I have been seeing salad recipes with crispy rice for a while now and I had to make one! The basic idea is to take some rice, season it and bake it until it’s crispy before adding to a salad, which adds a nice crispy texture! This is a simple Thai inspired salad with satay chicken in a salad filled with colourful and crunchy ingredients along with a creamy peanut dressing. This salad has a lot of ingredients and steps but everything is really easy and the results are well worth it!
As for the crispy rice, you simply take some cooked rice and mix in soy sauce, chili crisp, and toasted sesame oil before baking it until it’s nice and crispy! It’s a great alternative to croutons or crispy fried onions, etc. The rice does not stay crispy if you leave it in the salad for a while so add them just before serving!
Crunchy Chicken Satay Salad with Crispy Chili Rice and Peanut Dressing
A crunchy and colourful salad with satay chicken and crispy rice!
ingredients
- 2 cups cooked rice, cooled
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce (gluten-free for gluten-free)
- 1 tablespoon chili crisp
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 shallot, finely diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced/grated
- 1 tablespoon ginger, minced/grated
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
- 1 lime (juice and zest)
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce (or soy sauce) (gluten-free for gluten-free)
- 2 tablespoons palm sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1 tablespoon of sriracha
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons palm sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced/grated
- 1 tablespoon ginger, minced/grated
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce (or soy sauce) (gluten-free for gluten-free)
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 4 cups red cabbage, sliced
- 1 cup cucumber, sliced
- 1 cup edamame
- 1 cup carrot, shredded
- 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup mint, chopped
- 4 green onions, sliced
- 1/4 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
For the crispy chili rice:
For the skillet chicken satay:
For the peanut dressing:
For the salad:
directions
- Mix the rice, soy sauce, chili crisp, and toasted sesame oil, spread over a baking pan and bake in a preheated 400F/200C oven until crispy, about 25-35 minutes, mixing half way through.
- Marinate the chicken in the mixture of the remaining ingredients for 20 minutes to overnight.
- Cook the chicken in a skillet over medium heat until cooked, about 10-15 minutes.
- Mix everything well!
- Assemble the salad, toss with the dressing and enjoy!
For the crispy chili rice:
For the skillet chicken satay:
For the peanut dressing:
For the salad:
Option: Replace the lemon zest with lemongrass.
Option: Add 1 red bell pepper, sliced, to the salad.
Note: The salad is also great cold! Store the crispy rice separately and sprinkle on before serving!
Thai Style Quinoa Salad
Thai Grilled Steak Salad
Thai Lemongrass Chicken and Avocado Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing
Thai Black Rice Salad
Thai Peanut Chicken Buddha Bowls
Lemongrass Grilled Chicken Rice Noodle Bowls
Thai Sweet Chili Chicken Buddha Bowls
Vietnamese Summer Roll Salad
Banh Mi Chicken Salad
Chicken Satay Salad in Spicy Peanut Dressing
Mango, Avocado and Grilled Shrimp Salad with a Peanut Dressing
I know I am committing recipe heresy. I print off new recipes every day and make them. People get really angry when you comment on a recipe BEFORE you make it. This one was SO intriguing that I just had to post about how exciting and delicious it sounds. It combines my love of salad with Asian food. How does it get any better than that? I don’t think it’s too many steps. Once you bite into it, I bet we’ll all be pleasantly surprised.
I am gonna try and make it back here once I dig in.
Thanks Kevin.
First of all, this was delicious!! Followed the recipe as written except I left out the shallot. Yes, there are a lot of ingredients and chopping but I do things to reduce time and effort.
1. Rice—I purchase the rice that’s already cooked (2 cups/bag) that you can nuke. Saves time.
2. Chicken—I bought 1lb of boneless skinless breast that is already cubed. So much easier!
3. Garlic—I used bottled minced garlic, although it’s rare that I do this.
4. Ginger—I buy ginger, peel, shave and freeze in approx. 1 TBSP balls. Just pull out of freezer
5. Lime—for the marinade, I used zest and juice of fresh lime. For the peanut dressing I used bottled lime juice from the produce department
6. Cabbage and cuke—sliced myself. Used those mini cukes that don’t require peeling
7. Carrot—bought bagged shredded carrots in produce aisle.
8. Edamame and peanuts—forgot to add but it was still delicious.
Directions:
1. I defrosted the chicken and added marinade the night before. Let marinate overnight.
2. Also the night before—chopped as much of salad as possible and left in fridge overnight
3. Next day: Make the peanut dressing so flavors can meld.
4. I mixed up the rice and baked it.
5. Cooked the chicken & sauce.
I would make this again, but only when there is plenty of time. The crispy rice was new to me. Thanks, Kevin!
This was, as usual, delightful. I’ve been following Kevin for years, and all of his recipes that I’ve tried have been very good. I’ve gotten to the point where I absolutely trust any recipe he publishes. Mind, this one is a lot of work, but still absolutely delicious.