If you’ve been reading IGE for any length of time, than 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!), 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.
This salad is 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.
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 or gluten-free tamari (dish will not be GF if using soy sauce) with ground ginger, garlic powder and some other far-east flavors.
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.
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Once cooled, combine it with canola oil, sesame oil, salt & pepper.
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Next, add in toasted sesame seeds. You don’t HAVE to toast the seeds, but it adds so much, plus it takes like 2 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!
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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,) 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.
(Note: this recipe was written prior to me getting Celiac Disease — wontons are not gluten free!)
Assembly:
Pile romaine lettuce and baby spinach onto a plate, then top with the chicken and toppings. Drizzle with zee dressing, and dive in!
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Copycat Panera Asian Sesame Chicken Salad
Description
Copycat Panera Asian Sesame Chicken Salad is a healthier version of my favorite salad from Panera!
Ingredients
- 1 bag chopped romaine lettuce
- 1 bag baby spinach
- 4 medium chicken breasts
- For the chicken marinade:
- 3 Tablespoons soy sauce or gluten-free Tamari (dish will not be GF if using soy sauce)
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 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
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted in a dry skillet over medium heat until golden brown
- 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.
Notes
Dressing from Art + Food + Life
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
Panera’s version:
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…
Katie d 02.06.2012
I’ve taken to vodka tonics recently – what a fun give away!
Megan 02.06.2012
My favorite cocktail is a plain margarita on the rocks!
Stephanie 02.06.2012
I love a manhattan! That event sounds awesome!
Michelle (Better with Berries) 02.06.2012
I’m not entering the giveaway, but had to say that this recipe looks so yummy! I’ve gotta try it!
melissa 02.06.2012
Grape bombs!!!
Megan G. 02.06.2012
A dirty gin martini! I love green olives!
Brandi 02.06.2012
Whiskey sour closely followed by anything containing cake vodka.
AC 02.06.2012
My favorite cocktail is anything+disarono! Yum!! Milk, juice, sprite…whatver!
Did you really mean february 11th, not march 11th? (If you have the power to fast forward winter, feel free to do so after this weekend’s snow!!)
And thanks for the super bowl recipes! We tried 2 of them this weekend, & they were both a success!
Iowa Girl Eats 02.06.2012
Wishful thinking, I suppose! Thanks for the heads up!
Kalli Wilson 02.06.2012
Malibu and pineapple! Crossing my fingers! :-)
Lauren 02.06.2012
Such a great version of this…okay next, I think you should attempt the Fugi Apple Chicken Salad….I think it’s those apple chips that make it…so so good!
Erin @ Art+Food+Life 02.06.2012
Thanks for the feature and I am really glad you like the recipe!!
I was too lazy to marinade my chicken. I will try your recipe for the chicken next time I need a Panera fix :)
Aimee 02.06.2012
My fav is rum & diet coke ohh yeah
Karla Bromwell 02.06.2012
I am a huge fan of 7&7, as well as grapefruit and vodka. Yum!
Kate @ Stripes and Polka Dots 02.06.2012
This looks AMAZING! I’m going to have to try this!
Tracy 02.06.2012
I feel like an old man when I order it but I really like 7&7s lately! Or a good whiskey sour!
danielle 02.06.2012
That looks amazing!! <3 panera
Emily @ The Swallow Flies 02.06.2012
My favorite cocktail is Absolut Pear and lemonade. Try it. Now.
Jess 02.06.2012
Absolutely love this salad! Looks like you nailed it!
Tracy @ Babies Love Baked Goods 02.06.2012
I’d make any sort of cookies, cakes, donuts, etc healthy. But then maybe that’d take the allure from them, right? :)
Salad looks delicious!
Blog is the New Black 02.06.2012
one of my fav things from panera!
sandra 04.27.2013
YUMMO…..Panera Bread has a recipe for their Asian Sesame Chicken Salad Dressing too. It states on the page that it is not exactly the same as the store. It is nasty, full of oil, disgusting flavor. They should be ashamed that they are directing people to waste fairly expensive ingrediants to pour down the drain. It really, really upset me. This recipe is very good. I use brown sugar in mine. So sweet and tangy and minimal oil where paneras recipe is over half oil. Grrr. Hopefully you found this page before you used their fake recipe. Thanks for the recipe!!
Patty 06.19.2013
Yes, the Panera recipe is truly awful! I am at this moment eating a salad I made with their recipe…I knew it wasn’t going to be just exactly like theirs, as they state on their website, but it’s nowhere even near!! I didn’t want to waste the fix’s so I’m eating it (but I did leave out the sesame seeds-just didn’t want to waste those yummy little seeds)!
I knew if I did a search I’d find others who are equally as disappointed as me. Tomorrow I’m going to make this recipe…at least it even looks more like the original!
Thanks for posting it!
Liz 03.20.2014
My favorite Salad and dressing, and I actually bought the Asian dressing from Publix today, but 4.00 is sort of high, so I will hide it for only me. LOL