Easy Asian Chopped Salad Recipe with Creamy Peanut Dressing
Published Apr 06, 2022 Updated May 31, 2024
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This healthy Asian chopped salad is packed with protein, chopped vegetables, and the ultimate creamy peanut dressing. An easy, 30-minute meal for the whole family! It’s gluten-free and dairy-free and includes Keto and Whole30 options.Â
What Makes This Recipe Great
Nothing says welcome to warmer weather than a big, refreshing, and delicious salad! This healthy Asian Chopped Salad is packed with tender chicken, a colorful blend of fresh veggies, and mandarin oranges, and drizzled with the ultimate creamy peanut dressing.
The flavor, the texture, the crunch– all the fixings of a perfect salad. Serve this vibrant, delicious, and beautiful salad for lunch or dinner. It’s made with simple ingredients that are easily customized to diet and lifestyle preferences. Plus, it takes only 30 minutes to make!
Ingredient Notes
Chopped Asian Salad
- chicken breast: Cook fresh chicken or use leftovers. A Rotisserie chicken is also a great option.
- shredded green cabbage
- chopped red cabbage
- shredded carrots
- mandarin oranges
- scallions
- diced red bell pepper: I used red peppers, but feel free to use another color of bell pepper if preferred.
- cashews: Or other preferred nuts or seeds like almonds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and more.
Creamy Peanut Dressing
- creamy peanut butter or almond butter
- rice vinegar
- coconut aminos or soy sauce
- honey
- lemon juice
- ground ginger
- sesame oil
- ground garlic
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Grill the chicken breasts on the stovetop or the grill for about 7 minutes on each side. Use 1 tablespoon of olive or avocado oil. Once cooked, dice into cubes.
- Place the cabbage in a large bowl of choice. Begin building the salad, by adding all the ingredients in groups. Start with the chicken in the middle, then on the outside add the bell pepper, green onions, oranges, cashews, carrots, and red cabbage.
- Drizzle the creamy peanut dressing over the entire salad and give it a good toss until mixed together.
- You can also build this like a buffet and have all the ingredients out and build individual salads based on preference.
Creamy Peanut Dressing
- Add all of the dressing ingredients to a blender and blend until combined about 30 seconds. If the dressing is too thick, thin with water, 1 teaspoon at a time. Transfer to a small bowl with a lid and store in the fridge for up to 6 days. Make sure to shake or reblend before serving.
The BEST Peanut Dressing
The real show-stopper in this Asian-inspired salad is the creamy peanut dressing. It adds so much flavor and texture to the dish. The main ingredient in this dressing is peanut butter. However, if you are allergic, feel free to sub unsweetened almond butter.
Mac’s Pro Tip
Expert Tips
- Sub coconut aminos with low sodium soy sauce if desired.
- If needed, use almond butter instead of peanut butter. For Whole30 be sure to use unsweetened almond butter in place of peanut butter and remove the honey.
- Make-Ahead: This salad is an easy recipe to make and bring with you to your next family gathering or to have on hand for quick lunches. Simply keep the dressing aside and toss it in when you’re ready to serve
- Meal Prep: For easy meal prep, add the components of the salad into individual containers and store them in the fridge. Put the dressing into small Ziploc baggies or dressing containers for easy grab-and-go options. Take one for a quick lunch on the go or pack one in your lunchbox
- Leftovers: If you’ve tossed the salad with the dressing, it won’t keep for very long. It will become soggy and watery. However, if you’ve kept the dressing separate, store the leftover salad in an airtight container in the fridge and use it within 72 hours.
- Rotisserie Chicken: Grabbing a precooked rotisserie chicken from Sam’s Club or Costco will save you a ton of time and money. You can grab a whole chicken already cooked and ready to go for $5. This is one of my favorite hacks to get a quick meal on the table that won’t cost a lot of money.
- Keto Option: This salad is full of keto-friendly ingredients that make it naturally low-carb and keto. However, eliminating the oranges is your best bet for keeping the carbs even lower.
- Whole30 Option: For Whole30, remove the peanut butter in the dressing and use unsweetened almond butter instead. That’s it, all the other ingredients are compliant with the program.
- Customize: Feel free to add additional ingredients to this salad depending on your tastes and preferences. Some good options include sugar snap peas, snow peas, edamame, crispy wonton strips, romaine lettuce, fresh cilantro, a squeeze of lime juice, and more!
- Nutrition is calculated with 1/4 of the recipe and 2 tablespoons of dressing.
