Asian Sesame Chicken Salad Recipe
Our Asian Sesame Salad is a copycat recipe inspired by Panera Bread’s delicious salad of the same name.
Serving4 servings
Ingredients
Chicken
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 3 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
Dressing
- ½ cup rice vinegar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 Tablespoons canola oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
Salad
- ½ teaspoon sesame seeds
- 4 cups baby spinach leaves
- 4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- 11 ounces mandarin oranges, 1 can, drained
- 1 cup wonton strips
Equipment
Instructions
Chicken
- In a medium sized bowl mix together all of the marinade ingredients. Pour into a gallon size bag with the chicken breasts and let marinate for 20 minutes. Make sure to turn every few minutes so all sides of the chicken breast get covered with marinade.
- Cook on the grill over medium-low heat until cooked through. Make slices in each chicken breast after grilling.
Dressing
- Bring the vinegar to a boil in a sauce pan. Remove from heat and add in the sugar and stir until dissolved. Cool slightly.
- Then add in the canola oil, salt, pepper, and sesame seeds.
Salad
- Prepare each plate by placing spinach leaves and Romaine lettuce on them.
- Top off with a grilled chicken breast.
- Add salad dressing and then top each salad off with cilantro, almonds, oranges and wonton strips.
Notes
- A key ingredient to this recipe, is the chicken marinade. I make this marinade whenever I grill chicken now. I am obsessed with it. It's simple, delicious, and makes your chicken so tender and juicy.
- If you are in a hurry and don't have time to marinade your chicken, that is just fine, but if you can plan to make this recipe ahead of time, do. I will even let my chicken sit in this marinade for 24 hours, and it is so juicy.
- This recipe calls for spinach, but you could really use any green leaf base. I am on a butter leaf salad kick lately. It would taste delicious with this salad.
- For the salad dressing, we do highly recommend boiling the vinegar. It creates a delicious and less salty taste, to the salad dressing. If you don't boil it, it will be a very potent tasting dressing.
- If you are in a big hurry and don't even have time for the chicken, you could also use pre-made grilled chicken strips. It won't be as good, but I get it, life is busy and sometimes shortcuts are just best.
Nutrition
Calories: 503 kcal · Carbohydrates: 36 g · Protein: 34 g · Fat: 26 g · Saturated Fat: 2 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 72 mg · Sodium: 917 mg · Potassium: 1087 mg · Fiber: 7 g · Sugar: 26 g · Vitamin A: 7539 IU · Vitamin C: 33 mg · Calcium: 169 mg · Iron: 3 mg