This Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad Copycat tastes exactly like my favorite dish on the menu. Chock full of delicious flavors and textures, this salad is my go to anytime I visit Applebee’s. My husband loves this salad too, he specifically requested it for the menu this week. This recipe is spot on, dressing and all! You’ll love the crisp greens and veggies, the tender chicken and that creamy, sweet and tangy honey mustard dressing. Do yourself a favor and cook at home, stay in and enjoy your favorite restaurant salad without ever leaving the house!
Ingredients in this Applebee’s Copycat Salad
For the three components of this Applebee’s salad, you’ll need to make the dressing, the chicken strips and assemble the salad. While there’s a lot of ingredients, every bite is completely worth the effort!
For the Dressing:
Mayonnaise – I like to use half a cup of Hellman’s or Best Foods mayo. Honey – start with six tablespoons and add more if you want it a bit sweeter. Rice vinegar – three tablespoons or so. You can also use rice wine vinegar for an extra depth of sweetness. Dijon mustard – this mustard adds a tangy kick to the dressing. It really can’t be duplicated! Toasted sesame oil – a little goes a long way with this ingredients, so you’ll only need about half a teaspoon Salt – a quarter teaspoon or to taste
Fried Chicken Strips:
Chicken breasts – start with three boneless skinless chicken breasts and cut into bite size pieces. Egg – One whole egg for dipping Buttermilk – if you don’t have any on hand, you can make your own by combining regular milk with a tablespoon white vinegar and enough milk to make one cup. All-Purpose Flour Cornflake crumbs – this will give the chicken pieces that restaurant quality crunchy outer crust that is so good! Panko bread crumbs – you can find these next to the regular breadcrumbs at the grocery store. Salt – about two teaspoons Black pepper Vegetable oil – you’ll need about two cups of oil for frying
For the Salad:
Romaine lettuce – about six cups chopped Red cabbage – this is optional, but adds such a delicious crunch and colorful pop to the salad. Carrots – julienned or shredded Sliced almonds – you can toast the almonds for a few minutes on a cookie sheet in the oven for a deeper flavor. Chow mien rice noodles – find these in the Asian foods aisle in your grocery store. Green onion – optional
Tips for Crispy Chicken
To get that flavorful, crispy chicken that tops the Oriental chicken salad, start with thin strips of boneless chicken. I sometimes get the chicken tenders already prepared or I cut chicken breasts into about four or five pieces. Either way works great! Next, combine a healthy portion of corn flake crumbs and Panko breadcrumbs with some flour. These will give your chicken tenders that golden crispy crust you love. Dip the chicken into a milk and egg mixture (see recipe card below) then immediately roll them into the breadcrumb mixture. Make sure the oil in your frying pan is super hot! Fry the strips a few at a time for about six to seven minutes until they’re golden brown. Let the chicken strips rest on a paper towel to soak up excess oil. If the chicken isn’t completely cooked, you can pop the strips into a 350 degree oven for about five minutes until they’re cooked through.
Suggestions to Lighten Up this Recipe
If you are wanting to go a little on the lighter side, try marinating the chicken in a sesame ginger marinade (the bottled kind you can get at the store), then grill and slice it over the salad. Drizzle extra dressing over the top You can also sub the mayo in the dressing for a light mayo or Greek yogurt. The light version is really good too!
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