This hearty crispy rice chicken salad with kale, cabbage, cucumber, tons of fresh herbs, rotisserie chicken, and a tangy dressing is full of big, fresh flavors and crunchy textures.
I live on salads during the summertime and crave ones with big, refreshing flavors and textures like my Ahi tuna poke and mango salad, Nicoise pasta salad, and grilled chicken and vermicelli noodle salad. This crispy rice chicken salad checks all the summer salad boxes. It’s loosely inspired by a Laotian appetizer salad I love, called Nam Khao. It’s made by flavoring rice with red curry paste, sugar, salt, and coconut, forming into balls, and frying until crispy. The rice balls are broken into chunks and mixed with fish sauce, lime juice, peanuts, onion, and herbs. In my version, the rice isn’t the main star (more of a crispy topping). I also wanted more of a classic salad so I made kale and cabbage the base, added cucumber, and roast chicken for protein. Like Naem Khao, this salad is full of fresh herbs, and peanuts, with a kiss of tangy dressing.
In This Post
Why You’ll Love It
- This crispy rice salad is light, yet filling
- It’s refreshing and SO FULL of awesome flavors and textures
- This salad can easily be made ahead of time and with a couple of easy swaps, it can also be made vegetarian
Crispy Rice Chicken Salad Ingredients List
- Neutral-flavored oil—such as avocado or grapeseed oil, for frying our shallot, crisping up our rice, and also adding to our dressing
- Shallot—we’ll fry these slices up and get them nice and crispy to add an addictive savory flavor and crunch to our salad Finally, instead of adding raw onion or shallot, I lightly fried mine for another
- Cooked white rice—day-old rice works best in this salad because it’s drier and lends itself better to crisping up nicely in the skillet
- Soy sauce—I use low-sodium soy sauce
- Sambal Olek—this gives our crispy rice some nice heat and added flavor (you could also use chili crunch)
- Kale—I prefer the Tuscan kale/dinosaur variety for this salad
- Green cabbage—for some crunch
- Rotisserie chicken—for protein
- English cucumber—the firmer cucumber varieties work best in this salad because they hold up better due to their lower water content
- Roasted, salted peanuts—I buy the lightly salted kind.
- Mint—adds a bright, refreshing flavor to the salad
- Cilantro—adds an herbaceousness I love (swap with basil if you don’t care for it)
Dressing Ingredients:
- Lime—fresh lime juice adds brightness and acidity
- Fish sauce—don’t be afraid of it, its tangy, savory flavor totally makes this dressing!
- Sugar—to lend some sweetness
- Neutral oil (you’re going to save and reuse some of the oil you fried the shallot in for the dressing)
- Garlic—to give our dressing a punch of flavor
- Ginger—I like to press both the garlic and the ginger to make things easier (feel free to use more ginger if you love it!).
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make This Crispy Rice Chicken Salad
- Make the crispy shallots. Place a large, fine mesh sieve over a bowl, and set aside. Heat some neutral-flavored oil of your choice in a large skillet. Once the oil is hot, add your shallot slices and fry until golden brown. You may need to do this in batches. Drain the oil off of the shallots by pouring them into the sieve, then transfer the shallots to a layer of paper towels. Save that oil (you’ll use it again later!).
- Make the crispy rice. Heat the same skillet you used for the shallot over medium and add 1 tablespoon of the reserved oil that you cooked the shallot in. Once hot, add some of the reserved shallot oil to the skillet. Add the rice, soy sauce, and Sambal Olek, stirring to combine. Use a spatula to press down on the rice in an even layer and let it cook undisturbed for about 5 minutes. Then use the spatula to flip the rice and stir it a bit before repeating this process 1 more time, or until the rice is golden brown and crispy.
- Make the dressing. Add all of the dressing ingredients in a small jar or bowl and shake or whisk to combine.
- Prepare the salad. In a large bowl, add the kale, along with the dressing. Use your hands to toss and massage the kale to help soften it. Add the cabbage, shredded roast chicken, and cucumber slices and toss again. To serve, top with crispy rice, fried shallots, and chopped peanuts.
