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This Crispy Rice Salad recipe isn’t your average salad – think crispy veggies, toasted golden rice, tender chicken all tossed in a delicious garlic and ginger peanut lime dressing. Whether you are looking for a vibrant fresh lunch or delicious dinner, this salad bursts with so much flavour you’ll find yourself craving it again and again.
Table of Contents
😍 Why You’ll Love This Crispy Rice Salad Recipe
Texture: combining crispy veggies, tender chicken, toasted rice tossed in a peanut lime dressing makes for the perfect bite.
Flavour explosion: the peanut lime dressing is tangy, savoury and perfectly creamy.
Easy to customize: swap with your favourite veggies or different proteins.
🗒 Ingredients You’ll Need To Make Crispy Rice Salad
Jasmine rice: this type of rice has a great texture and becomes beautifully fragrant.
Soy sauce: adds a savoury and umami flavour.
Maple syrup: adds a subtle sweetness, which balances well with the soy sauce.
Chili crunch: adds a spicy texture and crunch.
Peanut butter: used as the base of the peanut lime dressing.
Sesame oil: adds a slightly nutty flavour.
Rice wine vinegar: adds a mild acidity.
Lime: also used to add acidity while also adding a freshness to the dressing.
Garlic cloves & fresh ginger: for tang and spice.
Chicken breasts: used as the main protein in the salad.
Fresh veggies & herbs: edamame, purple cabbage, red peppers, carrots, cucumbers, green onions and cilantro.
👀 How To Make Crispy Rice Salad
- Prepare the rice: first, combine the jasmine rice, soy sauce, maple syrup, chili crunch and gently toss to combine. Bake as per recipe instructions.
- Prepare the veggies: secondly, chop all of your fresh veggies and herbs.
- Prepare the dressing: next, using a small blender or food processor combine all peanut dressing ingredients then blend until smooth.
- Assemble the salad: then, in a large bowl add the chicken, veggies, crispy rice and pour over the peanut dressing. Lastly, toss and enjoy.
🗒️ Variations & Substitutions
Rice: substitute for brown rice, or quinoa. However, you can leave the rice out all together if thats what you prefer.
Protein: substitute for steak, tofu or turkey. However, for a vegetarian salad leave out the protein.
Veggies: substitute for your favourite veggies. For instance, napa cabbage, snow peas, and radish would all be delicious in this crispy rice salad.
Peanut butter: almond butter, cashew butter, and sunflower seed butter are all great alternatives if you can’t have peanut butter.
🤝 Pairs Well With
- Lemon Dill Salmon
- Chicken Cutlets
- French Onion Chicken
- Yogurt Marinated Chicken
- Caramelized Onion Pasta
🤔 FAQ’s
Yes! Air fry for 7-8 minutes at 400 °F or until golden and toasted.
Yes, you sure can. However, for optimal crispiness it’s best consumed within an hour or so. However, you can store the crispy rice for a day or two in an airtight container, just be aware it may loose a bit of its initial crunch.
Generally speaking, long-grain rice like jasmine or basmati works best as it crisps up nicely. However, you can opt for other rice varieties such as brown rice or quinoa.
Certainly! You can substitute peanut butter for almond butter or cashew butter. Keep in mind that this will slightly alter the taste and texture. Alternatively, for a nut-free option, sunflower seed butter or tahini can also be used in this crispy rice salad recipe.
Generally speaking, the level of spice depends on how much chili crunch you use. Therefore, you can adjust the spice to your preference. On the other hand, for more heat, add more chili crunch or red pepper flakes.
🍴 Leftovers? Lucky you.
If you have leftover crispy rice salad, follow these tips below ⬇️
Make ahead: assemble the crispy rice salad and keep the dressing in a separate container on the side until ready to serve. Once ready to serve pour over the peanut dressing, toss, and enjoy.
Storage: store the crispy rice salad leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
👩🏻🍳 Hungry For More?
💌 Let’s Stay Connected
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Crispy Rice Salad with Peanut Lime Dressing
Equipment
- 1 baking sheet
Ingredients
Crispy Rice
- 2½ cups cooked jasmine rice, see notes below
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp chili crunch
Peanut Dressing
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp chili crunch, or sriracha
- 1 lime, juiced
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 inch piece of ginger root
- 1-2 tbsp water, to thin out the dressing
Salad
- 2 chicken breasts, cooked, cubed
- 2 cups purple cabbage, sliced
- 1 cup edamame
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- 4 carrots, sliced
- 1 cucumber, chopped
- 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup green onions, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 °F.
- Prepare the rice: in a large bowl, combine the jasmine rice, soy sauce, maple syrup and chili crunch. Gently mix to combine.Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, and add the rice in an even layer. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until crispy.Set aside and allow the rice to cool completely before adding to the salad.Sammy's tip: toss the rice every 10 minutes.
- Prepare the veggies: chop all of your fresh vegetables and herbs.
- Prepare the dressing: using a small blender or food processor combine all peanut dressing ingredients and blend under smooth. Add 1-2 tablespoons of water to thin if needed. Set aside until ready to use.
- Assemble the salad: to a large bowl add the chicken, veggies, crispy rice and pour over the peanut lime dressing. Gently toss to combine until all ingredients are coated evenly. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I am trying to eat healthier so I tried this and it was good. I made 1/3 of a recipe for my husband and I and have some leftover for lunch. I made the rice the night before and it seemed really hard but once it got in the salad with the dressing it provided the crunch and was fine. I only used 1/2 tsp of sriracha – just enough to make my tongue tingle yet my husband could not taste it at all. Honestly, I would make it again just as it is just maybe a hot and mild version of the dressing.