Asian Sesame Chicken Salad

This Sesame Asian Chicken Salad is perfectly crunchy and flavorful. A restaurant-quality salad made with crisp lettuce, juicy mandarin oranges, tender grilled chicken, and crunchy wonton strips tossed with my favorite Honey Sesame Asian Salad Dressing. It’s sure to become a family favorite.

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Simple Asian Chicken Salad

In the summertime, we tend to grill a lot and eat as light as possible during the hottest days. While the hottest, muggiest days seem to be never-ending this year, I’m ok with it if it means eating this Asian Chicken Salad several times a week.

Who are we kidding……This sesame chicken salad. Lunch. Every single day. It has everything from color and crunch to sweet and tangy. After all, eating a salad every day has to be a good thing right?

If you love the Asian salad kits from the grocery store then you’re going to love this crunchy Asian chopped salad with chicken and homemade sesame dressing.

Don’t forget to add crunchy wonton strips. Most grocery stores carry them next to the salad dressings. They definitely add an extra crunch!

What’s in Asian Sesame Chicken Salad

(full printable recipe at the end of this post)

Asian chicken salad is a wonderful go-to recipe anytime you have leftover grilled chicken breasts on hand from last night’s dinner or barbecue.

• Base: romaine lettuce or spring mix and Homemade Sesame Vinaigrette 
• Crunch: wonton strips, red onion
• Flavor: grilled chicken, scallions, chopped cilantro
• Garnish: toasted slivered almonds, mandarin oranges

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How To Quickly Grill Chicken For a Salad

If you don’t have leftover chicken, don’t fret, it’s super quick and easy to grill chicken breasts. If I’m doing this I will make a double batch of the sesame vinaigrette and marinate a pound or two of chicken tenderloins for about 30 minutes before I throw them on the grill.  This gives the salad added flavor and  I have enough chicken for salads all week.

TO GRILL CHICKEN: I usually grill my chicken on our gas grill, it only takes about 10 minutes. I just season chicken tenderloins (chicken breast strips) with salt and pepper and spray the grill grates with grilling no-stick spray. You can all so cook the seasoned chicken in a cast-iron skillet, or simply use leftover shredded rotisserie chicken or previously cooked or store-bought, cubed chicken.

How To Make This Salad

It doesn’t get much easier…….

1. Make the vinaigrette: Add all of the dressing ingredients to a wide mouth jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake until emulsified. 
2. Grill Chicken: If not using leftover chicken, toss the chicken on the grill while the dressing sits to allow flavors to mingle for at least 30. 
3. Toss the salad: Combine all of the salad ingredients together in a large mixing bowl, drizzle with the vinaigrette, and toss until combined.
4. Serve: Divide evenly between bowls and serve immediately.

Variations For Asian Salad

Want to try something a little different, give some of these a try…..

• Greens: romaine, spring mix or even broccoli slaw mix all work well
• Protein: swap out the chicken for shrimp, smoked salmon, BBQ pork, or steak. (any of these would be wonderful marinated in the dressing before grilling)
• Nuts: peanuts or cashews are a great substitute for the almonds
• Crunch: try chow mein noodles in place of the wonton strips, add matchstick carrots, snap peas and/or raw broccoli
• Creamy Dressing: add a tablespoon of peanut butter for a creamier dressing.

Can This Salad Be Made Ahead

The dressing and the chicken can both be made ahead of time. But it’s best to mix the salad right before serving.

If you want to make this Asian chicken salad to serve a crowd, I would grill small chicken breasts and place them on a platter alongside the salad and let guests add a chicken breast to their salad.

Chicken can be served warm or cold with this sesame chicken salad. It’s so stinking easy, for entertaining, or any given day of the week!

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