This recipe was semi-inspired by the Chinese chicken salad from a few of my favorite restaurants . I fell in love with the dish in 9th grade—it made me feel grown up and sophisticated, and best of all, it was ridiculously tasty. 15 or so years later, I still find the salad delicious. It’s sweet, savory, refreshing, and extremely crunchy. (I’m a huge sucker for iceberg lettuce.) The key ingredient in this salad is uncooked ramen noodles for that irresistible crunch.
Ingredients for the salad:
- 3 cups finely chopped romaine or iceberg lettuce
- 2 cups shredded red cabbage
- 2 cups shredded chicken
- 1/2 cups jarred mandarin oranges, drained
- 1 instant ramen packet, crushed (flavor packet discarded)
- 1/2 cups shredded carrot
- 1/3 cups sliced green onions
- 1/4 cups sliced almonds
Ingredients for the dressing
- 3 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. honey
- 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
- 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
- 1 tsp. minced ginger
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/4 cups vegetable oil
Step 1
Make salad: In a large bowl, toss together lettuce, red cabbage, chicken, mandarin oranges, crushed ramen noodles, carrots, green onions, and sliced almonds.
Step 2
Make dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, honey, sesame oil, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. Slowly drizzle in vegetable oil, whisking constantly until emulsified.
Step 3
Before serving, drizzle dressing over salad and toss to combine.