Paleo Crispy Thai Chicken Salad

Paleo Crispy Thai Chicken Salad with apples. Looking for a healthy Paleo Whole30 chicken salad recipe? This Paleo Crispy Thai Chicken Salad is the perfect Whole30 summer salad with crispy chicken breasts or thighs in Thai-inspired salad dressing.

Easy, flavorful, Economical – Paleo Crispy Thai Chicken Salad

Nate and I discovered a restaurant in Brooklyn NY that makes fabulously yummy Thai food. We used to travel to queens for authentic Thai food and now after this new discovery we can satisfy our Thai food craving right in our borough !

This Paleo Crispy Thai Chicken Salad is inspired by Baoburg. In the restaurant it’s made with shredded crispy duck and I reinvent the wheel using leftover rotisserie chicken.

Great way to use up any leftover cooked chicken

Ever wonder what to do with cooked plain chicken breasts? To be frank, I am not a big fan on plain cooked chicken breasts. It’s often dry, flavorless, and unless I season them with tons of dressing, it’s very plain to my taste. .

What inspired me to make this Crispy Thai Chicken Salad (besides the inspiration from Boaburg) is that Nate often buys whole rotisserie chicken. He loves nibbling the chicken throughout the day to satisfy hunger but what often left is the breast part that neither of us know what to do especially after the chicken is refrigerated.

Paleo Crispy Thai Chicken Salad without deep frying

This new discovery gives plain cooked chicken breasts a new life. It makes it exciting again to add flavor and crunch to any cooked/leftover chicken. If you are a chicken salad lover, seriously don’t miss it.

To make Paleo Crispy Thai Chicken Salad is extremely simple. It’s crispy, savory, crunchy, and sweet. The same salad goes well with my Thai-inspired salad dressing as well as Tessemae’s creamy caesar ranch. Amazing !

This Paleo Crispy Thai Chicken Salad is inspired by Thai cuisine so I use shallots in place of onions. I first thin slice the shallots in length wise to fine thin strips and soak them in iced cold water to remove the pungent spicy taste. I shred the cooked chicken into thin strips and season them with little salt, pepper, onion, and garlic powder. The key point is to use dry spice seasonings only. Please feel free to swap the seasonings to your own preference.

Pan fry the shredded chicken in a well heated skillet with avocado oil or ghee butter over medium to medium-low heat until they are crisp crunchy. Check out this article on how to quick sear and sauté correctly using a stainless steel skillet.

Pair the crispy chicken with Granny Smith apples, shallots, scallions, and toasted almond or cashew nuts. I took the dressing from my Thai grilled Steak Salad recipe and add a few tablespoons of pineapple juice to give a hint of natural sweetness. You can also swap my Thai salad dressing for any dressing you prefer. Either way it’ll be a lovely bowl of Crispy Thai Chicken Apple Salad !

So my friends, this Paleo Crispy Thai Chicken Salad is –

Crispy
Crunchy
Easy, quick
Super flavorful
Economical
Great way to use up any cooked chicken
Paleo, Whole30, Gluten-Free

If you give this Paleo Crispy Thai Chicken Salad a try, let me know ! Leave a comment and rate the recipe. And don’t forget to take a picture and tag it #IHeartUmami on Instagram. I’d love to see what you come up with. XOXO !

4.82 from 16 votes

Paleo Crispy Thai Chicken Salad

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Total Time: 30 minutes mins

Servings: 4 servings

Author: ChihYu Smith

Paleo Crispy Thai Chicken Salad with apples. Looking for a healthy Paleo Whole30 chicken salad recipe? This Paleo Crispy Thai Chicken Salad is the perfect Whole30 summer salad with crispy chicken breasts or thighs in Thai-inspired salad dressing.

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Ingredients 

• ▢ ~ 2 cups cooked chicken breasts or thighs, shred to thin strips (I use plain rotisserie chicken that’s seasoned with salt and pepper only)
• ▢ Any dry spice seasonings you like to taste, salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder
• ▢ 1-2 large shallots, thinly sliced lengthwise
• ▢ 2 bulbs scallions, sliced to diagonal shape
• ▢ 1 granny smith apple, remove cord and slice to match stick shape
• ▢ Chopped tomatoes, optional
• ▢ Toasted almonds or cashew nuts, optional

Thai-inspired dressing:

• ▢ 3 small garlic cloves, finely chopped
• ▢ 1 red fresno or serrano chili pepper, seeds removed, finely chopped
• ▢ 4 tbsp coconut aminos
• ▢ 1.5 tbsp Red Boat fish sauce
• ▢ Half of one whole lime juice
• ▢ 2 tbsp or more pineapple juice
• ▢ 2 tsp red pepper, hot sauce

Instructions 

• Shallot: Thin slice shallot(s) to thin strips (lengthwise) and soak them in iced cold water to remove spicy pungent taste while preparing other items.
  
• Protein: Shred cooked chicken (or chopped steak, pork) and season them with you favorite dry spice seasonings. Toss well. Pre-heat a large skillet until it’s well-heated. Add 1.5 tbsp cooking fat of your choice, lower the heat to medium and pan fry the protein strips without disturbing until the bottom side is golden crispy. Pan fry the flip side until your desired crispy texture. You might need to fry them in separate batches.
  
• Dressing: In the meantime, in a small saucepan, gently warm up the ingredients under “Thai-inspired dressing” over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Set aside to cool.
  
• Serve: To serve, drain shallots and combine them with sliced apple, scallions, tomatoes, crispy chicken, and toasted nuts. Drizzle with dressing right before serving. Serve in room temperature or slightly chilled.
  

Notes

Prefer a non-spicy dressing ? I love Tessemae’s creamy caesar dressing and it works well with my Thai Chicken Salad combo. Just swap the dressing for creamy caesar and you’ll have a completely different flavor bowl of Crispy Chicken Salad. How neat ! :))

 

This is a great dish to use up and dress up any leftover protein. You can use diced/chopped steak or pork or any protein you choose. If the protein is well-seasoned, feel free to pan fry them directly without adding any dry spice seasonings until they are golden crispy. Add more oil to the skillet if need be.

 

The nutritional label is calculated single serving without any dry spice seasonings and toasted almonds.

Nutrition

Calories: 131kcal, Carbohydrates: 3g, Protein: 22g, Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 59mg, Sodium: 667mg, Potassium: 257mg, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 165IU, Vitamin C: 8.3mg, Calcium: 16mg, Iron: 0.9mg

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Thai

Keyword: Crispy Chicken Salad, Crispy Thai Chicken Salad, Paleo Crispy Thai Chicken Salad, Whole30 Thai Chicken Salad

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?Tag @iheartumami.ny on Instagram and hashtag it #iheartumami.

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