Asian chicken salad with ginger sesame dressing is a fresh and colorful dish. A delicious sweet and tangy vinaigrette is drizzled over crunchy vegetables. Each bowl is loaded with protein and fiber-rich produce for a nutritious meal.
It’s all about eating whole foods that pack a nutritious punch and flavor. One tasty way to do so is making an irresistibly Asian chicken salad. Often incorporating fruits and vegetables into your daily diet can be a little uninteresting and lack excitement.
To break the boredom I’ve created a colorful, eye-catching recipe using Asian-inspired ingredients like sweet Fuji apples, sesame oil, soy sauce, and ginger. The homemade dressing with its tangy profile makes each bite of this healthy salad so delicious. These flavors pair nicely with the juicy sauteed chicken breast that is added for extra protein.
One way to instantly elevate the flavor of any salad is to make a dressing. Instead of just the typical oil and vinegar combination, I like to add in whole foods to naturally thicken and sweeten the mixture like cashews and apples. To break down the fibrous and tough ingredients into a smooth dressing, a little extra help is needed.
The easiest and most efficient way to make the sesame ginger dressing is in my Vitamix blender. With five unique program settings to choose from, I select the “Dip and Spreads” setting. The pre-set smart controls take the large slices of apple with the peel on, whole raw cashews, ginger and garlic and gradually increases the speed to create a tasty creamy dressing in just 1 minute.
The ginger sesame dressing is a combination of fragrant sesame oil, soy sauce (or coconut aminos), ginger, garlic, cashews, and Fuji apples. I really love how the strength of the blender’s laser-cut stainless steel blades and metal drive system quickly break down the ingredients into a smooth puree.
With this blender I’m able to keep the skin on the apples for extra nutrients without impacting the texture, otherwise, I would usually have to remove them when making a dressing. Blending the dressing allows all of the ingredients to infuse and meld together effortlessly.
Adding protein from the chicken breast makes the salad a complete meal. To ensure that the chicken stays tender and moist, I recommend pounding them to an even thickness before cooking.
This process ensures consistent heating so that the chicken does not get dried out and speeds up the cooking time to 10 minutes or less. Sautéing the chicken creates a flavorful golden-brown crust, an excellent addition to the salad.
It’s hard to resist a big bowl of chopped kale, romaine lettuce, carrots, cabbage and green onions topped with cashews and chicken. You’re going to want to drizzle and dip the dressing on everything, don’t forget to make some extra!
More Asian recipes
How to make emulsified dressings in the blender
To make a smooth emulsified dressing, blending the ingredients serves two functions. The large apple pieces, nuts, garlic, and ginger are first broken down by the extremely sharp, quick rotating blades in the equipment. The blender then breaks down the olive oil into small droplets. Both the suspended food particles and oil helps to create a creamy dressing that won’t separate when drizzled on the salad.
Asian Chicken Salad with Ginger Sesame Dressing
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
- kosher salt, as needed for seasoning
- black pepper, as needed for seasoning
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Salad
- 2 cups kale, Lacinato or Tuscan, ¼-inch thick slices
- 1 cup napa cabbage, ¼-inch thick slices
- 1 cup red cabbage, ¼-inch thick slices
- 1 cup carrots, shredded
- 2 tablespoons green onions, thinly sliced
- 2 cups romaine lettuce, ¼-inch thick slices
- 1 cup fuji apple, ¼-inch thick slices
Dressing
- ¼ cup cashews
- 1 cup Fuji apples, 1-inch thick slices
- 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Using a meat tenderizer, pound the chicken to ¾-inch thick and season both sides with salt and pepper.
- Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat.
- Add 1 tablespoon olive oil, once hot add the chicken.
- Cook for 5 minutes, flip and continue to cook until no longer pink, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Transfer to a cutting board and cut into ½-inch slices.
- In a large bowl combine kale, napa and red cabbage, carrots, green onions, lettuce, and apples.
- For the dressing add to the blender; cashews, 1 cup Fuji apples, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and olive oil.
- Process until smooth on medium high speed, about 1 minute.
Notes
- Serving Size: 2 ¼ cup of chicken salad
- MAKE IT WHOLE30: Use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, raw cashews, and sea salt for kosher salt.
Nutrition Facts
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000-calorie diet. All nutritional information is based on estimated third-party calculations. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
Carolyn says
This looks so good, but my barrier to making it is that I would have to buy a whole head of nappa cabbage and red cabbage for a relatively small amount that I need. Just wondering if you have any suggestions on substitutions or recipes that I could use the rest of these 2 ingredients with? Thank you for all of your delicious recipes.
Jessica Gavin says
You can use one type of cabbage if you prefer. I have really delicious coleslaw recipes (creamy or tangy), a thai cabbage salad with peanut sauce, or a sauteed cabbage recipe. Search “cabbage” on my website for the ideas and recipes.
Surati says
Are you using plain rice wine vinegar or the seasoned kind that is used for sushi rice ?
Jessica Gavin says
I used unseasoned rice vinegar because the fuji apples are sweet enough. However, you can use seasoned if you want the dressing sweeter.
Leslie woodams says
Hi, I have a question about the measurements for the dressing. The recipe states 3 tablespoons of soy sauce ( 15 ml) and 3 tablespoons of rice vinegar (45 ml) but the ml equivalents do not match. Is this a typo?
Thank you for you clarifying!
Jessica Gavin says
I’ve updated the recipe, thanks for your feedback!
Alison says
Jessica, we are living on your salads this summer! This one is absolutely delicious. I love the cashews and apple in the dressing. I added a little honey for some extra sweetness for my husband. We both loved this recipe!
Jessica Gavin says
This is one of my favorites, honey is a great addition!
Letha says
OMG this salad is yummy! My husband saw this recipe in his email this morning, and decided this is what we should have for dinner. Oh so yummy and colorful! Its a beautiful salad. The dressing is amazing. He said its kind of like Asian Ceasar dressing. Our 2 teen daughters are devouring it too! Thanks for a great salad. Its a keeper.
Jessica Gavin says
Whoo hoo! I’m so glad that your husband subscribes and encouraged the family to make this recipe. So happy everyone enjoyed it!