Recipe FAQs
This Asian chopped salad is an easy recipe to make and bring with you to your next family gathering or to have on hand for quick lunches. Simply keep the dressing aside and toss it in when you’re ready to serve!
This will last 3-4 days in the fridge. Make sure not to toss it with the dressing as it will come soggy. Store in an airtight container and drizzle with the dressing before serving.
If you don’t want to make this homemade dressing, feel free to use your favorite store-bought Asian dressing.
Absolutely. If you are wanting this to be more of a side salad, simply leave out the chicken.
More Favorite Salads
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Easy Asian Chopped Salad Recipe with Creamy Peanut Dressing
Ingredients
Chopped Asian Salad
- 3 medium cooked chicken breast chopped
- 4 cups shredded cabbage
- 2 cups chopped red cabbage
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup mandarian oranges
- 1/3 cup scallions plus more for garnish
- 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
- 1/2 cup cashews plush more for garnish
Creamy Peanut Dressing
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons coconut aminos*
- 1-2 tablespoons honey OPTIONAL remove for w30
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp ground garlic or 1-2 garlic cloves minced
Instructions
Asian Chopped Salad
- Grill the chicken breasts on the stovetop or the grill for about 7 minutes on each side. Use 1 tablespoon of olive or avocado oil. Once cooked, dice into cubes.
- Place the cabbage in a large bowl of choice. Begin building the salad, by adding all the ingredients in groups. Start with the chicken in the middle, then on the outside add the bell pepper, green onions, oranges, cashews, carrots, and red cabbage.
- Drizzle the creamy peanut dressing over the entire salad and give it a good toss until mixed together.Â
- You can also build this like a buffet and have all the ingredients out and build individual salads based on preference.
Creamy Peanut Dressing
- Add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend until combined, about 30 seconds. If the dressing is too thick, thin with water, 1 teaspoon at a time. Store in the fridge for up to 6 days. Make sure to shake or reblend before serving.Â
Notes
Expert Tips
- Sub coconut aminos with low sodium soy sauce if desired.
- If needed, use almond butter instead of peanut butter. For Whole30 be sure to use unsweetened almond butter in place of peanut butter and remove the honey.
- Make-Ahead: This salad is an easy recipe to make and bring with you to your next family gathering or to have on hand for quick lunches. Simply keep the dressing aside and toss it in when you’re ready to serve
- Meal Prep: For easy meal prep, add the components of the salad into individual containers and store them in the fridge. Put the dressing into small Ziploc baggies or dressing containers for easy grab-and-go options. Take one for a quick lunch on the go or pack one in your lunchbox
- Leftovers: If you’ve tossed the salad with the dressing, it won’t keep for very long. It will become soggy and watery. However, if you’ve kept the dressing separate, store the leftover salad in an airtight container in the fridge and use it within 72 hours.
- Rotisserie Chicken: Grabbing a precooked rotisserie chicken from Sam’s Club or Costco will save you a ton of time and money. You can grab a whole chicken already cooked and ready to go for $5. This is one of my favorite hacks to get a quick meal on the table that won’t cost a lot of money.
- Keto Option: This salad is full of keto-friendly ingredients that make it naturally low-carb and keto. However, eliminating the oranges is your best bet for keeping the carbs even lower.
- Whole30 Option: For Whole30, remove the peanut butter in the dressing and use unsweetened almond butter instead. That’s it, all the other ingredients are compliant with the program.
- Customize: Feel free to add additional ingredients to this salad depending on your tastes and preferences. Some good options include sugar snap peas, snow peas, edamame, crispy wonton strips, romaine lettuce, fresh cilantro, a squeeze of lime juice, and more!Â
- Nutrition is calculated with 1/4 of the recipe and 2 tablespoons of dressing.Â
Equipment
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is soooo amazing! I did almond butter due to allergy. The dressing was DAGUM good as she said!!! I would suggest making twice as much!
am so happy to hear! Thank you so much Bobby.
Don’t sleep on this recipe! Easy to prepare (30 minute dinner with rotisserie chicken) or meal prep. This salad has the right combination of sweet and salty, citrus and crunchy, hearty chicken and a showstopping dressing. Perfect for entertaining a crowd with differing dietary concerns, since it’s DF GF Keto and Whole 30 friendly. It’s also a pretty addition on your buffet or tailgate. Thank you, Mac, for creating such an easy, delicious recipe😃
Absolutely delicious salad. The dressing is out of this world. Would also make a great marinade for chicken. Thank you Ashley for another amazing recipe 🙂