Crunchy Asian chicken salad with peanut dressing
37 min · 47 g protein · 453 cals / serving
A big, loud crunch of a salad: shredded green and red cabbage, carrot, red pepper, edamame and juicy mandarins under soy-seared chicken, with a peanut-lime dressing that is sweet, salty, tangy and a little fiery all at once. Toasted peanuts and sesame go on at the last minute.
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 1/4 lb chicken breast
- 2 tsp reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp canola oil
Peanut dressing
- 1/4 cup powdered peanut butter
- 1 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 1/2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 4 tsp lime juice
- 1 1/2 tsp honey
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tsp sriracha hot sauce
- 1 tsp ginger, finely grated
- 1 clove garlic, finely grated
- 1/4 cup water
Salad
- 1/4 medium head cabbage, finely shredded
- 2 cups shredded red cabbage
- 2 large carrots, cut into matchsticks or coarsely grated
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 cups edamame, shelled, thawed if frozen
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- 2/3 cup canned mandarin oranges in juice, drained
Crunch
- 2 tbsp roasted unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped
- 2 tsp sesame seeds
Steps
- Toss the chicken with the soy sauce, garlic powder and pepper. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and sear the chicken for 5–6 minutes per side, until well browned and 165°F inside. Rest 5 minutes, then slice thinly and let it cool.
- Whisk the powdered peanut butter, peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, lime juice, honey, sesame oil, sriracha, ginger and garlic, then whisk in the water until it is smooth and pourable. Divide among four small jars.
- Toss the green and red cabbage, carrot, pepper, edamame, green onion and cilantro together.
- Toast the peanuts and sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium heat for 2–3 minutes, shaking, until fragrant and golden. Cool, then pack them in four small bags or cups.
- Divide the slaw among four containers and top with the chicken and the mandarins. At lunch, pour over the dressing, close the lid and shake, then scatter over the crunch.
Good to know
How long does it keep?
Four days in the fridge. Cabbage is the sturdiest salad green there is, so the last box is still crunchy; even dressed, it holds its crunch for a day. The dressing keeps 5 days and thickens when cold, so stir in a teaspoon of water if it will not pour.
How do I pack it?
Dressing in its jar, nuts and sesame in their own little bag so they stay crisp, and the mandarins on top of the chicken rather than buried in the cabbage. Shake it all together in the box at lunch.
Peanut allergy?
Use sunflower seed butter (powdered or regular) in the dressing and toasted pumpkin seeds for the crunch. It's about the same score.
Per
- Calories
- 95
- Protein
- (43%)
- 10 g
- Fat
- (32%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (25%)
- 7 g
- of which sugar
- 4 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sodium
- 117 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1811 kcal goes into the pot and 2055 g of ingredients comes out as about 1900 g of food: 95 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.