Recipe Tips and Variations
- I highly recommend using day-old rice if you can. It’s drier and therefore will absorb the oil better and crisp up well (rather than getting too wet and gummy)
- Swap the rotisserie chicken for shrimp
- Or, omit the chicken and use soy sauce in place of the fish sauce to make this vegetarian
- Use rice vinegar if you don’t have lime
- If you don’t have Sambal Olek, you could use chili crunch
- Use cashews if you don’t have peanuts
- Add extra ginger or herbs if you like
- Thinly sliced raw shallots would be a tasty addition (or use those instead of the fried shallots
Storage Tips
This crispy rice salad is best the day it is made, but it’s also delicious on the second day. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator and the flavors have even more time to meld and the kale and cabbage will become even softer.
More Refreshing Salads You’ll Love
- Tabbouleh
- Asian Ramen Noodle Salad
- Herbed Cucumber and Feta Salad
- Crunchy Asian Cucumber Watermelon Salad
- Chinese Chicken Salad with Sesame Dressing
- Fresh and Easy Vietnamese Noodle Salad
- Grilled Chicken and Vermicelli Noodle Salad
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
Crispy Rice Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- ½ cup neutral-flavored oil , (I like avocado or grapeseed oil), divided
- 1 large shallot (or 2 small ones) , thinly sliced
- 2 cups cooked white rice , such as jasmine or long-grain white rice, (preferably a day or two old)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ tablespoon Sambal Olek or chili crunch , (feel free to add more if you want it hotter)
- 4 cups thinly sliced Tuscan kale
- 2 cups thinly sliced green cabbage
- 2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
- ¾ cup thinly sliced English cucumber , (I slice the cucumber in half length-wise, then cut each half into slices so they are half-moon-shaped
- ½ cup roasted , lightly salted peanuts, finely chopped
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons fresh mint , roughly chopped
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro , roughly chopped
Dressing
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce or you could use soy sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons reserved neutral oil , (from the ½ cup oil you used to fry the shallot in)
- 1 large garlic clove , pressed
- ¾ teaspoon fresh, pressed ginger , (use 1 teaspoon if you really love ginger)
Instructions
- First, fry your shallot. Place a large, fine mesh sieve over a bowl, and set aside. Add ½ cup of the neutral-flavored oil of your choice to a large skillet and bring to heat over medium. Once the oil is hot, add your shallot slices and fry until golden brown (about 3-5 minutes or so), using a fish spatula to flip them occasionally. Depending on the size of your skillet, you may need to do this in batches. Watch the shallot closely because it does not take long to fry and can quickly burn if you aren’t careful. Drain the oil off the shallots by pouring them into the sieve, then transfer the shallots to a layer of paper towels and set them aside. Reserve the cooking oil.
- Heat the same skillet over medium and add 1 tablespoon of the reserved oil that you cooked the shallot in. Once hot, add the rice, soy sauce, and Sambal Olek, stirring to combine. Use a spatula to press down on the rice in an even layer and let it cook undisturbed for about 5 minutes. Then use the spatula to flip the rice and stir it a bit before repeating this process 1 more time, or until the rice is golden brown and crispy. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Make the dressing. Add all of the dressing ingredients in a small jar or bowl and shake or whisk to combine.
- Prepare the salad. In a large bowl, add the kale, along with the dressing. Use your hands to toss and massage the kale thoroughly, to help soften it. Add the cabbage, shredded roast chicken, and cucumber slices and toss again. To serve, top with crispy rice, fried shallots, and chopped peanuts.
Nutrition
More Recipes to Make with Rotisserie Chicken
- Nicoise Pasta Salad
- Classic Chicken Salad
- Chicken Mole Enchiladas
- Easy Shredded Chicken and Zucchini Tacos
- Chicken and Mango Rainbow Veggie Wraps
- Chicken, Crab, and Andouille Sausage Gumbo
- Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Whole Wheat Pasta
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This crispy rice chicken salad recipe sounds absolutely delightful! The combination of flavors and textures is perfect for a refreshing summer meal. I love how it’s inspired by the Laotian Nam Khao but with a unique twist, making it both familiar and innovative. The crispy rice, fried shallots, and tangy dressing seem like the perfect additions to the kale and cabbage base. Plus, it’s versatile enough to be made vegetarian with just a few swaps. Thanks for sharing such a detailed and enticing recipe!
Thanks Daniel, we hope you can give this a try sometime soon!