Asian chicken salad is so delicious and easy to make, with a wonderful homemade dressing. It’s great to pack in a Mason jar!
Asian chicken salad has become one of my favorite lunches. We’ve been eating a ton of salads around here lately. Philip told me that he wanted to lose a few pounds so I started making salads for both of us for lunch. I had been living off of homemade “lunchables” of pickles, tomatoes, cheese, crackers, fruit, and the like and he had been eating things like…brats. Hmmm. So, every couple of days I make four Mason jar salads, carefully layering the ingredients for maximum portability. I’ll get to the logistics of the layers in a minute…
I decided that if we were going to be eating that many salads we were going to have to have a ton of variety, so I sat down and started making up salads. I thought of as many combinations as I could of greens, chopped vegetables, protein, fruit, dressings, and extras like sunflower seeds. We’ve tried most of them already and I’m working on coming up with more combinations. This is one of my favorites.
This recipe based on one of my favorites from Applebee’s. You guys know that I don’t eat at chain restaurants very often, but I used to, and when we would go to Applebee’s I would often order the “Oriental” chicken salad or wrap (they’ve since discontinued the wrap). Todd Wilbur of Top Secret Recipes engineered a copycat version of the dressing, but the rest of the ingredients in this Asian chicken salad are from my own imagination.
To make a Mason jar salad, you’ll need a wide-mouthed quart Mason jar. Pour the dressing in the bottom of the jar. Add “wet” ingredients like cucumbers or cheese next. Follow this with drier ingredients like chopped meat, boiled eggs, and nuts. Make sure that you have enough dry ingredients to separate the dressing and other wet ingredients from the greens. Stuff the jar the rest of the way full of greens and seal. If you have ingredients like croutons or the rice noodles I used here that will get soggy if they touch dressing or are refrigerated, carry those in a separate container. To eat, just dump into a large bowl or onto a plate, mix together along with any additional toppings, and eat immediately.
This Asian chicken salad is perfect for lunch or for dinner!
15 minPrep Time:
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Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 bags mixed salad greens (about 10 ounces)
- 2 cups finely shredded cabbage
- 2 cups shredded chicken (I used about 1 pound of cooked chicken tenderloins)
- 1 cup shelled edamame, thawed
- 1/2 cup toasted almonds or cashews
- 1/2 cup fried rice noodles or chow mein noodles
Instructions
- Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- To assemble the salads, divide the ingredients among four plates or bowls and top with the dressing OR assemble into four Mason jar salads following the ingredients above. Serve immediately.
Notes
Cook time denotes the amount of time it took for me to toast the nuts and cook the chicken. You could also use packaged roasted nuts and precooked or leftover chicken and cut out all of the cook time!
Click here to print the recipe for Asian chicken salad!
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