Applebees Oriental Chicken Salad

This delicious Copycat Oriental Chicken Salad from Applebees is made with breaded chicken, cabbage, romaine, sliced almonds, and more tossed in a flavorful Asian dressing!

If you need a fun way to switch up your typical salad, try giving it some oriental flavor! You can try this Applebee’s copycat, Asian Ramen Salad, or Chinese Pasta Salad.

Applebees oriental chicken salad

copycat recipe

Who here loves Salad? I’m not lying when I say that I order salad 90% of the time when we go out to eat. So yummy!

I’ve noticed that I have my favorite salad at each restaurant, and my favorite from Applebee’s is their Oriental Chicken Salad. Fortunately, we were able to find a copycat recipe that tastes just like the real thing!!

My favorite part of this salad are all the extra goodies in it, including almonds and the dressing. It’s so hearty and has so many great asian flavors in it. If you’re a salad lover you’ll definitely like this!

Crispy chicken ingredients
Applebees Oriental salad chicken

homemade oriental Dressing

This tasty oriental dressing is made of just five ingredients!

  • honey
  • rice vinegar
  • mayo
  • dijon mustard
  • sesame oil

Simply mix the ingredients together, and refrigerate until you’re ready to pour it over the salad. It might be a good idea to serve the dressing on the side so that people can add as little or as much as they’d like. It’s also good so any leftover salad lasts longer in the fridge.

Homemade oriental salad dressing

VARIATIONS + TIPS

Oriental Salad Variations: Salads are so easy to adjust to fit your favorite flavors and this one is no different. However, with too many alterations, it may not be considered a copycat, but that’s ok. As long as you love it! Here are a few of our ideas:

  • Chicken: instead of Panko crumbs you can use crushed corn flakes or Ritz crackers
  • Mandarin oranges
  • Chopped roasted cashews
  • Toasted sesame seeds
  • Diced bell pepper

Can I make this ahead of time? Yes, you can make this up to a day ahead of time. Also, store the chicken in its own airtight container.

Place all other ingredients in the salad bowl, cover with a paper towel to help soak up excess moisture and cover with plastic wrap or a lid. Right before serving remove the lid and paper towel, then add the chicken and dressing.

Can I air fry the chicken? Of course! Using an air fryer is easy and a little healthier. Simply preheat the air fryer to 350° F. Arrange strips in the basket, making sure they are not touching. Cook the chicken for about 12 minutes or until the internal temperature is 165° F. You may need to cook the chicken in batches.

You can also bake them in the oven. Preheat oven to 425° F and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Applebees oriental chicken salad recipe

For more salad recipes, check out:

Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad Recipe

4.92 from 45 votes
This delicious copycat Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad is topped with breaded chicken and tossed in a flavorful Asian dressing!
Course Salad
Cuisine Chinese
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 819 kcal
Author Lil’ Luna

Ingredients

Dressing

  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil

Fried Chicken

  • 2 chicken breast
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup panko
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 3 cups vegetable oil for frying

Salad

  • 4 cups romaine lettuce chopped
  • 1/2 cup red cabbage chopped
  • 1/2 cup napa cabbage chopped
  • 1 carrot shredded
  • 3 tablespoons sliced almonds

Instructions
 

  • Blend together all dressing ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve.
  • In a large saucepan, preheat oil over medium-high heat.
  • While that is warming up, cut your chicken breast into several long thin strips. Set aside.
  • Beat egg and milk together in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, panko, salt, and pepper. Dip the strips in the egg mixture, and then into the flour, coating completely.
  • When oil is hot, carefully add chicken strips and fry for 3-4 minutes or until cooked through or golden brown. Set on a paper towel to cool. Once cool, cut into bite-size pieces.
  • To prepare your salad, combine the romaine, red cabbage, napa cabbage, and carrots. Add chopped chicken pieces and sprinkle with almonds. Top with delicious honey oriental dressing and enjoy!

