Chinese chicken salad
Crunchy napa cabbage, juicy orange and shredded chicken in a sesame ginger dressing, topped with crispy wonton strips you bake yourself.
- 35 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.28 a serving
- 540 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 12 wonton wrappers
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 3 cups rotisserie chicken, shredded
- ½ head napa cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 2 oranges, peeled and cut into pieces
- ⅓ cup almonds, chopped
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
Each serving has about 540 calories, 34 g protein, 37 g carbs and 30 g fat, and costs about $3.28 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No honey? Maple syrup works.
- No shredded carrots? Carrots work.
- No green onions? Chives work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 375°F. Stack the wonton wrappers and cut them into thin strips.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
the strips on a with 1 tablespoon of the oil and the salt, then spread them out.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
6 to 8 minutes, once, until and .
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Timer: 7 min
Dolly’s tip: They go from golden to burnt in about a minute, so start checking at 5.Shake the rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, ginger, garlic and the rest of the vegetable oil together in a jar.
Pull the chicken off the bone and it into bite-size pieces with two forks.
Shred. Shredding means making thin strips, either on the big holes of a grater or by pulling cooked meat apart with two forks. Shreds soak up sauce and mix evenly through a dish.
How you’ll know: Cooked chicken pulls apart into strands with little effort, and cheese comes off in long, loose strips.
Food safety: Rotisserie chicken, deli meat, canned tuna and cooked shrimp are already cooked. Keep them cold until you use them, and heat them until steaming hot if the recipe warms them.
the cabbage and green onions, cut the oranges into pieces and the almonds.
Thinly slice. Thinly slicing means cutting slices about an eighth of an inch thick, roughly two coins stacked. Thin slices cook in seconds and soften fast, which quick dishes need.
How you’ll know: A slice bends a little when you hold it by one edge, and slow, steady cuts beat fast ones.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
In a big bowl, the cabbage, carrots, chicken and green onions with the dressing.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Top with the oranges, almonds, cilantro and wonton strips just before serving.
Dolly’s tip: Napa cabbage stays crunchy in the dressing for a day, so you can dress lunches in the morning. Keep the wonton strips in a bag and add them at your desk.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
