With bright, crunchy veggies and a ridiculously tasty peanut sauce, this Thai-Inspired Peanut Chicken Salad will be a lunch that you’ll look forward to all morning long!
Table of Contents
- This recipe is…
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Thai Chicken Salad Recipe Ingredients
- Recipe Variations and Modifications
- How to Make Thai Chicken Salad
- Recipe Tips
- How to Serve Thai Peanut Chicken Salad
- How to Store
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More Healthy Lunch Recipes
- Video
- Thai Peanut Chicken Salad Recipe
- Recipe Contributors
This recipe is…
We love make-ahead lunches around here: make a batch on a Sunday, and you’ll have multiple meals to help streamline the hectic work week ahead. But the biggest pitfall when it comes to meal-prepping veggie dishes is the dreaded soggy salad syndrome that turns fresh salad greens to lifeless mush after a couple days in the fridge.
That’s not the case with this Thai-Inspired chicken and veggie dish. It calls for sturdy veggies like cabbage, carrots, and bell peppers, which stay crisp for a few days in the fridge. Then, come lunch time, just toss them with a quick peanut dressing, and sprinkle crushed peanuts on top for extra crunch.
While this Thai-Inspired salad can absolutely be enjoyed on its own for two days worth of meal-prepped lunches, it was created to work in tandem with our Southwestern Quinoa Salad. Together — with just thirty minutes of prep, most of which is easy chopping + tossing — you’ll have an entire week of Cook Once, Eat All Week: Lunch Style salads (3 quinoa + 3 Thai). The duo is delicious for dinner too!
If you’re in the market for another delicious meal prep lunch recipe, this high protein bean salad is a great pick!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Only takes 15 minutes to whip up!
- Packed with flavor, color, and texture
- Easily to customize
- Created to pair with our Southwestern Quinoa Salad recipe: together, they’ll give you a full week’s worth of healthy and delicious lunches
Thai Chicken Salad Recipe Ingredients
Here’s everything you’ll need to add to your grocery list so that you can whip up this Thai chicken salad. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
- Green and purple cabbage – the combo of two colorful and crunchy brassicas is the base of this veggie-packed dish.
- Carrots – a cup of shredded carrots adds sweetness and color
- Cucumber – diced cucumber gives refreshing flavor
- Red bell pepper – diced red (or yellow, or orange) bell peppers go into the mix
- Chicken – 2 cups of shredded chicken (about 1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken or chicken thighs)
- Cilantro –roughly chopped cilantro adds bright herbal flavor
- Green onions – boost flavor and add more color
- Peanuts – 1/4 cup of crushed peanuts adds crunch to the finished dish
- Peanut butter – creamy natural peanut butter is the base of our super easy dressing
- Coconut aminos – 2 tablespoons of coconut aminos give the dressing depth
- Lime juice – adds a burst of citrus flavor
- Honey – just 2 teaspoons of honey sweetens and rounds out the dressing
- Sesame oil – adds toasty, nutty flavor
- Red pepper – a pinch of crushed red pepper gives just a little heat
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
- Dressing – this creamy and delicious peanut dressing is super quick to make. (All you need to do is blitz some pantry staples up in a blender.) But if you’d rather, feel free to sub in a store-bought variety. Just thin it with a little water or lime juice if it seems too thick to toss with the chicken and veggie mixture.
- Chicken – this recipe calls for 2 cups of rotisserie chicken. If you’d rather cook yours at home, follow our guide to making shredded chicken in the slow cooker or Instant Pot and save the extras for another meal.
- Herbs – if you’re not a fan of cilantro, swap in another fresh green herb. Thai basil can be hard to find at grocery stores, but its distinctive and authentically Thai flavor is worth seeking out for this dish if you can find it. Mint leaves also taste delicious in this dish: add the leaves whole, torn, or sliced.
How to Make Thai Chicken Salad
This is essentially a chop, shred, slice, blend, and toss situation…SO easy!
Step 1: for the peanut dressing, blend all ingredients until smooth.
Step 2: for the salad, add all ingredients but crushed peanuts to a large bowl.
Step 3: Toss to combine.
(*If you’re meal-prepping or planning to eat this dish later, leave the dressing on the side. Both elements will last for 4-5 days in the refrigerator.)
Step 4: when you’re ready to eat, drizzle the peanut dressing over top and toss again. Top with crushed peanuts and serve.
Recipe Tips
- Creamy v. crunchy: you can use either type of peanut butter for this recipe, although creamy with give you smoother results.
- Double up: make a double batch of this creamy peanut dressing to use as a veggie dip, or to toss with cooked noodles and fresh or cooked veggies.
How to Serve Thai Peanut Chicken Salad
If you’re serving this dish right away, toss the chicken-veggie mix with the dressing and top with crushed peanuts.
How to Store
The salads will save best (and stay super crunchy) stored in airtight containers in the fridge. To prevent a wilted, soggy salad, store the peanut dressing separately.
Frequently Asked Questions
Like ours, most Thai chicken salad recipes are made up of crunchy shredded cabbage and tons of fresh, crunchy veggies – plus a little bit of extra crunch thanks to chopped peanuts or slivered almonds.
This meal prep recipe calls for two simple strategies to keep the ingredients crunchy. First, we use ingredients like cabbage and carrots as the base, which hold up better to storing and dressing than more delicate lettuces.
