Asian Chicken Salad: A Healthy 20-Minute Lunch
Enjoy a healthy lunch with our 20-minute Asian Chicken Edamame Salad recipe! It’s a tasty way to reach your 2019 health goals while still loving what you eat.
Now that the heavy gravies, creamy potatoes, and rich chocolates of the holidays have come and gone, it’s time to return to the fresh goodness of healthy meals. A great way to get back in the routine of cooking and eating healthy is to pick a few easy lunch recipes that are delicious, yet take almost no time to prepare.
Luckily, we have the perfect recipe to help you on your way to a healthy 2019! Our quick Asian Chicken Edamame Salad takes only 20 minutes to prepare and is full of essential vitamins and minerals. The carrots, edamame, lettuce, chicken, and roasted peanuts in this salad will give you the brain fuel and lasting energy you need for a productive day.
And, with our delicious ginger-soy vinaigrette to top it off, you won’t believe you actually considered going out to buy a salad during your lunch break.
If you want an easy way back into healthy eating so you can achieve your 2019 goals, follow the tips and tricks for our new favorite lunchtime salad recipe below!
Meal Planning Smarts
- Save even more time by using rotisserie chicken instead! This shortcut will shave off any cooking time, making this a super easy, no-cook 15-minute lunch. Use the remainder of the rotisserie chicken on any of these recipes.
- This meal is already easy on the wallet, but if you’re looking for a more budget-friendly option, swap out the chicken for cubed tofu, which is just as satisfying. You can learn how to easily prep tofu with this video here:
How to Prepare Tofu
Learn how to prep and cook tofu the right way with this short video.
Prepping Smarts
- Since ginger is an essential flavor in Asian cuisine, this ingredient is a must in this Asian-inspired recipe! We have a short 1-minute video that will teach you the most efficient way to peel, chop, and grate fresh ginger here:
How to Peel, Grate and Chop Ginger
See how easily we peel ginger and then grate it or chop it.
- Learn how to easily grate carrots for Asian recipes or any slaw or salad with this short tutorial:
How to Grate Carrots
Learn how to use a food processor to quickly grate carrots.
- Learning how to properly tenderize meats is a skill any carnivore will use for the rest of their life. This method to prep chicken breasts allows the meat to be tender as well as infuses even more flavor into every bite:
How to Season & Tenderize Proteins with a Fork
Maximize flavor and tenderize proteins with this little trick.
Equipment Smarts
- If your kitchen doesn’t have a good food processor, it isn’t quite complete. While blenders have one fixed blade, food processors use interchangeable blades and disks to adapt to all of your cooking needs. This appliance will finish repetitive tasks like chopping, slicing, grinding, or mixing in mere seconds and perfectly grate carrots for this meal!
- If it’s not the right time to invest in a food processor yet, a good box grater can help you grate cheeses, zest lemon and orange peels, as well as grate carrots for this salad recipe. This box grater is so convenient because the two sides detach for individual use and super easy (and safe!) cleaning.
- To bring out the most flavor in this Asian salad with effortless speed, you’ll want to use a great wok. Since this versatile Chinese cookware is perfect for stir-frying – as well as other cooking techniques such as pan-frying and braising – you will get plenty of use out of it if you have one in your arsenal of kitchen tools!
For more kitchen and equipment and tool smarts, visit our Essential Kitchen Cookware and Tools
Ingredients
- Ginger - 1 tsp, grated (opt)
- Rice vinegar - 2 tsp
- Soy sauce - 2 tsp
- Honey - 1/2 tsp
- Sesame oil, toasted - 1 tsp
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp
- Carrots - 8 oz, grated
- Chicken breast, boneless and skinless - 1 lb, cubed
- Edamame - 1 cup, shelled
- Peanuts, roasted and unsalted - 1 cup
- Lettuce, Bibb or iceberg - 4 large leaves
Instructions
Prep
- Make vinaigrette – Grate ginger. Whisk together ginger, vinegar, soy sauce, and honey. Add toasted sesame oil and first part of cooking oil while whisking. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Carrots – Grate carrots with a food processor or a box grater. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
- Chicken – Cube chicken. Tenderize with a fork and season with some salt and pepper. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
Make
- Heat a wok with second part of cooking oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and saute until chicken is cooked through and lightly browned on the outside, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Allow chicken to cool for ~5 minutes.
- Toss chicken with vinaigrette, edamame, and carrots. Add peanuts on top.
- Serve chicken salad spooned into lettuce leaves. Enjoy!
A little note:
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