Video

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About Kristyn

My name is Kristyn and I’m the mom of SIX stinkin’ cute kids and the wife to my smokin’ hot hubby, Lo. My mom’s maiden name is Luna, and I’m one of the many crafty “Lil’ Lunas” in the fam. On this site I like to share all things creative - from recipes to home decor to gifts and home decor ideas. Welcome!

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Comments:

  1. 5 stars
    Hi,, Kristyn! I love, love this salad and haven’t made it in some time (but don’t know why???) It’s amazing! Your sweet family looks so cute and loving. You certainly have your hands full. Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipe! That will be our dinner tonight bc I have one lonely chicken breast in the ref that I had to think of something for dinner to make with it. Have a wonderful spring and summer!

    1. Awe, thank you so much for your kind words. You are so sweet! That makes my day! I hope you enjoyed this salad for dinner and I hope you have a wonderful spring and summer season as well!

    1. If the oil is not burnt. I save it.Which means it has to be clear. I strain it and put it in a jar and put it in the fridge until the next time I need to fry chicken. I’ve done this for many years and my mother did it and so far we’ve had no problems .

  2. 5 stars
    Just mixed up this dressing. It is delicious! Can’t wait to have it for dinner tonight.I didn’t have sesame oil on hand so I used olive oil and sprinkled in some sesame seeds. I always make my chicken with corn flake crumb breading, it’s always so crispy. Thanks for the dressing recipe!

    1. Yes I use chow mein noodles in this recipe. I include it in the directions but not in the ingredient list. Thanks for catching that! I will make the change. 🙂

  3. 5 stars
    I make this with air fryer chicken to cut some calories & make it a tad bit healthier! It’s perfection!!!

  4. 4 stars
    Great salad and dressing, but I won’t bake the chicken next time. It was bland and was not crispy or brown much at all.

    1. I’m sorry the chicken didn’t turn out as you had hoped. Thanks so much for trying it! I’m glad you liked the salad and dressing.

  5. 5 stars
    This was delicious! I moved overseas and have been missing all of my restaurant faves. The dressing was bang-on. I couldn’t get the chow mein noodles so subbed out sesame snaps.
    It was so good, my husband ate my second serving! ☹️

    1. Oh I’m so glad you enjoyed the salad. And also happy to hear you could make something similar to what you love and miss back home!

  6. 5 stars
    I lighten this recipe up by making my own breadcrumb w/low cal 647 bread & then doing my chicken in the air fryer. I also use light mayo & it’s perfectly delicious!

  7. I love the dressing. but the recipe needs to be corrected.

    The description of the recipe says “This delicious Copycat Oriental Chicken Salad from Applebees is made with breaded chicken, cabbage, romaine, sliced almonds, cucumber, and crunchy chow mein, tossed in a flavorful asian dressing!” However when you look at the recipe ingredients there is no mention of cucumber of chow mein.

  8. 5 stars
    My husband and I loved this. Taste very similar to Applebee’s salad which I love. I just grill the chicken an not fry it. Great recipe! Will definitely mak3 this again

    1. Yay!! So glad you enjoyed the salad. Grilled chicken is a great option too. I think Applebee’s has a version of this with grilled chicken, too? Anyway, I’m so happy to hear you liked it!

  9. 5 stars
    I made this for dinner tonight since it is hotter than blazes here in St. Louis today! It was a nice refreshing meal. I did cheat a bit and bought a prepackaged salad mix that had all the cabbage, lettuce and carrots.

    Everyone loved it! Now I don’t have to go to Applebees to get it! Thanks so much for another great recipe!

  10. What is your opinion of using prepackaged Cole slaw mix in place of the cabbage and carrots? Going to make this tomorrow for lunch.

    1. You could certainly try it! I haven’t substituted with that before, but it may work just great. You’ll have to let us know.

  11. 5 stars
    I love this salad. I order it every time I go there (which isnt often enough). I was thrilled when I found this, as I have enjoyed every other recipe of yours that I have tried. I actually buzzed by and bought a cup of their dressing to do a side by side comparison. I will admit, I doubled the sesame oil of the dressing for a bit more flavor and it comes out BETTER than theirs!

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