Spicy Asian-Cajun Chicken Salad Croissandwich

This Spicy Cajun-Asian Chicken Salad Croissandwich is quick and easy to make and great for meal prep! Creamy Cajun spiced chicken salad with an Asian twist, and butter lettuce, tomato, and cucumber slices all in between of the butteriest croissant ever!

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Hi friends! 👋

A few weeks ago, I shared my Spicy Grilled Asian-Cajun Chicken Skewers recipe with you, which I hope you all loved as much as I do!

Today, I’m sharing a twist I did on that recipe. And guys, I can honestly say that this is the easiest and most delicious sandwich I’ve made up until now! ❤️❤️❤️

HERE’S WHAT WE HAVE GOING ON:

• Shredded Cajun and cayenne spiced pan-seared chicken breasts
• ….tossed with garlic, ginger, and onion slices
• …… and sauced up with soy sauce, spicy vinegar, and sesame oil
• …and of course, creamy dreamy mayo for the base – gotta ♡ that mayo!
• Juicy tomato slices
• Cooling cucumber slices
• Crunchy fresh butter lettuce
• And all that enclosed in the most buttery, soft-on-the-inside and crisp-on-the-outside croissant ever!

Just look at that behemoth of a beauty. Totally makes me want to faceplant right into her spicy creamy chicken filling and big buttery croissant lips like right about NOW. 🤤

The best part about this recipe is that I always have all the ingredients for it on hand already (you probably do too!). So this sandwich is quick and easy to make whenever I’m short on time and need to whip up a quick lunch. 👌

HOW TO MAKE THIS DELICIOUS SANDWICH IN SEVEN SIMPLE STEPS:

Flatten the chicken breasts: So first things first – the chicken. Place a layer of cling wrap on a chopping board, then place a chicken breast piece on top, followed by another piece of cling wrap on top. (The cling wrap helps to prevent the breasts from sticking to the board.)

Then, flatten the chicken breasts out by using the flat side of a meat mallet and pounding on them gently until they are about half an inch thick and even. By the way, you can also use a rolling pin to achieve this if you don’t have a meat mallet.

Why are we doing this? Flattening the breasts out helps for more even cooking and prevents them from curling up in the pan too much. Chicken breasts have a bad rep for cooking unevenly – dried-out and tough overcooked bottom tips, and juicy perfectly cooked tops. 🤦‍♀️🙅‍♀️ We want the whole thing cooked evenly here so don’t skip this step!

Season: Next, season the chicken breasts with some Cajun seasoning, ground cayenne for a bit of heat, and good ol’ salt and pepper. Make sure to rub all sides with the seasonings and that the chicken breasts are fully coated.

Cook: Next, heat a bit of olive oil (or you can use whichever cooking oil you prefer) in a nonstick cooking pan or pan grill. By the way, you can also bake them if you prefer and I have included instructions on how to in the notes of this recipe. Then, add the chicken breasts and cook on both sides for a couple of minutes, turning once, until no longer pink on the inside. Transfer the chicken breasts once they’re cooked through to a chopping board, and allow them to cool for a couple of minutes.

Chop: While the chicken breasts are cooling, chop up the minced garlic, ginger, and onion.

Shred: Once the chicken breasts are cool enough to handle, transfer them to a large bowl and shred the meat using two forks (or your hands).

Make the chicken salad: Now it’s time to add the aromatics, the base, and Asian sauces/condiments to bring it all together!

• Aromatics: Add the minced garlic, ginger, and sliced onion. Mix it all up to combine.
• Base: Then throw in some dollops of mayo – use low fat if you like but I prefer regular mayo because it’s much more creamier and delicious! Greek yogurt will also work, but again, nothing in my humble opinion tastes better than full fat creamy dreamy mayo in this chicken salad. And YOLO, right?!
• Sauces/Condiments: Pour in some low sodium soy sauce, spicy vinegar, and the most important ingredient – sesame oil. The sesame oil really makes the whole thing so incredibly fragrant and tasty so it is a MUST. And yes, I totally insist that you go out and buy some if you haven’t got this in your pantry already as it does wonders for all sorts of Asian and Chinese recipes!

Now mix everything until fully combined and you have a large bowl of delicious spicy aromatic chicken salad in front of you!

Last step – Assemble croissandwich: Toast up a croissant (if you like it a bit toasty) and slice it through the middle horizontally. Then, assemble the layers: some butter lettuce, followed by spoonfuls of the Spicy Asian-Cajun Chicken Salad, a few tomato and cucumber slices, then close it all up with the top part of the croissant and CHOMP INTO this glorious and delicious beauty! 😍

What’s great is that if you like to meal prep/plan, you can use the chicken salad to make a croissandwich one day, make a wrap or lettuce wraps the next day, and have it on top of a green salad on another day!

This is normally how I consume the Spicy Asian-Cajun Chicken Salad on any given week. Variety is key to not get bored of anything and I love how adaptable this salad is and can be used pretty much IN and ON anything! 🙌 

CAN I USE STORE BOUGHT ROTTISERIE CHICKEN?

If you want to save some time, you can also use store-bought shredded rotisserie chicken. Just add then seasonings along with the aromatics and sauces. Just be a bit careful when adding the kosher salt though: store-bought cooked rotisserie chicken has usually already been salted during cooking.

ARE THERE ALTERNATE METHODS FOR COOKING THE CHICKEN?

I’ve also grilled the seasoned chicken breasts on a grill pan as well as baked them too in the past. Both methods work just fine so feel free to go with whichever cooking method you prefer. 👌

I personally prefer to pan sear or bake the spice rubbed chicken breasts. It allows for deeper flavor penetration in the meat than using shredded rotisserie chicken and adding the seasonings later while tossing the chicken salad. It’s also easier and quicker to clean out a nonstick pan or a baking sheet than a grill pan if you ask me. But feel free to cook the chicken with whichever method you’re most comfortable with. ☺️

CAN I MAKE THIS GLUTEN-FREE?

