Sesame Chicken Salad

If you’ve got leftover chicken or a grocery store rotisserie chicken handy, you’re just minutes away from gobbling up this deliciously crunchy, healthy sesame chicken salad! With crunchy lettuce and shredded cabbage, sweet orange slices and a umami-rich miso dressing that you can make ahead (and that’s so good I could almost drink it), this salad will break you out of any rut.  

Miso is one of my favorite sleeper hit ingredients and is a staple in my fridge. It’s also a super star in miso-ginger chicken slaw and miso-glazed salmon. 

Key Ingredients 

See the full recipe below for exact measurements. 

• Cooked chicken: Any leftover chicken you have could work well here. Poached chicken, grocery store rotisserie chicken, leftover grilled chicken, etc. You name it! This recipe is very flexible. 
• Shredded cabbage: Shred it yourself with a shredding attachment, or you could just buy a bag of shredded cabbage. This recipe is all about short cuts. 
• Miso paste: White or yellow miso paste works best in this recipe as they have a milder, slightly sweet flavor, red miso is a little stronger in flavor. Yellow miso is my personal favorite. 
• Sesame oil: If you want to give any salad dressing an Asian kick, try adding sesame oil to the mix. Nutty and rich, it’s just delicious. For this recipe, I like the toasted variety best. 
• Lettuce: I like romaine because it’s so crunchy, but it’s OK to try other lettuce varieties if that’s what you’ve got on hand. 
• Oranges: Just a hint of juicy sweet orange is such a delicious surprise in this crunchy salad. Use mandarin oranges or regular, whatever seems ripe and sweet. 
• Sesame seeds: These are what make it sesame chicken salad, and I love their little pop-crunch. They’re often found in the spice aisle at the grocery store. 
• Herbs and spices: Fresh ginger, shallots and garlic for the dressing, and cilantro for the salad. If you don’t like cilantro, swap in parsley or just skip it. 

How To Make Sesame Chicken Salad

1. Slice, dice and shred: Making this salad is mostly about prep! Slicing oranges, shredding chicken, and rinsing and chopping some veg. 
2. Make the miso dressing. It’s easiest to get it to emulsify if you use a food processor or immersion blender to make it. 
3. Combine all the ingredients and gently toss the salad. Dig in!

Possible Variations + Add In Ideas

• Make it vegan by swapping in a different plant-based protein: Use crispy tofu or chickpeas, and replace the honey in the dressing with maple syrup.
• Make it gluten free by being careful to choose a miso paste that is labeled gluten-free!
• Use any leftover meat instead of the chicken: Instead of chicken, try grilled shrimp or thinly sliced steak.
• Add more veggies like shredded carrots, thinly sliced bell peppers, or edamame would all be great in this mix.
• Add sliced avocado, because that makes every salad better. 

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