If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, then you know I have a fondness for making healthier versions of my favorite, not-so-healthy restaurant dishes at home, such as…
P.F. Chang’s Lettuce Wraps (less grease!), Food Court Baked Ziti (less cheese!), Pizza Rolls (less shame!), Chipotle Burrito Bowls (less funky chicken!) rise to the top as some of my top picks.
But some of my favorite dishes to grab on the go, don’t necessarily need a makeover. They’re light and satisfying on their own, without having to go back to the drawing board. One such meal is Panera’s Asian Sesame Chicken Salad.
All-natural, antibiotic-free chicken, romaine lettuce, fresh cilantro, sliced almonds, sesame seeds, crispy wonton strips & our reduced-sugar Asian sesame vinaigrette.
I recently enjoyed one of these masterpieces as part of Panera’s You Pick 2 Combo, natch, and it was perfectly light, crunchy, sweet and savory. The only thing that needed changing was the location of the salad. As in, from Panera’s kitchen, to my own. 
Reader Lisa took care of my dilemma by pointing me to Art + Food + Life, who has an awesome copycat version of the dressing recipe on her blog. Sweet!
The recipe for this salad is broken into 3 parts for easy preparation. Don’t let the long(ish) ingredient list scare you – it comes together lickity split.
Part 1: The Chicken
Start by mixing up a savory, sesame-flavored marinade for boneless, skinless chicken breasts, that combines sesame oil and soy sauce with ground ginger, garlic powder and some other far-east flavahhhs.
Marinate the chicken in the mixture for 15 minutes, or up to an hour, then grill or cook in a non-stick sprayed skillet until done. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes, then slice, and set aside.
Part 2: The Dressing
This recipe for Panera’s perfectly sweet & tangy Asian Sesame Dressing is SPOT ON, plus it’s a cinch to make. Start by whisking sugar into boiling vinegar until it fully dissolves, about 30 seconds.
Once cooled, combine it with canola oil, sesame oil, salt & pepper.
Next, add in toasted sesame seeds. You don’t HAVE to toast the seeds, but it adds so much, plus it takes like 4 minutes. Just add the seeds to a dry skillet over medium heat, and shake the pan every 30 seconds or so until they’re are golden brown. Presto.
Add ‘em in, and shake ‘er up!
Dressing = done!
Part 3: The Toppings
Toppings are what make the world go round, and this salad has no shortage of them. I used chopped cilantro, mandarin oranges packed in water (just rinse and pat dry if they’re packed in syrup!)
sliced almonds, and baked wonton strips. You could snag some fried wonton strips from your grocery store’s Chinese buffet ($.50 or so) or do what I did and cut wonton squares into strips, spray with non-stick spray, and bake at 400 degrees for 3-4 minutes. I wouldn’t buy a package of wontons just to make these strips, but dear Ben cleaned out the freezer for us this weekend (cabin fever makes husbands do crazy things – j/k he actually loves organizing,) and found a whole, unopened package of wonton wrappers, which is why I made my own vs buying. This is far longer than I wanted to talk about wonton strips.
Assemblage:
Pile romaine lettuce and baby spinach onto a plate, then top with the chicken and toppings. Drizzle with zee dressing, and dive in! 
Copycat Panera Asian Sesame Chicken Salad
Serves 4
Dressing from Art + Food + Life
Ingredients:
1 bag pre-washed romaine lettuce
1 bag pre-washed baby spinach
4 medium chicken breasts
For the chicken marinade:
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar (or agave nectar, or honey)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
For the dressing:
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil
1-1/2 teaspoons sesame oil, toasted in a dry skillet over medium heat until golden brown
1/2 teaspoon salt
pepper
1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted
Salad toppings:
Chopped cilantro
11oz can mandarin oranges packed in water or 100% juice (rinse in water if packed in syrup)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
Baked or fried wonton strips
Sesame seeds
Directions:
- For the chicken: Whisk together chicken marinade ingredients, and marinate chicken for 15 minutes. Grill, or cook in a non-stick sprayed skillet until done, then let the chicken rest for 5 minutes. Cut into slices.
- For the dressing: Bring vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan. Turn off the heat, then add in the sugar and stir until dissolved. Let cool. Combine with the rest of the dressing ingredients in a jar, and shake to combine.
- Divide lettuce and spinach between four plates. Top with sliced chicken, salad dressing, and toppings.
and mine!
The addition of mandarin oranges, which Panera doesn’t use, to this salad was totally clutch. That burst of juicy sweetness is fantastic with the bold cilantro, and sesame-laced dressing.
The textures in this salad were out of this world too. Love it when a recipe remix comes together like this!
Now if only I could find a recipe for Panera’s Cinnamon Crunch Bagel… 
In other news, all that salad must’ve gone to my brain because Ben just talked me into going for an evening walk in the snow. Wish me luck…
See ya’!
~~~~~
If you could make any food instantly healthy, what would it be?
Easy. Oreos.
~~~~~
LOCALS:
Care to partake in mini martinis, bite-sized sweets, and an olive bar this weekend? (Twist my arm, right?!)
