• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Closet Cooking

Cooking adventures in a small, closet sized, kitchen. - I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.

  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • Top Recipes
    • 30 Minute Meals
    • 6 Ingredient Meals
    • Slow Cooker Meals
    • One Pan Meals
    • By Course
      • Main Course
      • Side Dish
      • Dessert
      • Appetizer/Snack
      • More
    • By Diet
      • Gluten-free
      • Low-carb
      • Vegetarian
      • More
    • By Meat
      • Beef
      • Chicken
      • Lamb
      • Egg
      • Pork
      • Seafood
      • Turkey
      • More
    • By Cuisine
      • Cajun and Creole
      • Chinese
      • Greek
      • Italian
      • Japanese
      • Korean
      • Mexican
      • Thai
      • Vietnamese
      • More
    • By Type
      • Burger
      • Cake
      • Cookie
      • Dip
      • Pasta
      • Pizza
      • Salad
      • Sandwich
      • Soup
      • More
    • By Ingredient
      • Avocado
      • Bacon
      • Cauliflower
      • Mushroom
      • Pumpkin
      • Quinoa
      • Shrimp
      • Strawberry
      • More
  • Cookbooks
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
Never miss a recipe! Subscribe to the email Newsletter!

Kung Pao Chicken Salad with Sichuan Dressing

[heart_this] · Jul 15, 2015 · 8 Comments

Kung Pao Chicken Salad with Sichuan Dressing

A kung pao chicken inspired salad with a tasty, spicy and creamy dressing with sichuan Chinese style flavours including sichuan peppercorns.

Summer is salad season and if you are board with plain old lettuce, tomato and cucumber salads with ranch dressing or italian dressing, etc., then try this salad inspired by the flavours of your favourite Chinese takeout dish, kung pao chicken. The salad itself is pretty simple with lettuce (I like to use kale sometimes), chicken, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, green onions and peanuts but it’s the tasty dressing that really makes this salad shine! The sichuan flavour inspired dressing starts out with the usual suspects including rice vinegar, oil, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and some sesame oil for that amazing aroma. The main focus of the dressing is of course the sichuan chili oil which is an oil that is infused with chilies and sichuan peppercorns where the chilies provide the spicy heat and the sichuan peppercorns add their signature mouth numbing effect in addition to a fabulous aroma. (You should be able to find the sichuan peppercorns at your local asian grocery store or you can order them online or you can just omit them.) The dressing is finished off with some sesame paste or peanut butter making it nice and thick and creamy! When you combine the tasty and spicy dressing with the cool and crunchy salad it’s like a magical symphony of flavours and textures in your mouth! The next time you have a craving for kung pao chicken, try this salad instead; it’s lighter, healthier and it can be made in just 15 minutes!
Note: The recipe as written gives a very mildly spicy dressing so if you don’t like heat it’s perfect for you! If you do like things spicy, add as much sambal oelek or sriracha as desired! (I add a lot! 🙂

Kung Pao Chicken Salad with Sichuan Dressing
A nice and clean presentation.

Kung Pao Chicken Salad with Sichuan Dressing
Add dressing.

Kung Pao Chicken Salad with Sichuan Dressing
Mix everything up and enjoy!

Kung Pao Chicken Salad with Sichuan Dressing
Kung Pao Chicken Salad with Sichuan Dressing

Kung Pao Chicken Salad with Sichuan Dressing

Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 15 minutes Servings: 4

A kung pao chicken inspired salad with a tasty, spicy and creamy dressing with sichuan Chinese style flavours including sichuan peppercorns.