Thai salad dressing is typically made with a base of peanut butter that gets seasoned, and thinned out with other liquids like water and lime juice. Our recipe includes those core ingredients, plus honey, sesame oil, crushed red pepper flakes, and coconut aminos.
More Healthy Lunch Recipes
If you tried this Thai Peanut Chicken Salad, or any other recipe on the Fed & Fit website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let us know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Video
Thai Peanut Chicken Salad
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 1 1/2 cups shredded green cabbage*
- 1 1/2 cups shredded purple cabbage*
- 1 cup shredded carrots*
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 cup diced cucumber
- 2 cups shredded chicken, from a rotisserie chicken or about 1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs
- 1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro
- 1/4 cup sliced green onions1/4 cup crushed peanuts, for garnish
For the Peanut Dressing:
- 1/4 cup natural peanut butter
- 2 tablespoon coconut aminos
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- For the peanut dressing: blend all ingredients until smooth.
- For the salad, add all ingredients but crushed peanuts to a large bowl and toss to combine, then drizzle the peanut dressing over top and toss again. Top with crushed peanuts and serve. If you are planning to eat later, leave the dressing on the side and pour it over when you are ready to eat so that the cabbage doesn’t get soggy. This will last for 4-5 days in the refrigerator.
Recipe Notes
- You can use 4 cups of coleslaw blend in place of the shredded cabbage and carrots for this recipe!
- You can substitute sunbutter, almond butter, or cashew butter in place of the peanut butter, if desired.
- For a vegetarian salad, substitute the chicken with chickpeas, or another favorite vegetarian protein!
Nutrition
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I’ve made this three times now and LOVE it! It’s so easy to throw together and it keeps very well through the week! The flavors and crunch are so good and it all comes together so well! I highly recommend it!
Wahoo! We’re so glad you love it, Sarah!!! Thanks for sharing!
Finally found something with vegetables that my pregnant stomach can handle! I’ve been missing them so much, but couldn’t quite find a way to keep any veggies down until this delicious salad! So flavorful and crunchy, and I’m thrilled to eat something other than crackers and bread.
SCORE! We’re glad you enjoyed it, Elaine! Congratulations on your pregnancy!
Fun to try this new flavor and I loved the crunch of the cabbage in the salad. I’m not sure why I never bothered to buy pre shredded carrots before the suggestion in this recipe but they definitely take my salads up a level, I enjoyed that suggestion and might continue!
They add such a great crunch, don’t they?! We’re glad you enjoyed this, Abbie!
Love this salad. I have made HUGE batches and it keeps well for days in the fridge! Plus, I love thai flavors and peanut (or almond depending what jar of nut butter I have at the time) sauce. I have also added some chopped jalepeno for some zing.
Oh, that’s an awesome addition! Thanks for sharing, Danielle!!
Made this as a meal prep for lunches and it was fantastic and so easy. The peanut dressing is super yummy!
Agreed!!! We’re glad you loved it, Caitlin!
Really fresh, crunchy and refreshing in hot summer heat! This dish was a great way to get more “roughage” 🙂 into my diet – aka the hardy vegetables that sweep out our gut, like cabbage and brussel sprouts. I’m looking forward to incorporating more cabbage into my diet for this reason, to debloat and get rid of old gunk inside, and this does the trick.
We have nut allergies in our home but I LOVE satay sauce flavor, so I subbed the peanut butter for unsweetened sunbutter and it came out equally as creamy and delicious.
That’s great, Vanessa!!! We’re so glad you enjoyed this so much!
To say I’m obsessed with this salad would be an understatement. SO STINKING GOOD and good for you!
Yeah!!! It’s the best of both worlds, for sure!
I made this yesterday and it was EXACTLY what I expected it to be and more! The dressing is perfect. I was worried it wouldn’t be sweet enough but it was the perfect blend of sweet and salty. I left out the peppers bc I’m allergic and used pulled chicken I had made earlier that day. Can’t wait for leftovers today!
Wahoo!! We’re so glad you loved it, Sam!
Looks delicious! I added it to the meal plan for next week, can’t wait to try it!
Awesome!! You’re going to love it!
This Chicken Salad looks absolutely delicious.
Regards,
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I just made this last night! Oh my stars! It was delish! Even my hubby (who’s not a big veggie lover) loved it!
Score! That is awesome! Thank you for sharing this with us, Emily!
Could this be served as a side dish? Maybe just leave out the chicken?
I have lots of purple cabbage. Okay to use all purple and no green?
Yes to both, BL! Enjoy!
So so yummy! It’s my husbands new lunch favorite!
Wahoo! That peanut dressing is my FAVORITE! Thanks for sharing this with us, Julie!
Incredible salad! It actually reminds me of a Chinese chicken salad that my local Chinese restaurant served which was out of this world. This tastes remarkably similar, just without the hot Chinese mustard. Very moreish and I’m looking forward to having it for the rest of the week for lunch. The dressing is so good, I could drink it. I made it with almond butter and omitted the honey and it was still delicious. Thanks!
I totally agree with you about that dressing! I want to eat it by the spoonful! So glad you are loving the salad, Jessica!
Do you think it would still taste good with almonds and almond butter or cashews and cashew butter?
Yes to both, Roxanne! Enjoy!