That Spicy Chick

Sweet & Spicy Thai Chicken Salad

This Sweet & Spicy Thai Chicken Salad is bright and flavorful, naturally gluten-free, and perfect for a quick and easy light lunch! It’s loaded with fresh coriander and spring onion, and is a little sweet and spicy thanks to Thai Sweet Chili Sauce!

Confession: You know the saying “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper”?

I NEVER do that. 🙈🙊🙈

In fact, I go about this the other way around and eat breakfast like a pauper, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a king! 🤭

For me, breakfast and lunch should be quick and light meals that take very little time to make. Dinner, on the other hand, is for spending time on planning and preparing, and should be properly filling! It’s not that I sacrifice on flavor for the first two meals – I just prefer them to take minimal time to make and eat because of the thousands of other things I have to do each day!

Front view of diagonally sliced Sweet & Spicy Thai Chicken Salad Sandwich stacked on top of wooden board.

It goes to say that I also like to have lunch sorted for a couple of days so that I can focus on work and other tasks during the week. I usually prepare a simple but flavorful tuna, salmon, or chicken salad and eat it in a sandwich, wrap, lettuce cups, etc. throughout the week. This week it was chicken salad’s turn on the rotation and I wanted something bright in flavor, sweet, and of course, a little spicy.

In comes this Sweet & Spicy Thai Chicken Salad!

Front view of diagonally sliced Sweet & Spicy Thai Chicken Salad Sandwich on top of wooden board.

Why I’m in love with this Sweet & Spicy Thai Chicken Salad

  • It’s brilliantly creamy courtesy of mayonnaise. (You can totally substitute with Greek yogurt if you like. But I prefer mayo or light mayo.)
  • It’s bright and fresh thanks to freshly chopped coriander and spring onion – yum!
  • It’s a bit sweet thanks to Thai Sweet Chili Sauce, but also has a really nice hot kick to it courtesy of Sriracha sauce. 🙌
  • You only need everyday seasonings to make this chicken salad, and they truly work well together to make it super flavorful! 😋
  • BONUS: It’s quick and easy to make and comes together in just 13 minutes! MEGA WIN ALERT!! 🎉 🙌
Front view of diagonally sliced Sweet & Spicy Thai Chicken Salad Sandwich stacked on top of white plate. Glass of apple juice behind the plate.

You only need all of 13 minutes to prepare this Sweet & Spicy Thai Chicken Salad if you already have cooked chicken on hand. It takes a bit longer if you need to cook, cool, and shred (or dice) the chicken first. But if you plan ahead and cook the chicken the night before or in the morning, it’s ready in a jiffy come lunch time! Or if you like, you can also use store-bought rotisserie chicken.

Shredded chicken, garlic, coriander, scallions, Thai Sweet Chili Sauce, Sriracha sauce, and seasonings in a large white bowl on top of an off-white floral printed napkin. Silver spoon placed on top of napkin on the side of the bowl.

How to Make Sweet & Spicy Thai Chicken Salad

All you have to do is combine the shredded chicken, garlic, coriander, scallions, Thai Sweet Chili Sauce, Sriracha sauce, lemon juice, and seasonings in a bowl and mix it all up.

Side view of bowl with combined and mixed up ingredients for Sweet & Spicy Thai Chicken Salad. Ingredients mixed together include shredded chicken, garlic, coriander, scallions, Thai Sweet Chili Sauce, Sriracha sauce, lemon juice, chicken powder, black pepper, kosher salt, onion powder, garlic powder, ground cayenne, crushed red chili flakes, and smoked paprika.

That’s it and you’ve got lunch sorted for the week! Doesn’t get any easier than that! 👌😃

What to Eat Thai Chicken Salad With

I ate it the first day in a toasted white bread sandwich with lettuce, tomato, red onion and pepper jack cheese.

Toasted white bread slices on wooden chopping board - one with  lettuce, Sweet & Spicy Thai Chicken Salad, tomato slices, and red onion on top. The other with pepper jack cheese on top.

The next day I made myself a tasty chicken salad wrap with a whole-wheat tortilla, lettuce, and sliced tomatoes. The third day I went for a completely light and fresh delight and made chicken salad lettuce cups with delicious crunchy butter lettuce! HELLO LOVER! 😍

I was going to have it in between of a nice buttery croissant the next day, but my sister found the last of it in the fridge and made herself a sandwich for lunch before I could get to it! 😂 She then asked me to make it again on Sunday so that she could have lunch sorted for the week! 

Clearly, this chicken salad is a winner. I hope you love it as much as we do around here! 🤗

Front view of diagonally sliced Sweet & Spicy Thai Chicken Salad Sandwich stacked at a slanted angle on top of white plate. Glass of apple juice behind the plate.