ingredients
    For the sichuan dressing:
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon black rice vinegar, aka Chinkiang or balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 teaspoon sichuan chili oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon garlic, grated
  • 1 teaspoon ginger, grated
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar
  • 1/2 tablespoon sesame paste or tahini or peanut butter
  • For the salad:
  • 6 cups salad green such as romaine, kale, etc, sliced
  • 2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or sliced
  • 1 red pepper, sliced
  • 1 cucumber, sliced
  • 2 carrots, julienned or sliced
  • 1/4 cup peanuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
  • 1/4 cup green onions, sliced
directions
    For the sichuan dressing:
  1. Mix everything well.
  2. For the salad:
  3. Toss everything with the dressing and enjoy!
Option: Increase the amount of the sichuan chili oil or add some sambal oelek to make things a little spicier!
Nutrition Facts: Calories 276, Fat 15g (Saturated 2g, Trans 0), Cholesterol 52mg, Sodium 195mg, Carbs 13g (Fiber 4g, Sugars 6g), Protein 22g

Nutrition by: Nutritional facts powered by Edamam
Similar Recipes:
Kung Pao Chicken
Sweet Chili Chicken Salad
Banh Mi Chicken Salad
Dan Dan Mian (Noodles in Spicy Chinese Peanut Pork Sauce)
Bang Bang Chicken
Southwestern Grilled Chicken Jalapeno Popper Salad
Korean Style Cold Tofu Shirataki Noodle Salad with Shrimp
Grilled Chicken and Asparagus Caprese Spinach Salad with Bacon and Avocado
Dandan Noodles (Tantanmen Ramen)
Sichuan Poached Beef (Shuizhu)
Cilantro Lemon Tahini Dressing

20 Minute Meals, 30 Minute Meals, Chicken, Chinese, Food, Gluten-free, Low-carb, Main Course, Recipe, Salad

eCookbook Bundle Cover

Get ALL 16 Closet Cooking eCookbooks in a bundle for 70% off! Enjoy some of the tastiest recipes from Closet Cooking along with exclusive cookbook recipes!

Get the Cookbook Bundle Now!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Heather Christo says

    July 15, 2015 at 12:21 pm

    this is exactly the kind of summer food I'm craving right now!

    Reply
  2. Alice @ Hip Foodie Mom says

    July 15, 2015 at 12:48 pm

    Kevin, I love this salad!!!!!

    Reply
  3. Jenny says

    July 15, 2015 at 1:46 pm

    Gorgeous gorgeous salad!!!

    Reply
  4. marla {Family Fresh Cooking} says

    July 15, 2015 at 1:59 pm

    Now this is my kind of healthy salad!

    Reply
  5. Christina says

    July 15, 2015 at 8:26 pm

    This looks amazing. I love "meal salads" and especially one with Asian ingredients. Can't wait to give this one a try!

    Reply
  6. Diane Young says

    July 15, 2015 at 8:55 pm

    I just found dinner for tonight. Looks so yummy.

    Reply
  7. Elaine says

    July 28, 2015 at 12:48 pm

    We enjoyed this wonderful, flavorful salad last night for dinner. So fresh and delicious!! I did double the dressing as we like plenty of dressing. Thanks, Kevin, for yet another awesome recipe!!!!!!!!

    Reply
  8. Bacheca Incontri says

    January 23, 2017 at 2:35 pm

    That looks delicious!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to the free Closet Cooking email newsletter and get a FREE copy of the eBook:
The Best of Closet Cooking!

About Me

Kevin: I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.
Read More

The Best of Closet Cooking 2023 – FREE eCookbook

The Best of Closet Cooking Book Cover

eCookbook Bundle

eCookbook Bundle

Top Recipes

Chicken and Avocado Burritos
Ham and Potato Corn Chowder
Mexican Street Corn Nachos
Balsamic Garlic Grilled Mushroom Skewers
Baked Firecracker Chicken
Caprese Balsamic Grilled Chicken
Balsamic Soy Roasted Garlic Mushrooms
Cheesy Beef Enchilada Tortellini Skillet
Parmesan Roasted Carrot Fries
Asiago Roasted Onions
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
About | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy
Copyright © 2007-2023, Closet Cooking Ltd. All Rights Reserved.