Thai Chicken Salad

This is the best Thai Chicken Salad recipe! Featuring papaya, cabbage, carrots, cucumber and a spicy peanut dressing, you can enjoy this amazing salad all on its own as a filling and healthy meal.

two forks grabbing chicken salad from a white bowl
I’ve always been a big fan of Thai food. The simplicity and freshness of the ingredients just can’t be beat! This recipe is a great example that eating healthy truly can be delicious.

This salad isn’t going to leave you hungry, that’s for sure. It’s packed with delicious ingredients and a hearty peanut butter dressing! I have a feeling you’ll need to add it to your weekly dinner rotation. 

overhead shot of all ingredients needed to make thai chicken salad
Ingredients
This salad is packed with goodies! It’s an awesome all-in-one type of meal. Keep scrolling for the full recipe and ingredient amounts.

FOR THE DRESSING:
Soy sauce – I like to use low-sodium soy sauce to make sure the recipe doesn’t end up too salty.
Garlic chili sauce – Use any type of hot sauce you like best or you can leave it out if you aren’t a fan of spice.
FOR THE SALAD:
Carrots – I like to buy bags of pre-shredded carrots to make prep faster.
Green papaya – This simply means an unripe papaya. We want the papaya to be nice and firm and shreddable.
Bok choy – 2 or 3 small bok choy should give you enough for this recipe. Sliced spinach or Swiss chard will work as well.
Red chili pepper – Get yourself some small Thai red chilis if you can find them. You can remove the seeds to turn the heat down a bit.
Chicken – I used chicken breasts for this recipe. They’ll need to be cooked and shredded.
Mint – Find yourself fresh mint! This is such a great game-changing salad ingredient. Chop the mint nice and small.
You can shred the cabbage by hand with a knife or use a mandoline.

What Type of Chicken Should I Use?
If you can shred it up, it will work! I picked up a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken at the grocery store for this recipe. I find that rotisserie chickens are extremely tender and will shred up with no problem.

Cook the chicken for 5 minutes on high pressure. They’ll soak up all that delicious flavor in the salad dressing.

What Else Can I Mix Into My Salad?
This slaw-like salad is very versatile! You can add any of your favorite flavors to personalize this recipe how you like it best. Give these ideas a try:

Cooked cold rice noodles
Crushed instant ramen noodles
Mango or pineapple
Pepitas
Cashews
Celery
Cilantro
Basil
Red or green onion
Bell peppers
Add some extra veggies to make up for the missing chicken!

How to Make Thai Chicken Salad
Make the dressing: Whisk all the ingredients for the dressing together in a bowl or give them a shake in a mason jar. You can microwave the peanut butter for 10-15 seconds to soften it for easier mixing if needed.
Mix the salad: Add all the salad ingredients to a large bowl along with the dressing. Toss everything well, serve, and enjoy!
overhead shot of thai chicken salad in a white bowl

Can I Leave Out the Peanut Butter?
I know that some of you will need to worry about peanut allergies and that’s totally okay! Feel free to use any of your favorite nut butters in its place. If that’s not an option, you can leave the nut butter out completely and use a splash of rice vinegar to make a delicious vinaigrette for this salad.

Can I Make This Salad Ahead?
This will make sure the honey and peanut butter have a chance to warm up a bit and make everything much easier to toss.

Leftovers
If you anticipate leftovers, I would leave the dressing off the salad and toss as needed. The veggies tend to get soggy after a day sitting with the dressing and are not as appetizing.