This crunchy, refreshing, and delicious Whole30 Chinese chicken salad is packed with veggies and naturally sweetened with dates. It’s healthy and flavorful, and so easy to make!
Chinese chicken salad was one of my favorite dishes growing up. It’s delicious, sweet, and crunchy, and packed with my favorite veggies. However, most of the ones you can get at restaurants are loaded with unhealthy sugars and inflammatory oils, especially in the dressing. So I’m sharing my easy Chinese chicken salad that’s healthy and so delicious!
Whole30 & Gluten Free Chinese Chicken Salad Recipe with Natural® Delights Medjool Dates
In this paleo Chinese chicken salad recipe, I used Natural Delights® pitted medjool dates to sweeten the salad, as well as in the dressing. Not only do they add the perfect amount of sweetness, these particular dates are high quality and taste amazing. They are:
- high in fiber and antioxidants,
- sustainably grown,
- pesticide free, additive free, and Non-GMO Project Verified.
In addition, all of their plastic packaging is made from 100% post-consumer recycled materials (materials diverted from landfills)!
Besides everything I mentioned, the dates really are delicious to snack on on their own, or to use in recipes like this Whole30 Chinese chicken salad.
Paleo Chinese Chicken Salad Ingredients
You’ll find that the Chinese chicken salad ingredients are simple and easy to find at the grocery store. There’s nothing complicated, and there are a ton of healthy veggies that are so refreshing and crunchy. Here are the paleo and Whole30 Chinese chicken salad ingredients:
- Cooked chicken: I had leftover rotisserie chicken that I used for this recipe. If you don’t have cooked chicken, you can pan fry or bake 2 lbs of chicken breasts or thighs and chop them up before adding to the salad.
- Romaine lettuce
- Red cabbage: Green cabbage will also work, but I just love the color of red cabbage.
- Carrots
- Sliced almonds: Chopped cashews are also a great option and will add a delicious crunch!
- Natural Delights® pitted medjool dates
- Green onions
You can check out how to make the super tasty and easy Chinese chicken salad dressing recipe below.
Easy and Flavorful Sesame Dressing
The sesame dressing is truly so wonderful and flavorful in this gluten free Chinese chicken salad recipe and it really brings all the flavors and textures together. It’s naturally sweet from the medjool dates and packed with umami from the coconut aminos, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic.
Here are the ingredients in this easy Chinese chicken salad dressing recipe:
- Natural Delights® pitted medjool dates
- coconut aminos
- rice vinegar
- extra virgin olive oil
- sesame oil
- garlic
- ginger
- salt
- pepper
How to Make Chinese Chicken Salad
Once you have all the ingredients together, the instructions are actually very easy and quick! Here’s how to make Chinese chicken salad that’s so flavorful and amazing:
- Combine all ingredients for the dressing in the blender and let the dates soak while you put together the salad.
- Chop up all the ingredients for the salad (except sesame seeds) and combine in a large mixing bowl,
- When the dates are softened, blend the dressing ingredients together until smooth and creamy.
- Pour the sesame dressing over the salad and toss together until combined.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using, and serve.
So easy and flavorful, and it’s a great way to use up rotisserie chicken if you have any to use up!
If you enjoyed this recipe, you might also like…
- Paleo & Whole30 Mandarin Chicken Salad with Coconut Chips
- Hearty Chicken Salad (Paleo, Whole30, Keto)
- Thai Kale Salad with Cashew Dressing (Paleo, Whole30, Vegan)
- Paleo Asian Chicken “Noodle” Salad [Video]
Whole30 Chinese Chicken Salad with Dates (Paleo, Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 2 cups cubed cooked chicken about 2lb raw
- 4 cups romaine lettuce
- 1 cup shredded red cabbage
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- 2 Natural Delights® pitted medjool dates chopped
- 2 green onions chopped
- Optional sesame seeds for garnish
Sesame Dressing
- 2 Natural Delights® pitted medjool dates
- 3 tbsp coconut aminos
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 garlic clove peeled
- 1/2 inch ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients for the sesame dressing in a blender, and let the dates soak and soften while you chop and put together the salad.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for the salad, except sesame seeds.
- Once the dates have softened a bit, blend all the dressing ingredients until smooth and creamy.
- Pour the dressing over the salad, and toss together to coat.
- If using, sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving.
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This was very simple and so satisfying. I added chopped red bell pepper because I had it on hand. I made a big salad, served in individual portions and dressed individually so that the leftovers will keep well for tomorrow without becoming soggy! Thank you!
What a great idea for storage. I’m so glad you liked it!
WOW. I mean…wow. I followed this recipe almost exactly; the only difference is I slightly toasted my almonds on a dry pan before adding them to the salad. But this salad is SO FLAVORFUL, and has such amazing competing textures in it. I cannot recommend this enough for easy meal prep or just a delicious meal. You need to try this!!
Yay!! Thanks so much, Pooja! That means so much coming from you. <3
We like this so much we have almost weekly. I double the dressing recipe as there does not seem to be enough if you follow the recipe. I also marinade the chicken (boneless thighs) in olive oil, coconut aminos, sesame oil and minced garlic for about an hour and then grill. This adds some extra flavor to the chicken that compliments the salad.
Thank you so much! And what a great idea!!
This was delicious! We used our leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and this was a perfect diversion from regular leftovers!
Bought all the ingredients pre-chopped. Threw this together pretty darn quick and it’s GREAT! Will be a regular. (Substituted broccoli slaw for the cabbage)
Great idea!!
This is SO good!! I used poached chicken breasts and meal prepped this for lunches. I put chopped veg in one bowl, kept dressing separate and lettuce chopped and separate and then threw together a portion for lunch. I skipped the toasted almonds and only needed about 2 T of the dressings per salad + 4 oz chicken and that brought the total calories to 375 w/ 35 grams protein. Anyway, that dressing is killer and I’ll totally make this again
This is a winner! We will definitely be adding it to our regular weekly menu. I’m lazy and use frozen ginger cubes from TJ’s so we used 2 ginger cubes and it was just the perfect amount for us.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it!!
Another winner ! We loved this so much we had it 2 nights in a row. Crunch, flavorful and healthy.
This is a meal prep win for lunches! Great for my teen son and for me! And, on regular rotation for dinner. Use Costco rotisserie chicken for extra quick prep with no cooking required on hot days. Amazing flavor and textures!!!
This salad is truly incredible. I’m not a huge date fan and I left it out of the salad itself but used it in the dressing and holy moly is it good! Making it for lunch all week!
Thank you so much!!
Outstanding …. I subbed green cabbage for the red because thats what I had in the fridge … this is going in the rotation, hubby and loved it!
Thank you so much!!
This was wonderful! The dressing was so good I might have to use it for a marinade for other things lol
Yes! I make a double batch to add to so many things. Thanks so much for leaving a review!
Amazing!!! Will be a mid-week rotation regular. I added a pear and a mandarin for sweetness and made the dressing creamier by adding unsweetened sunflower butter and compliant mayonnaise. Such a good recipe!
This salad is amazing! I love the freshness and crunch of the salad. My husband and I love it as an easy work lunch, or a delicious side for dinner. The dressing is our absolute favorite part, it has such a delicious combination of flavors & we often double the dressing because we use probably more than recommended.
Thank you so much for leaving a review! Yes – if you love dressing, definitely double it.