Easy Oriental Chicken Salad
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This quick and easy Oriental Chicken Salad, Applebee’s copycat recipe, is the perfect weeknight dinner! Semi homemade ingredients make this come together in less than 20-minutes! Belly filling and delicious.
I love a good copycat recipe! Try my favorite Asian Zing Chicken Bites, Better Than Panda Express Orange Chicken, or Chili’s Skillet Queso!
Recipe Features
- Quick and Easy: This recipe uses pre-made ingredients which makes it super quick to whip up! Ready in under 20-minutes.
- Semi-Homemade: Frozen crispy chicken and a coleslaw mix brings a ton of flavor without a lot of work!
- Delicious Oriental Dressing: This tastes EXACTLY like the Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad Dressing. So delicious as a topping or a dipping sauce.
I love a quick and easy meal. This one checks all of the boxes. It’s so simple to whip up and gets the stamp of approval from my entire family in the flavor department. It also is an amazing addition to my meal-prep recipes. I toss this together for a grab-and-go lunch often and constantly get compliments on the delicious salad dressing recipe, which is the true star of the show.
Oriental Chicken Salad Ingredients
My favorite part about this applebees oriental chicken salad is how easy it is to customize. The list of ingredients is minimal, but you can ALWAYS add in your favorite toppings. Try sliced almonds, cheese, or extra red cabbage! The asian flavors work incredibly well with the chicken making this every salad lovers dream. Here is what you will need:
- 1 batch of dressing: Recipe found below in the recipe card
- Romaine Lettuce: You can swap this with iceberg or any lettuce of your choice. We find that romaine has a hefty crunch that makes the texture incredibly delicious.
- Coleslaw Mix: I LOVE the ease of getting a mix like this vs chopping my own. It’s loaded with crunchy goodness and shredded carrots which pair beautifully with the meal. But you can always opt to chop your own cabbage and carrots instead.
- Green Onion: Did you know storing green onion, root side down, in a mason jar of water will extend it’s life?
- Crispy Chow Mein Noodles: These are good to snack on and really add a great texture to the salad.
- Crispy Chicken: Here’s another sneaky tip. I like to use frozen crispy chicken to keep things extra simple. The Just Bare chicken chunks taste like Chick Fil A and are super simple to bake up. You could always make a homemade chicken or use up leftovers.
- Almonds, optional: I opted out of almonds in this dish, although the traditional version at Applebee’s does include them.
What is Applebee’s Oriental Dressing Made of?
I’ve tried a few different variations and always land back on the same 4 basic ingredients.
- Mayonnaise
- Honey
- Rice Vinegar
- Dijon Mustard
Whisking these ingredients together, with a small dash of sesame oil if desired, makes one heck of a dressing that everyone will love. You can even make this in advance, keeping it stored in the refrigerator for a few weeks.
Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad Recipe
- Prepare the dressing by whisking together the mayonnaise, honey, rice vinegar, and dijon mustard. Taste and add additional seasoning if desired. Set aside.
- Combine the lettuce, slaw mix, green onion, chow mein noodles, and crispy chicken to a large bowl.
- Drizzle with dressing.
- Toss to combine and serve.
Recipe Tips and FAQs
Yes! This salad can be made up to one day in advance and stored in the refrigerator. Keep stored in an airtight container with the dressing on the side. Adding the dressing too soon will cause the salad to become soggy.
The best way to store uneaten salad is un dressed and in an airtight container. Keep stored in the refrigerator until ready to eat. Add dressing just before serving.
This salad tastes extra delicious with any of the following additions:
– cheese
– sliced almonds
– mandarin oranges
– sunflower seeds
More Salad Recipes You’ll Love
- Classic Cobb Salad Recipe
- Santa Fe Chicken Salad
- Strawberry Poppyseed Salad
- Southwest Chicken Salad (with Cilantro Ranch Dressing)
- Copycat Zupas Strawberry Harvest Salad
- Cucumber Greek Salad
- Loaded Italian Chopped Salad
- Taco Salad Recipe
- Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
- Chicken Caprese Pasta Salad
- Easy Tuna Salad
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Oriental Chicken Salad
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1½ tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- splash sesame oil (optional)
For the salad:
- 4 cups romaine lettuce (washed and chopped)
- 1 cup coleslaw mix
- 1 green onion (sliced)
- 1/4 cup crispy chow mein noodles
- 1½ cup cooked crispy chicken pieces *
Instructions
- Prepare the dressing by whisking together the mayonnaise, honey, rice vinegar, and dijon mustard (and sesame oil if using). Taste and add additional seasoning if desired. Set aside.
- Combine the lettuce, slaw mix, green onion, chow mein noodles, and crispy chicken to a large bowl.
- Drizzle with dressing.
- Toss to combine and serve.
Notes
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
I wanted to leave a review and let you know how much my family and I enjoyed this recipe. I’ve been wanting to do an Asian salad but a many of the recipes were too complicated and I wanted something quick and easy. That’s exactly what yours was on top of being so tasty. and the dressing was delicious. This is going on the rotation.
Lorraine, this made my day! I’m so glad you and your family loved it. I totally get the struggle—so many Asian-style salads are way too complicated for a weeknight. This one’s meant to be fast, fresh, and full of flavor, so hearing it’s earned a spot in your rotation is the ultimate compliment. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!
Perfection. Takes like the restaurant version.
So glad you loved it.
My all time favorite salad. Cannot tell the difference between your copy cat recipe and Applebee’s. Simple to make and delicious. What a treat!
Thank you, MaryLou!
One of the best resources for recipes. So great that recipes can be saved. Thanks so much for the delicious recipes snd variety. You always make me hungry.