Yes! Aside from the low sodium soy sauce, all the ingredients in the chicken salad are gluten-free. Use a gluten-free soy sauce such as tamari and use a gluten-free bread of your choice if you are gluten intolerant. 

HOW LONG DOES THE CHICKEN SALAD KEEP FOR?

This chicken salad will keep in the fridge in an airtight sealed container for 3-4 days. The recipe makes enough for 4 big croissandwiches, so you shouldn’t be left with too much leftover chicken salad.

Right, it’s lunchtime around here. My stomach is growling and my mouth is watering. I’ll give you three guesses to guess what I am just about to assemble to satiate my hunger, but I know that you only need one! 😉

Enjoy my friends! 🤗

MORE TASTY SANDWICH RECIPES:

• Sweet & Spicy Thai Chicken Salad
• Herby Egg Salad Tartines

Spicy Asian-Cajun Chicken Salad

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This Spicy Cajun-Asian Chicken Salad Croissandwich is quick and easy to make and great for meal prep! Creamy Cajun spiced chicken salad with an Asian twist, and butter lettuce, tomato, and cucumber slices all in between of the butteriest croissant ever!

• Author: Lavina
• Prep Time: 15
• Cook Time: 20
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 4–5 croissandwiches 1x
• Category: Burgers & Sandwiches
• Method: Pan-sear and Mix
• Cuisine: Fusion

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 Chicken Breasts (about 400g), boneless, skinless –cleaned, pat dried, and flattened with a meat mallet/hammer (use the flat side of the mallet, not the spiky tenderizer side)
• 2 TSP Cajun Seasoning powder
• 1–1.5 TSP ground Cayenne, more or less to taste
• 1 TSP Kosher Salt, to taste
• ¼ TSP freshly cracked Black Pepper, to taste
• 6 cloves Garlic – minced
• 1 TBLS minced Ginger
• ½ small Yellow or White Onion – thinly sliced
• ½ to ¾ cup Mayonnaise (feel free to use low fat mayo or Greek yogurt if you prefer)
• 2 TBLS Low Sodium Light Soy Sauce
• 2 TBLS Spicy Vinegar (or regular white or black vinegar – I use Amoy’s Spicy Vinegar)
• 2 TSP Sesame Oil (I use Kadoya’s Pure Sesame Oil)
• 1–2 TBLS Olive (or any other cooking oil)

For the Croissandwich:

• 4–5 Croissants – toasted if desired and sliced in half horizontally
• Butter Lettuce, tomato slices, cucumber slices – as needed and desired

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Instructions

1. Place a layer of cling wrap on a chopping board, then place a chicken breast piece on top, followed by another piece of cling wrap on top. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, gently pound the chicken breasts to flatten them until they are about half an inch thick and even.
2. Combine Cajun seasoning powder, ground cayenne, kosher salt, and the freshly cracked black pepper in a large plate or bowl. Mix with a spoon or whisk to combine the seasonings together.
3. Place the chicken breasts on the plate to coat with the seasoning, and then turn over to coat the other side. Make sure to rub all sides of the chicken breasts with the seasoning so that they are fully coated.
4. Heat olive oil in a large sauté/nonstick fry pan, or a pan grill/griddle over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the chicken breasts and cook for 4-6 minutes to allow for the seasoning to set in. Then use tongs to turn them over and cook the other side for another 4-6 minutes, or until fully cooked through and no longer pink inside. Transfer the chicken breasts to a chopping board and allow to rest and cool for 15-20 minutes.*
5. Once the chicken is not too hot to handle, transfer to a large bowl and use two forks (or your hands) to shred the meat.
6. Add the aromatics – garlic, onion, and ginger to the bowl and mix with a spoon to combine. Then, add the mayonnaise, low sodium soy sauce, spicy vinegar, and sesame oil. Mix everything with a spoon until fully combined.
7. To make the croissandwich, toast the croissants in an oven or toaster for a few minutes if desired. Once toasted, slice in half (side down and horizontally) using a sharp knife. Layer butter lettuce, spoonfuls of Spicy Asian-Cajun Chicken Salad, tomato slices, and cucumber slices on the bottom half of the croissant. Close with the top half and enjoy!

Notes

1. The chicken salad will keep in the fridge in an airtight sealed container for 3-4 days.
2. To make this gluten-free, use tamari in place of the low sodium soy sauce and use a gluten-free bread of your choice. You can also roll up the chicken salad in lettuce wraps or top a green salad with a scoop or two of it.
3. *If you prefer to bake the chicken breasts, pre-heat the oven to 175°C/350°F and line a baking tray with foil. Lightly brush the foil with cooking oil and place the seasoned chicken breasts on top. Bake each side for 8-10 minutes or until cooked through and no longer pink inside. Then proceed with steps 5-7 to make the chicken salad and croissandwiches.
4. Feel free to use regular sandwich bread slices or any other type of bread you love if you’re not feeling like a croissandwich.

But honestly, Spicy Asian-Cajun Chicken Salad Croissandwich FTW and YOLO. So just try it with the croissant. 😉

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 croisandwich
• Calories: 652
• Sugar: 8.5g
• Sodium: 1625.1mg
• Fat: 43.1g
• Saturated Fat: 12.4g
• Unsaturated Fat: 27.2g
• Trans Fat: 0.1g
• Carbohydrates: 35.2g
• Fiber: 2.5g
• Protein: 29.5g
• Cholesterol: 129.4mg

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