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Home Recipes Course Lunch & Dinner Salads Thai Salad with Grilled Chicken
GF Gluten-Free DF Dairy Free

Thai Salad with Grilled Chicken

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Posted:2/19/21
Updated:4/27/22
loaded thai salad with grilled chicken on plate with fork

Healthy Thai Salad with grilled chicken and spicy thai peanut dressing! This Panera classic just got a homemade upgrade. Gluten-free friendly. 

loaded thai salad with grilled chicken on plate with fork this recipe

Anyone else love a good ‘ole Panera salad?

Their Thai Chicken Salad was always one of my go-to’s.

Luckily it’s really easy to re-create this healthy salad at home and add in some more veggies and other protein options.

Panera Inspired Spicy Thai Salad

grilled chicken thai salad with peanut dressing in jar

Vegetables

You can of course use your choice of salad greens and veggies, but I went with romaine, bell peppers, edamame, red cabbage and carrots.

Protein

Grilled chicken is the traditional protein choice here but feel free to sub another vegetarian, plant-based protein option like tofu or tempeh.

Toppings

  • avocado, because who doesn’t want avocado on their salad?
  • crunchy wontons, for a Panera-like feel.
  • cashew pieces or peanuts, for a little crunch
  • cilantro, for a little added flavor

Homemade Thai Peanut Dressing

The Thai peanut dressing really makes this salad and I’m always a big fan of homemade dressing recipes. You’ll need:

  • peanut butter
  • coconut aminos or tamari or soy sauce
  • honey or maple syrup
  • sesame oil and rice vingar
  • minced garlic and ginger paste
  • lime juice and a little milk or water for thinning
  • Sriracha, for a little spice if you’d like

You can customize the flavors as you’d like, sub in cashew butter or almond butter as needed.

Use a small blender (like the NutriBullet) or a deep bowl with a small whisk to make the dressing.

grilled chicken thai salad with peanut dressing in jar

So this Thai inspired salad is basically just like your Panera favorite but with a few additions like the red cabbage and avocado.

It’s a great salad to prep ahead of time and have for lunch throughout the week.

Meal Prep Tips

  • Wash, dry and chop all of your veggies.
  • Grill the chicken or prepare the plant protein.
  • Line up storage containers, like these.
  • Add in romaine, veggies and top with protein.

If using romaine lettuce, you could drizzle on the dressing up to one day in advance and it will still hold its texture.

If you’re using mixed greens like spring mix and spinach, I’d store the peanut dressing in separate containers, like these, and add to the salad once you’re ready to consume.

grilled chicken thai salad with carrot ribbons, cabbage, edamame and avocado

More Healthy Salad Recipes

  • Easy Chickpea Salad – quick and easy
  • Strawberry Mango Salad with Grilled Chicken – perfect dinner salad
  • Thai Cashew Quinoa Salad – great for meal prep!
  • Shredded Brussels Sprouts Kale Salad with lemon vinaigrette – reader favorite

If you make this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and review below. It helps others find and learn more about the recipe too! Xx Ashley

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Thai Chicken Salad with spicy peanut dressing

grilled chicken thai salad with peanut dressing in jar
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A healthy Thai Salad with grilled chicken and spicy thai peanut dressing! This Panera classic just got a homemade upgrade. Gluten-free friendly. 

  • Author: Ashley
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 4-6 1x
  • Category: salad
  • Method: blender
  • Cuisine: thai-american
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Ingredients

Scale

For the Salad

  • 1.5 pounds chicken breast
  • 1/2 tablespoon avocado oil, for cooking chicken
  • salt & pepper, to season chicken
  • 8 cups chopped romaine
  • 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 cup shelled edamame
  • 1 cup shredded red cabbage, diced
  • 2 orange carrots, shredded (I used vegetable peeler)
  • 1/2 cup cashew pieces
  • 1 large avocado, sliced
  • wonton toppers (optional)

Thai Peanut Dressing

  • 1/3 cup peanut butter
  • 3 tablespoons coconut aminos (can sub soy sauce or tamari)
  • 2 tablespoons honey (or maple syrup)
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon ginger paste (or 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger)
  • juice of 1 lime 
  • 2 tablespoons non-dairy milk (or water)
  • 1/2 teaspoon Sriracha (optional, for heat)

Instructions

  1. Prepare the chicken: Heat cast iron skillet or grill pan over medium heat. Once pan is hot, add about 1/2 tablespoon of oil. Trim any extra fat off chicken breast. Season chicken with salt & pepper; cook on one side for 3-4 minutes before flipping to other side and cooking through. Cook until middle is no longer pink or internal temperature is 165ºF. Place on cutting board and slice chicken.
  2. Prepare the salad: In large bowl add all ingredients for salad, except avocado and wontons. Toss with tongs to mix salad together well.
  3. Make the dressing: add all ingredients into small blender or food processor. Process until smooth – add milk or water 1 TBS at a time if thinner consistency is desired.
  4. Portion out salad for desired servings and sliced avocado and wontons if using. Top with grilled chicken and drizzle with Thai peanut dressing. Enjoy!

Notes

Store leftover dressing in covered container in fridge up to 1 week.

This salad is great for meal prep! Portion out salad into individual containers for easy packed lunch or dinner salad.

VEGETARIAN SUB: Feel free to sub chicken for tempeh or organic tofu.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1/6th with dressing
  • Calories: 415
  • Sugar: 12
  • Sodium: 383
  • Fat: 20
  • Saturated Fat: 3
  • Unsaturated Fat: 8
  • Trans Fat: 0
  • Carbohydrates: 25
  • Fiber: 5
  • Protein: 35
  • Cholesterol: 65

Keywords: spicy thai salad panera, thai peanut salad dressing, thai salad

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @fitmittenkitchen on Instagram and hashtag it #fitmittenkitchen

This post contains some affiliate links. Should you choose to purchase through said links, I will receive a small commission. Thank you for your support in helping keep Fit Mitten Kitchen up and running. 

About Ashley

"Ashley Walterhouse is the founder of Fit Mitten Kitchen, based in the Greater Lansing Area of Michigan, AKA “the Mitten.” Ashley grew up as a picky eater but later discovered that eating healthy was actually easy and fun. She started FMK in 2015 as a way to share her newfound love of developing healthier recipes for all to enjoy."

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