Description
A crispy, crunchy, flavor-packed salad bowl starring oven-toasted jasmine rice, shredded chicken, fresh vegetables, and a silky garlicky peanut dressing with lime. This easy weeknight recipe delivers bold restaurant-quality flavor in under 45 minutes — and it meal-preps like a dream.
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked and cooled jasmine rice (day-old preferred)
- 1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp chili garlic sauce
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (rotisserie works great)
- 2 cups shredded green or napa cabbage
- 1 cup shredded purple cabbage
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 large English cucumber, thinly sliced
- 1 ripe avocado, diced
- ½ cup frozen edamame, thawed
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup roasted salted peanuts, roughly chopped
- PEANUT DRESSING:
- 3 tbsp natural creamy peanut butter
- 2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice (about 1 large lime)
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 2–3 tbsp warm water (to thin dressing to pourable consistency)
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 400°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss the cooled rice with soy sauce, sesame oil, and chili garlic sauce until fully coated. Spread in a single layer and bake 25–30 minutes, stirring once halfway, until deeply golden and crunchy. Set aside to cool.
2. Whisk together peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, rice vinegar, honey, sesame oil, garlic, and ginger in a small bowl. Add warm water one tablespoon at a time until the dressing pours smoothly. Taste and adjust lime or honey as needed.
3. Combine green cabbage, purple cabbage, carrots, cucumber, edamame, and most of the green onions and cilantro in a large bowl. Toss to mix evenly.
4. Add shredded chicken over the salad base and give everything a light toss to distribute.
5. Pour crispy rice over the salad and drizzle half the peanut dressing on top. Toss gently, taste, and add more dressing as desired. Top with diced avocado, chopped peanuts, and reserved green onions and cilantro. Serve immediately.
Notes
DAY-OLD RICE IS KEY: Fresh warm rice steams instead of crisping. Cook rice ahead and refrigerate overnight, or spread on a sheet pan to cool and dry for 2–3 hours before baking.
MEAL PREP TIP: Store crispy rice, peanut dressing, and avocado separately. Combine fresh just before eating to keep maximum crunch.
MAKE IT VEGAN: Swap chicken for crispy baked tofu or roasted chickpeas. Replace honey with maple syrup in the dressing.
NUT-FREE: Use sunflower seed butter in the dressing and swap peanuts for toasted pumpkin seeds or sesame seeds.
EXTRA HEAT: Stir a spoonful of chili crisp oil into the dressing or drizzle it over the finished bowl.
STORAGE: Once dressed, the salad keeps for 1 day. Components stored separately last up to 3 days in the fridge.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Salad, Main Course
- Method: Baking, No-Cook
- Cuisine: Asian-American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl (approx. 2 cups)
- Calories: 520
- Sugar: 9g
- Sodium: 680mg
- Fat: 26g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 20g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 42g
- Fiber: 7g
- Protein: 32g
- Cholesterol: 65mg