Living History Farms is hosting an event called Spirits & Sweets this Saturday, February 11, from 3-6pm. Local Iowa artisan distillers, including Templeton Rye, will be on hand mixing mini martinis to sip on while nibbling sweets from local bakeries. Gateway Market will also be onsite with an olive bar. YUM!
Tickets are $18 for LHF members, and $20 for non-members, but they gave me 2 tickets to giveaway for free – whee!
Enter to win 2 tickets by tomorrow at 5pm by telling me what your favorite cocktail is in the comments section below. Ready, set, go!
A mojito, especially when it’s hot out.
The classic girlie drink…a COSMO!
Bourbon. Straight, no-frills, neat bourbon. No ice to dilute the yummy, either. I prefer Makers, but I won’t turn down Templeton or Woodford Reserve either.
Consequently, whenever I ask for it out, I get one of two things: 1) “Um, bourbon? Are you sure? (REALLY?!?!)” or 2) “Oh, so bourbon on the rocks with a splash of soda?”.
Good grief.
Martini…any Martini with the exception of chocolate
I am in LOVE with the Honeymoon in Vegas martini at Gino’s in West Glen. Captain Morgan, Orange Curacao, sweet & sour and OJ with a cinnamon sugar rim. MY FAVE!!
Lemon drop martini with a small piece of dry ice in it – this makes it smoke and bubble. It is a show stopper and yummy!!
Amaretto sour=party in my mouth!!
All of them of course! My current fave is Absolut Pear with light Cranberry juice! Yummm!!
Let’s hope this event isn’t crazy oversold like Indulge was a few weekends ago. That was disastrous I thought!
I love your blog
And this recipe looks amazing, I love the asian chicken salad at Panera!
Salad looks delicious! I love to toss sections of mandarins on salads-yum
Bailey’s and coffee for a warm up after all that shoveling!
That salad is beautiful
I love martinis in general – the combinations for yummy ones are limitless! My go-to fave is the Cosmo though
How ironic, I was just stopping by your site to look up the recipe for “Chipotle Burrito Bowls”! Thanks!
A Dirty Shirley! Loved Shirley Temples as a kid and by adding a kick of vodka, makes them “ok” to drink as an adult
My go -to drink is usually a captain and diet..or vanilla vodka! Your salad looks great!
My favorite cocktail is a bloody mary! I love girly drinks but ever since I had my first bloody mary I can’t get over all of the awesome flavors it offers! Savory, salty and spicy!
My favorite cocktail is a vodka/sugarfree redbull
tayc7@hotmail.com
I love a good mojito! (especially from the continental!!!)
Lemon drop martini – a little sweet, a little tart and perfect all year round!
I love a cosmo!
Cosmo!
A Mojito, of course! Especially on a hot summer’s evening!
Cosmo!
My favorite is a mojito, especially when the mint came from right outside my front door!
I love a good Margarita and also Amaretto Stone Sours… yum
Love a mojito in the summer!
I love whiskey so my new favorite cocktail is the Cabin and Ginger. Cabin Fever whiskey and ginger ale. Yum!
I love some flavored martini’s! I especially love a good chocolate martini.
Made my own drink of amaretto, vodka, cranberry juice, and fresca! A mango martini is also yummy!
I love “sex in the city” from this fun little bar in arizona where are you originally from!
Belvedere slightly dirty martini w/ bleu cheese olives!
Mango Margarita…YUM!
Your salad looks way better than the Panera salad!!!
I *prefer* scotch on just ice but I do occasionally enjoy a well made screwdriver (especially for medicinal purposes!)
Templeton Rye on the rocks!
dt coke & captin
My husband makes the best chocolate martinis!
malibu+sprite makes me feel like i’m on a beach which I’d really like to be right now…might need to have one this weekend!
Mojitos!
My favorite cocktail has to be a gin and tonic. But not just any gin will do. I’m obsessed with Hendricks gin. If you haven’t tried it, DO!
Almost any martini from “The Lift” in Des Moines!!!!!!
Margarita! Whether it’s a Skinnygirl margarita, homemade margarita, Monterrey margarita… doesn’t matter – I love them. Either lime on the rocks with salt or frozen mango
I love a vodka and grapefruit juice (white, not the pink kind)!
Salad looks yumm-o. Is it difficult for you and your hubby to enjoy so many salads in the winter weather? I know tend to crave a hot meal or nice healthy soup when it’s cold and especially when it’s snowing!
Actually not really! We both love salads, and are both kind of in Spring mode (despite the snow) since the temps have been so warm the past couple of weeks!
SKILIFT: Hot chocolate and butterscotch schnaaps.
I love me a good Black Russian (heavy on the Russian)!
[...] I’m going to have to give some of those concoctions a try sometime! That said, the winner of 2 tickets to Living History Farms’ Spirits & Sweets event this Saturday [...]
Favorite cocktail is a Citron and Tonic – so refreshing!
I love that salad from Panera, but yours looks even better.
Thanks for the shout out! I am so glad I could share a recipe and help spread the Asian Sesame Chicken Salad love. Nothing better than recreating a favorite restaurant recipe and finding it is even better at home.