Copycat Chinois Salad Recipe (with Video)
One of my favorite restaurant salads is Wolfgang Puck’s Chinois Salad – a classic Chinese chicken salad that blows all fast food imitators out of the water. Our Copycat Chinois Salad recipe stays true to it’s gourmet roots with a delicious homemade sesame ginger vinaigrette and a fresh, flavorful mix of fruit and veggies topped with crunchy sesame seeds and fried wonton ribbons.
Chinois Chicken Salad Recipe
I’ve had variations of this salad over the years but by far the best was at Wolfgang Puck Express at Disney Springs. It had a simple description (“cabbage, romaine, baby greens, pickled ginger, cashews, crispy wontons, ginger-sesame vinaigrette”) but I wanted a salad to balance out the pizza and pasta we were also ordering – and I’m so glad I picked this one!
And don’t just take my word for how delicious this salad is – celebrity Chef Curtis Stone even calls it the “one recipe we wish he wrote.”
This Chinese Chicken salad is the perfect blend of sweet, tangy and umami, with the crunch of the veggies, fried wonton strips and almonds make it so satisfying. The little bursts of sweetness from the juicy mandarin oranges really balances out this salad, but if you’re not a huge orange fan swap it out for some mango.
The real hero of our Chinois chicken salad is the homemade sesame ginger dressing. You can definitely use store-bought, but you will not regret making it from scratch. I even use it on pre-made coleslaw mix when I’m not in the mood to whip up a more complicated salad and it is so satisfying.
Adding chicken takes this dish from a starter or side dish to a full meal. If storing your salad in the fridge, I like to keep the cooked chicken separate from the vegetables until ready to enjoy and marinate it in a bit of the vinaigrette. (For even more flavor, marinate uncooked chicken with a bit of the dressing and then cook it to use in the salad.)
Budget-saving tip: I don’t use pickled ginger in any other recipes, so I just hit up my grocery store’s sushi counter and ask to buy a small container of pickled ginger. They usually just give it to me, but even if you had to pay 50cents for the container, it’s cheaper than buying a full jar for one recipe. You can also just save any leftover pickled ginger from a sushi order to use in the salad dressing.
For the Kardashian Chinois Chicken Salad: The Kardashian version is even simpler than this salad:
- use a mix of romaine and iceberg lettuce in place of the cabbage, raddichio and mixed greens our salad calls for
- skip the sesame seeds and almonds
- replace the fried wonton strips with chow mein noodles
- and finally, theirs incorporates the pickled ginger into the salad, while ours uses it in the salad dressing.
Make it allergy-friendly: You can make this allergen-free by swapping out the peanut oil for an extra virgin olive oil swapping out the tahini for sunflower seed butter, and leaving out sesame seeds and almonds/cashews. There will be a slight taste difference with these adaptions.
More Copycat Recipes You’ll Love:
Check out our quick video to see how to make this Copycat Chinois Chicken Salad (and that amazing sesame-ginger dressing) for yourself – and then don’t forget to scroll down to grab your free printable recipe card:
Ingredients for Copycat Wolfgang Puck Chinese Chicken Salad
For the sesame ginger dressing:
- Soy Sauce
- Rice Wine Vinegar
- Dijon Mustard <– use Chinese Mustard for a more authentic copycat recipe
- Egg yolk, optional
- Honey
- Tahini
- Pickled Ginger, chopped
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Chili Oil
- Peanut Oil
For the Salad:
- Mandarin Oranges
- Napa Cabbage
- Raddichio, optional
- Shredded Carrots
- Mixed Greens
- Cooked, Shredded Chicken
- Fried Wonton Strips
- Silvered Almonds
- Sesame Seeds
Tip: this vinaigrette makes enough for 12-15 servings. Leave out the egg yolk if it makes you squeamish.
Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful
- High-powered smoothie-style blender
- Large salad bowl
- Sharp kitchen knife <– this is the set I use
- Vegetable shredder or mandolin
- Mason jar or dressing container
- Measuring cups and spoons
How to Make an Easy Chinois Salad
Note: if not using pre-made wontons strips, to prepare the 2 cups crisp fried wontons, fill a small pot with peanut oil over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the wontons in 1/2 cup increments, trying to avoid them touching or sticking together. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper-towel lined plate.
Combine the soy sauce, rice wine, mustard, egg yolk, honey, sesame paste, ginger, salt, pepper and chili oil in blender. Add half of the peanut oil, taste and adjust as needed.
Set dressing aside as you prep the fruit and vegetables.
Chop the mango and chicken. Thinly slice the cabbage and raddicio. I like to use a Y-shaped vegetable shredder for the carrots, but you can use a spiralizer or mandolin.
Place all vegetables, fruit and chicken in a large salad bowl. Add 1/2 of the vinaigrette and taste, adding more as needed.
Serve the salad with the sesame seeds, silvered almonds and fried wontons in separate bowls.
Makes 6 lunch-sized portions.
Pin this Delicious Copycat Chinois Salad:
Grab your free printable recipe card for our Copycat Chinois Salad:
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Sugar, Spice and Glitter.
Copycat Chinois Salad Recipe
A healthy Copycat Chinois Chicken Salad with crunchy wonton strips, toasted sesame seeds and an easy sesame-ginger dressing. A filling and healthy salad inspired by Wolfgang Puck's Chinese Chicken Salad.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup rice wine vinegar
- ⅓ cup Dijon Mustard
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 1 Tablespoon tahini
- 2 Tablespoons pickled ginger, chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 Tablespoon chili oil
- ¾ cup peanut oil
For the Salad:
- 1 medium mango or 2 small mandarins, segmented
- 1 small Napa cabbage (approx 5 cups)
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 head radicchio
- 4 cups mixed greens or watercress
- 3 lb. cooked skinless chicken breast
- 2 cups crispy wonton strips (see note for homemade)
- 1/4 cup silvered almonds or cashews
- 2 Tablespoon Toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Combine the soy sauce, rice wine, mustard, egg yolk, honey, sesame paste, ginger, salt, pepper and chili oil in blender. Add half of the peanut oil, taste and adjust as needed.
- Set dressing aside as you prep the fruit and vegetables.
- Chop the mango and chicken. Thinly slice the cabbage and raddicio. I like to use a Y-shaped vegetable shredder for the carrots, but you can use a spiralizer or mandolin.
- Place all vegetables, fruit and chicken in a large salad bowl. Add 1/2 of the vinaigrette and taste, adding more as needed.
- Serve the salad with the sesame seeds, silvered almonds and fried wontons in separate bowls.
- Makes 6 lunch-sized portions.
Notes
Note: to prepare the 2 cups crisp fried wontons, fill a small pot with peanut oil over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the wontons in 1/2 cup increments, trying to avoid them touching or sticking together. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper-towel lined plate.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 890Total Fat: 50gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 37gCholesterol: 224mgSodium: 1490mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 4gSugar: 18gProtein: 78g
Sugar, Spice and Glitter uses an auto-generate nutrition calculator. Nutrition information isn’t always accurate unless analyzed in a scientific lab, so these should be considered more of a guideline than medical information.
What is your favorite indulgent salad recipe? Is there a restaurant salad you’d love to see us recreate?
For more delicious salads, check out our full salad recipe collection here:
For more ways to enjoy chicken, check out our full chicken recipe collection here:
Original image from 2016: