give cooked chicken a few pulses in a food processor to chop the chicken for this salad. Use any method that is easiest for you.
This dressing uses rice wine vinegar, honey, tamari or soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, peanut butter, chili paste, and fresh lime juice. It’s tangy, savory, and a little sweet, making it the perfect creamy dressing to top this chicken salad with.
One serving of this tasty Thai chicken salad has about 300 calories per serving. But it will depend on the ingredients you use in your own kitchen.
More Easy High Protein Recipes You’ll Love!
- Salt and Pepper Shrimp
- Marinated Mozzarella Balls Recipe (Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Keto)
- Scrambled Eggs without Milk Recipe (Vegetarian, High Protein)
- Tomatillo Green Chili Salsa Verde Recipe (Gluten Free, Vegan)
- Big Green Egg Salmon
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Spicy Thai Chicken Salad
Equipment
- Mixing Bowls
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 2 lbs cooked chicken breasts about 4 cups cooked, cubed or shredded
- 2 carrots chopped
- 2 cups red cabbage finely chopped
- 6 green onions sliced
- 3 cups lettuce chopped
For the Dressing
- 2 tablespoons tamari can use soy sauce for non-GF
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- 1 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Thai chili paste or sriracha sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons honey or low carb sweetener of choice
- 1 lime juiced
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the cooked chicken, carrots, red cabbage, and green onions. Set Aside.
- In a pint mason jar or medium bowl, add all the dressing ingredients together and shake for 2 minutes or until all ingredients in the spicy peanut sauce are well combined.
- Pour dressing over the chicken salad, and stir until well combined.
- To serve, add fresh lettuce/greens to a plate or bowl, top with a scoop of the chicken salad, and enjoy!
- Store leftover chicken salad in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Red Bell Peppers, or even jalapenos for a kick would be great chopped into this salad.
- If you don’t have red cabbage available, Napa cabbage that’s been shredded, or chopped green cabbage are great alternatives.
- Red onion, or chopped spring onions for a little extra flavor.
- Top with sesame seeds for an optional crunch!
- Lemon juice or fresh lime juice for extra acidity.
Nutrition
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I need my salads and this one is new to me but as tasty as they come