This Thai chicken salad recipe is the epitome of healthy meals. And it’s sooo easy to make. One of my favorite chicken salads so far.
You know I am a big fan of salads, right?
Hence, today’s dish is an easy, delicious and healthy Thai chicken salad.
This is the perfect make-ahead meal as you can make a large batch, store it in airtight containers, and serve the following days. I often make it for my weekly meal prep and let me tell you why I like this Thai salad recipe so much.
The first reason, and most important, is because it’s healthy.
Yes, I am sure that by now you heard it thousands of times that chicken salads are healthy. But this one is healthy because it has a secret ingredient.
Care to know what?
Have you ever heard of Edamame?
Nope, this is not an exotic ingredient that you won’t be able to find in your local store.
Although it does sound like one.
Edamame refers to a Japanese dish made of steamed (or boiled) salted soybeans in their pods. They are usually served as appetizers or snacks in Japanese restaurants. Actually, I first taste them when I was working at Zuma London and quickly became my favorite snack.
So in layman terms, it’s boiled immature soybeans.
They are rich in vitamins, fiber, and protein, as you can see below:
It’s very impressive how these little beans bring texture, taste and so many nutrients to our salad.
Now that I showed how this Thai chicken salad stands out, I would like to give you a few tips that you need to know before making it:
- You can slice/chop everything with a very sharp knife, but for faster results, you should use a mandoline slicer. It took me less than 10 minutes to chop everything with it.
- If you don’t have time to cook the chicken, you can use rotisserie chicken.
Heck, you can even use chicken or turkey leftovers. - Only pour the dressing before serving it. If you add and leave it for a while, your Thai chicken salad will lose its crunchy texture and become soggy.
- If you make it as part of a weekly meal prep, place it in airtight casseroles and keep the dressing separately in a lidded jar. Again, only mix them before serving.
- Boil the edamame beans with a bit of salt, for one minute, before adding them to your Thai salad.
- You can add sesame seeds or peanuts. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any of them handy, but you should definitely give it a try, and let me know how it came out. I am sure it will be crazy delish.
- If you’re a vegetarian or looking to reduce meat from your diet, you can leave the chicken out and add more edamame beans to make it more filling.
The dressing I went for is super easy and you can use it on most types of salads and even with sushi. It literally took me no more than 5 minutes to make. I left you the dressing recipe below, right after the chicken salad.
The edamame beans and chicken make this salad very filling and nourishing, which is another reason why I love it. Â Although I love salads, I really hate the ones that make you more hungry than you were before eating it.
Oh, and it’s also low-calorie so it goes perfectly with most weight-loss diets.
More Nourishing Salads:
- Mediterranean Pasta Salad
- Chickpea Salad with Tahini Dressing
- Vegan Couscous Salad With Roasted Veggies & Peanut Butter Dressing
I could say that this Thai chicken salad is perfect for summer, but after gobbling it up I think it’s great for any season, any time, any day.
Now, I am curious.
Do you have a favorite dish, that you could eat any time, any day? And is it healthy, like this Thai chicken salad?
Can’t wait to hear all about it.
And if you would like to see more recipe videos like this one, then subscribe to my Youtube channel and let’s cook together.
Thai Chicken Salad Recipe
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 small green cabbage - shredded
- 1 small red cabbage - shredded
- 1 large carrot - shredded
- 1 red sweet pepper - cut into thin strips
- 1 1/2 cup (240g) edamame beans
- a small bunch of cilantro or parsley
- 1/2 cup (25g) green onions
Dressing Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (60ml) light soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
- 2 Tbsp sesame oil
- 1 red chili - deseeded and finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove - minced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F
- Place the chicken breast in a baking dish, then season generously with salt and pepper
- Add a drizzle of olive oil, and bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink on the inside
- Remove from the oven, let it cool, then and shred with two forks
- In a large bowl, mix all salad ingredients together, pour the dressing over and toss gently to combine
Instructions for making the dressing:
- In a small jar, mix all dressing ingredients together. Shake vigorously to emulsify.
Nutrition
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Love the colors in it