Chicken Satay Crispy Rice Salad Bowls (with Peanut Sauce!)
🥗🥜🥬 Chicken Satay Crispy Rice Salad Bowls are loaded with so much TEXTURE and layers of FLAVOR! Juicy, curry-spiced chicken along with edamame, cucumbers, cabbage, cilantro, and more. Rice is baked until crispy and it truly MAKES this dish come alive! The finishing touch is a simple homemade peanut sauce dressing you’re going to LOVE!
Easy Chicken Satay Crispy Rice Salad Bowls Recipe
- Getting on the crispy rice trend is the best thing you’re going to do for your salads! That’s right, crispy rice achieves its lovely texture by baking it in the oven for about 20-25 minutes. It adds such great texture that once you try it, you’ll wonder why you haven’t always been doing this.
- There’s also juicy, seasoned chicken which is simply and quickly pan-seared in about 5-7 minutes. You could also bake it or air fry it, but those take a bit longer.
- Salads are so flexible by nature in terms of what ingredients to include. I used bagged coleslaw mix for convenience because there’s less to chop, but any type of lettuce or greens will work. Combined with crunchy cucumbers, edamame for a protein boost, and green onions and cilantro for even more flavor.
- I finish off the crispy rice salad bowls with a drizzle of homemade peanut sauce dressing. I use my tried-and-true peanut sauce recipe that I use with my Chicken Satay, Crunchy Peanut Chicken Salad, Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps, and more. But you can use store bought or another favorite salad dressing.
- So while there are some distinct components to really layer and build the flavors, textures, and overall richness of this salad, nothing is tricky and the whole thing can come together in 30 minutes as long as you’re multi-tasking.
Ingredients in Crispy Rice Salad with Chicken Satay
Rice: If you have leftover, day-old, cooked rice, this is the best – similar to making fried rice, best to use old rice because it naturally dries out in the fridge as time passes, which makes it crisp up better. I use jasmine rice, but basmati rice, basic white rice, brown rice, or your favorite rice is fine. Drizzle with oil and chili crunch oil for a bit of heat.
Chicken: Boneless skinless chicken breasts (or boneless skinless chicken thighs) and olive oil, and seasoned with soy sauce and curry powder. If you’re not a fan of curry, you can use poultry seasoning, all-purpose seasoning, or another seasoning you like. Want to use tofu, salmon, or just omit the major protein? That’s perfectly fine.
Salad Components: Coleslaw mix which is a mixture of green cabbage, red cabbage, and carrots is quick and easy. I like to use English cucumber, edamame for extra protein and texture, cilantro, and peanuts. Use any veggies you have on hand because this is a flexible salad recipe after all! Bell peppers, sugar snap pea, bean sprouts, radishes, extra carrots, tomatoes; fresh basil is a great swap for cilantro.
Peanut Sauce Dressing: It’s amazing and is a mixture of creamy peanut butter, toasted sesame oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, and more. If you don’t want to make it and want to use another salad dressing or dressing of your choice, that’s completely fine.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How To Make Crispy Rice Salad Bowls
- Rice: Place the rice on a large baking sheet, drizzle with oil and chili crunch, bake for about 20-25 minutes or until crispy, stirring once midway through.
- Chicken: Combine the chicken, soy sauce, oil, curry powder in a large bowl and toss to coat. Cook it in a large skillet over medium-high heat for about 5-7 minutes, or until done.
- Salad: Add the fresh ingredients to a large bowl and then top with the crispy rice and cooked chicken.
- Dressing: Whisk everything together, drizzle as desired, and enjoy your crispy rice salad with chicken!
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for step-by-step photos and process shots of the cooking process.
Peanut Sauce Dressing (halve the amounts below if you don’t use much dressing or don’t want extra)
- ⅓ cup cup creamy peanut butter, (use a heaping 1/3 cup, I use Skippy or Jif, natural style peanut butter is fine; almond butter, cashew butter, seed butters, etc. are also fine)
- ¼ cup honey, or to taste
- ¼ cup toasted sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 to 2 teaspoons ground ginger, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon frehly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced or pressed, optional
- pinch cayenne pepper, optional and to taste
- optional 2 to 4 tablespoons coconut milk, or as desired for a thinner consistency
- Rice – Preheat oven to 400F. To a large baking sheet lined with parchment, add the rice in a flat, even layer. Evenly drizzle with olive oil, chili crunch, toss to distribute. Chili Crisp Tip – The chili oil in it not only adds a smoky depth but also enhances the color of the rice. Start with a small amount and adjust to taste. If omitting chili oil, replace it with an extra tablespoon of olive oil to maintain crispiness.
- Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until as crispy as desired. Toss once midway through baking to ensure even cooking.
- Chicken – To a large bowl, add the chicken, soy sauce, oil, curry powder, salt, pepper, and toss to combine.
- To a large skillet, add a bit of oil, the chicken, and cook over medium-high heat for about 5-7 minutes, or until chicken is done and cooked through. Flip chicken frequently to ensure even cooking. When done, set aside.
- Salad – To a large bowl, or individual bowls and divided evenly or as desired, add the coleslaw mix, edamame, cucumbers, top with roasted peanuts, cilantro, salt and pepper as desired. Add the crispy rice and cooked chicken.
- Peanut Sauce Dressing – To a medium bowl or 2-cup measuring cup, add all ingredients, whisk aggressively until smooth. Taste, check for seasoning and flavor balance, and make any necessary adjustments (i.e. more honey, more peanut butter, more salt, more sesame oil, etc.). If you like your sauce on the thicker side you may want to omit the coconut milk. When ready drizzle over the salad, as desired. Extra peanut sauce will keep airtight for up to 10 days in the fridge.
Storage: As with most salads, they’re best enjoyed when freshly made and served. For a meal prep option, you could try keeping the components separate until serving and then combine them, noting the crispy rice will lose its texture if you refrigerate it. The peanut sauce will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 10 days.
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 794kcal, Carbohydrates: 64g, Protein: 48g, Fat: 39g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g, Monounsaturated Fat: 19g, Trans Fat: 0.02g, Cholesterol: 109mg, Sodium: 2017mg, Potassium: 1137mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 20g, Vitamin A: 280IU, Vitamin C: 18mg, Calcium: 101mg, Iron: 3mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
