Asian Crunch Salad
This Asian Crunch Salad is an Asian Chopped Salad inspired by Chinese chicken salad. Cubes of chicken, carrot, and cucumber combine with toasted almonds and sesame seeds on a bed of lettuce for an entree salad bowl that’s perfect for lunch or dinner, hot weather or any time of year.
So read on for all the detailed tips and tricks for making this chopped salad bowl. Or just hit that purple Jump to Recipe button, grab your lettuce, and let’s make an Asian chicken salad!
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Ingredients
Chinese chicken salad is a classic American lettuce salad created in the mid-20th century, based loosely in Chinese flavors but rooted in California fusion cuisine. The Asian chicken salad typically combines chicken, cabbage, mandarin oranges, toasted almonds, and a sesame dressing.
My recipe takes that idea and turns it into an Asian chopped salad with cubes of chicken and crunchy vegetables:
- Cooked chicken – use rotisserie or make my super easy cast iron chicken breast with a teaspoon each of powdered ginger, garlic powder, salt, and a bit of black or Szechuan pepper!
- Salad greens – I love butter lettuce, but pick your favorite greens.
- Vegetables – carrots, cucumber, and green onions.
- Mandarin orange or seedless navel.
- Crunchy toppings – toasted slivered almonds and sesame seeds.
- Sesame vinaigrette – I add a bit of Hoisin sauce for flavor and sweetness.
Please see the recipe card below for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations and substitutions
There are really too many variations to list each one. Sub out anything you don’t like, or serve this Asian crunch salad to picky eaters by putting everything in small bowls, and let them serve themselves!
- Change up the protein with cooked shrimp or crispy baked tofu.
- Swap greens for a purple cabbage slaw.
- Add chopped celery or fennel.
- Sub cashews or any toasted and roughly chopped nuts for the slivered almonds.
- Use my peanut sauce in place of the sesame dressing.
Recipe tips and tricks
A “chopped salad” is a salad where all of the components are chopped into uniform, bite-sized pieces, typically quarter- to half-inch cubes. This lets you eat your chicken salad with only a fork.
Don’t worry about getting perfect cubes unless you’re serving this Asian chopped salad to guests. Nah, even then just chop things roughly the same size.
If there’s anything you should do, it’s to toast nuts. Toasting nuts makes them crispier and more nutty, and I’ll always toast nuts, whether for the pecans in my Cape Cod chicken salad, lamb meatballs with pine nuts, or the walnuts in my coffee walnut loaf cake.
Serve as a neatly arranged chopped salad bowl or let people compose their crunch salad themselves. You can even make it dinner prep as a chopped Asian salad kit.
Recipe FAQs
A crunch salad is a salad that focuses on crispy and crunchy texture. This Asian crunch salad is all about crunch.
I love to use it to baste chicken, or it’s great in duck recipes like my pulled duck breast and to glaze my Peking Duck-inspired duck meatloaf.
Related salad bowl recipes
Check out other grain bowls and salad bowl recipes from the Ugly Duckling Bakery archives, like:
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Recipe
Asian Crunch Salad
Ingredients
Asian Chopped Salad
- ¼ cup slivered almonds
- 2 cups cooked chicken breast or thighs
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 small cucumber
- 1 green onion green parts only
- 1 Mandarin or seedless navel orange
- 4 cups salad greens about 5 ounces
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Sesame Vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon olive or other salad oil
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
Instructions
- Toast the almonds in your oven at 375℉ or so for about 5 minutes until starting to lightly brown. Let cool.¼ cup slivered almonds
- Meanwhile chop the chicken, carrot, and cucumber into ¼ to ½ inch cubes. Slice the green onion thinly.2 cups cooked chicken breast or thighs, 1 medium carrot, 1 small cucumber, 1 green onion
- Peel the orange and separate into segments. If a large orange, cut the segments in half so they are closer to the size of the other chopped salad ingredients.1 Mandarin or seedless navel orange
- In a small jar or bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, sesame oil, olive oil, rice vinegar, brown sugar, and hoisin until smooth.3 tablespoons rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons Hoisin sauce, 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, 1 tablespoon olive or other salad oil, 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- To serve family style, combine the lettuce and the chopped ingredients in a bowl and toss with the dressing just until they are thinly coated. Sprinkle the top with the toasted slivered almonds and sesame seeds. Serve with additional sesame dressing on the side.4 cups salad greens, 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Notes
Nutrition
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Versatile recipe, and the sesame vinaigrette is outstanding!