Thai Style Chicken Salad

This classic Thai Style Chicken Salad Recipe is always a go-to for us when we’re looking for a dish that’s healthy, hearty, and packed full of flavor. The Thai’s know a thing about flavor, and this dish is no exception! Huge flavors of Fish Sauce, Lime Juice, and Sugar are all over this wonderful Salad and they compliment the perfectly poached Chicken and crispy Vegetables perfectly. It’s a wonderful Salad to enjoy when the weathers hot, and takes no time at all to make at home

How to make Thai Style Chicken Salad

There’s two main elements to preparing this dish, which can be made simultaneously to save time. Those are, Poaching the Chicken and preparing the Dressing. Ok, there’s technically three elements, the final one being chopping up the Vegetables which you can do once the Dressing and Chicken are done

Poaching Chicken

The first step in making our Thai Style Chicken Salad is poaching the Chicken. I love poaching Chicken, as I find it produces the most tender, juicy Chicken Breast you can get without them drying out. It’s also perhaps the simplest cooking technique too

All you need to do to poach the Chicken is to bring a large pot of water to the Boil. Flavor it with a load of aromatics and then add the Chicken. Remove the Pot from the heat, cover it, and let it sit for 30 minutes. The residual heat that remains in the pot will slowly poach the Chicken until it’s pull-apart tender

You can pack a lot of flavors into the Chicken too by simply adding aromatics and flavors to the Water. For our dish we add Garlic Cloves (no need to peel them), Black Peppercorns, and Ginger to the Water, along with a generous amount of Salt

Once the Chicken is cooked, allow it to cool before shredding the strands of Chicken away by simply using your hands. You will produce this beautiful pulled Chicken that’ll get mixed into the Salad

Preparing the vibrant dressing

One thing about Thai food is it’s not bashful. The flavors are so impactful in Thai cuisine, and this dish is no exception, with the dressing absolutely loaded with classic ingredients from Thai cooking. The dressing consists of Fish Sauce, Brown Sugar (or Palm Sugar if you like), Rice Wine Vinegar, Lime Juice, Garlic, and Chili

Now, how much Chili to put into the dressing is totally up to you. Personally, I like a bit of spice, but not so much in my Salads. I want the freshness and vibrancy of the Salad to shine through and not be completely overwhelmed by heat. A little spice is fine, but not too much

So, to get the right balance of flavors we recommend tasting the dressing and adjusting the ingredients as needed before you combine it with the Salad. If it’s too spicy, try mellowing it out a little bit with some Lime Juice. Too much Fish Sauce, even that out with Sugar

Preparing the Salad for serving

With your Chicken cooked and shredded, and that delicious dressing ready to eat it’s time to build the Salad. Slice up your desired Vegetables (in this case we’re using Cabbage, Carrot, Tomatoes, Bell Peppers, and Red Onions) and place them into a large Salad Bowl

Add the Chicken and drizzle in some of the Dressing. I’d recommend not adding the full amount of dressing but just start with half. Mix everything through and see how intense the flavor is. You can always add more dressing if you want a richer flavored Salad, so add as much as you need

Finish off the Thai Style Chicken Salad with some classic Thai toppings

What I love about Thai Salads is the beautiful contrasting textures they create. In this recipe we’re adding some amazing crunch to the dish by finishing the Salad with roughly chopped Peanuts and crispy Fried Shallots

You can buy the Shallots already prepared, which I recommend over making your own homemade fried Shallots. I recommend adding more than you think you need of both the Shallots and Peanuts to the Salad. The textures and flavor of the Peanuts and Shallots complete the dish perfectly

We also add some freshly chopped Mint and Cilantro to the Salad to complete the dish. You can give them a mix through or simply place them on top. A good Thai Salad is always going to have Cilantro in it, and I love the addition of Mint for additional vibrancy

All in all, this is a hearty and delicious Salad that’s the perfect healthy dinner to feed the family. You can prepare the Chicken and Dressing in advance too, so all you need to do before dinnertime is to chop up the Vegetables and combine the ingredients for a wonderful meal

Thai Style Chicken Salad Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 Chicken Breasts
• 1 inch piece of Ginger
• 2 Garlic Cloves
• 1 tsp. Black Peppercorns
  
  

Dressing Ingredients

• 1 tsp. Brown Sugar
• 2 tsp. Rice Wine Vinegar
• ¼ cup of Fish Sauce
• 2 tsp. Water
• Juice from 1 Lime
• 1 Red Chili, finely diced
• 1 Garlic Clove, finely diced
• Pinch of Salt
  
  

Salad Ingredients

• ¼ Cabbage, shredded
• 1 Carrot, finely sliced
• ½ Bell pepper, finely sliced
• 2 Tomatoes, diced
• ¼ Red Onion, finely sliced
  
  

Toppings

• ½ cup Mint, finely chopped
• ½ cup Cilantro, finely chopped
• ½ cup Peanuts, roughly chopped
• ½ cup of Fried Shallots
  
  

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil then add Ginger, Garlic, Black Peppercorns, and Chicken. Cover and remove from heat. Leave for 30 minutes to Poach the Chicken
2. Once the Chicken has cooked, remove from the water and set aside to cool. Once cool, shred using forks or your hands
3. While the Chicken is poaching, combine all the Salad Dressing ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Taste for seasoning and set aside
4. Prepare the Salad Ingredients and place into a large salad bowl. Mix through the shredded Chicken and Dressing
5. When ready to serve, add the toppings and mix through
   
   

Recipe Notes

• You can prepare the Chicken in advance and refrigerate it until ready to use, as this is a Salad that is best enjoyed cold or at room temperature
• Similarly, you can prepare the Salad Dressing up to 1 day in advance
  
  

This Thai Style Chicken Salad packs a punch of flavor, with those familiar Thai flavors of Fish Sauce, Sugar, Lime, and Chili the predominant flavors. The Poached Chicken is the best way to enjoy Chicken Breast, as it retains its wonderful tenderness, pairing perfectly with this bright and vibrant Salad

For more tasty Salads just like this one, check out these delicious recipes:

• Creamy Lemon Pepper Chicken Salad
• Chicken Schnitzel Salad with Roast Vegetables
• Greek Meatball Salad
• Poached Shrimp Salad with Sundried Tomatoes
  
  

Happy Cooking!