Name: 20-Minute Thai Chicken Salad
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 pound chicken breasts (pounded to 1/2-inch uniform thickness); 2 medium shallots (thinly sliced ); 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves (roughly chopped); 3 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro leaves and stems; Lettuce or rice (for serving); Carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers; 1 Tablespoon ground toasted rice; 1 clove garlic (minced); 1 jalapeno (minced ); 1 lime (juiced); 2 Tablespoons minced lemongrass (remove the tough outer leaves and slice the tender white core); 1 1/2 Tablespoons fish sauce; 1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar; 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Jump to Recipe

This Thai Chicken Salad comes together in just 20 minutes! Tossed with a tangy lime-lemongrass dressing and served alongside colorful vegetables. It’s a delicious and easy lunch or dinner.

Here I am bringing you yet another Thai dish.

I really cannot get enough of the bright, zesty flavors of Thai food. Cilantro, mint and spices always seem to make up the backbone of my Thai dishes. That combination is like a magic potion – It brings life to anything!

And then there’s the fish sauce. As I warned you before, don’t be scared of the fish sauce – It can smell quite pungent out of the bottle, but once it gets mixed with the other ingredients the flavor really does mellow out.

All those yummy flavors go into this Thai salad dressing:

Lemongrass
Lime
Jalapeno
Fish Sauce
Brown Sugar
Garlic

I’ve been able to find the fish sauce and lemongrass right in my local supermarket. Look for the fish sauce in the Asian foods aisle, and look for the lemongrass either in the fresh herbs section of your store, or in the general produce section.

Lemongrass looks like thin, pale green stalks and it’s generally sold in bundles of two or three. You’ll need about three stalks for this recipe because only the lower stalk (near the bulb) is tender and edible.

How Do You Cut Lemongrass?

When cooking with lemongrass, you only want to use the tender part of the bulb section. To cut lemongrass, first remove the knobby end of the stalk and cut it in half lengthwise. Remove the tough outer leaves and find the inner tender flesh (it should pierce easily with your fingernail). Then, finely chop that tender inner section.

Another special ingredient that I’m using in this Thai Chicken Salad is toasted rice powder.

I like to think of the rice powder as my Thai alternative to croutons. It gives an amazing crunch to your finished salad. It’s also got a nice, nutty, creamy flavor.

How Do You Make Toasted Rice Powder?

To make toasted rice powder, heat a skillet over medium heat. Then dry roast the rice tossing constantly until it turns a golden brown color and becomes fragrant. At first, you won’t see anything happening, but then the color change comes quick. It will become wonderfully fragrant, almost like popcorn.

Then, you’ll need to grind the rice to a coarse powder. To do this, I use a coffee grinder that I use exclusively for grinding spices. But, you could also use a mortar & pestle or even a blender.

The rice powder takes a little bit of extra effort, but I guarantee that it’s worth it!

Hand holding bowl of thai chicken salad.

One final tip I have for making this Thai Chicken Salad is to be sure to pound your chicken breasts to a uniform thickness before cooking them. You can do this using a meat mallet, or even a heavy skillet. Or, you could also look for chicken cutlets in the store, those will already be pounded to a uniform thickness for you.

Speaking of meat, this salad is also great with steak or pork. And regardless of which type of meat you use, be sure to let it rest for five minutes after cooking. Then slice it up and add any accumulated juices to your dressing mixture.

You have the option of serving this dish over rice or lettuce, or both. You could also make lettuce cups and serve the mixture wrapped up in there. Cheers friends!

More Thai food recipes:

Wine Pairings for Thai Chicken Salad:

Dry Riesling pairs great with spicy dishes, especially with this salad.

If you loved this Thai Chicken Salad recipe I would appreciate it so much if you would give this recipe a star review! Also, be sure to snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #platingsandpairings and tagging me @platingsandpairings.

For more great Platings & Pairings recipes, be sure to follow me on Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

More salad recipes:

Thai Chicken Salad Recipe