PS: If you’re looking for some other easy chicken salad recipes, check out my Spicy Asian-Cajun Chicken Salad Croissandwich recipe (coming soon)!

Print

Sweet & Spicy Thai Chicken Salad

Front view of diagonally sliced Sweet & Spicy Thai Chicken Salad Sandwich stacked on top of white plate. Glass of apple juice behind the plate.

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5 from 2 reviews

This Sweet & Spicy Thai Chicken Salad is bright and flavorful, naturally gluten-free, and perfect for a quick and easy light lunch! It’s loaded with fresh coriander and spring onion, and is a little sweet and spicy thanks to Thai Sweet Chili Sauce!

  • Author: Lavina
  • Prep Time: 13
  • Total Time: 13 minutes
  • Yield: 45 chicken salad sandwiches 1x
  • Category: Burgers & Sandwiches
  • Method: Poach and Mix
  • Cuisine: Thai/American

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts (about 400g) – cooked and shredded or diced
  • 1 TBLS Thai Sweet Chili Sauce (I use Amoy’s)
  • ¾ cup Mayonnaise (you can use Light Mayo or substitute with Greek Yogurt if desired. Check to make sure your mayo is gluten-free if needed.)
  • 2 TSP Sriracha Sauce
  • 1 + ¼ TSP freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
  • 1 TBLS Coriander – chopped
  • 1 Spring Onion (Scallion) – chopped
  • 2 Garlic Cloves – minced
  • ¾ TSP Smoked Paprika
  • ¾ TSP Coarse Ground Black Pepper
  • ¼ TSP Kosher Salt
  • ¼ TSP Garlic Powder
  • ¼ TSP Onion Powder
  • ¼ TSP Chicken Powder (optional – I recommend Lee Kum Kee’s Premium Chicken Bouillon Powder without MSG)
  • ¼½ TSP Ground Cayenne, to taste
  • ¼½ TSP Crushed Red Chili Pepper Flakes, to taste

Instructions

  1. For the Chicken: Add the chicken breasts to a pot of boiling water and cook until done – about 10-13 minutes depending on the size of the chicken breasts. Remove the chicken from the heat and drain the water. Set aside in a bowl and allow the chicken to completely cool. Once cool enough to handle, shred the chicken either by hand or with two forks.
  2. Chopping: Chop up the coriander, scallion and garlic.
  3. For the Sweet & Spicy Thai Chicken Salad: Add all the ingredients to a large bowl and mix with a spoon until everything is fully combined.
  4. To Serve: Spread the chicken salad on your favorite type of bread, a tortilla to make a wrap, or spoon into Butter or Bibb lettuce to make lettuce cups, or top off your salad with it. Add your favorite sandwich toppings (I used sliced red onions, tomatoes, butter lettuce, and pepper jack cheese) and enjoy!

Notes

  1. You can use a meat thermometer to ensure that the chicken is fully cooked. It should read 165° F/75°C when you insert it into the thickest part of the chicken breast once it’s fully cooked through. Another way to check if the chicken is cooked properly is to poke the piece with a fork to see if the juices that run are white/clear. If it’s pink/reddish, allow it to cook for a little longer.
  2. This chicken salad can be stored in an airtight sealed container in the fridge for 3-5 days.
  3. I used chicken powder, which enhances the flavors in the chicken salad but it’s optional and you can just add more salt to taste (since the chicken powder is slightly salty) if you don’t have it on hand. Also, if needed and using, make sure to check that the chicken powder you are using is gluten-free.
  4. Feel free to use less ground cayenne and crushed red chili flakes if you prefer less heat.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1/5 of chicken salad
  • Calories: 339
  • Sugar: 2.4
  • Sodium: 505.6
  • Fat: 26.9
  • Saturated Fat: 4.3
  • Unsaturated Fat: 21.2
  • Trans Fat: 0.1
  • Carbohydrates: 4.4
  • Fiber: 0.5
  • Protein: 18.7
  • Cholesterol: 72.3
Long Pin - Top Photo: Front view of diagonally sliced Sweet & Spicy Thai Chicken Salad Sandwich stacked at a slanted angle on top of white plate. Glass of apple juice behind the plate. Bottom Photo: Front view of diagonally sliced Sweet & Spicy Thai Chicken Salad Sandwich stacked on top of white plate. Glass of apple juice behind the plate.

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3 comments on “Sweet & Spicy Thai Chicken Salad”

  1. My husband begs for me to make this weekly. We love it on a tortilla with a slab of peanut butter too






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