Kung Pao Chicken Salad (low carb)

This Kung Pao chicken salad is a delicious and healthy dish to satisfy that take out craving. This low carb recipe has a  Kung Pao dressing that is full of flavor and easy to whip up. 

Just in case you didn’t notice I love salads. I love nothing better than a big, crunchy salad full of all kinds of tasty bits. On day I dreamed up this Kung Pao chicken salad because it seemed to have it all:  lettuce, crunchy vegetables, nuts, chicken and a really tasty dressing. And that is my kind of salad. I made a few changes from standard Kung Pao chicken by not frying the chicken and by substituting blanched almonds for peanuts. The dressing came out fantastic and I can’t wait to use it in a stir fry too!

As I mentioned I have a lot of salads on this site for you. Just click here and you can see over 40 different salad recipes … yes 40! I told you I liked them.

This is a basic salad base. I used Romaine lettuce, bell peppers, celery and green onions. For the chicken I just tossed in some rotisserie chicken. Most of the flavor is in the dressing. It was so good!

Some of the ingredients in the dressing are a bit unusual but they are not too crazy. You can probably find them in your grocery store, Asian market or online. I used the following:

• chili garlic sauce – I used this brand.
• soy sauce – You can use coconut aminos if you are Paleo but skip the sugar if you do.
• Chinese cooking wine – I used one like this but you can substitute dry sherry or a dry white wine
• fresh ginger root – I bought a jar of ginger paste in an Asian store and love it! Grated ginger root would be perfect too.
• fresh garlic
• apple cider vinegar
• hot pepper flakes – My hubby makes his own. Check out his post!
• Splenda – You can use white sugar if  you don’t care about carbs.

Kung Pao chicken salad

The sauce is seriously delicious. I”ll let you know how it is when I use it for a stir fry. This is a little higher in carbs but I would still consider it as a low carb dinner. I forgot to mention that I sprinkled some slivered almonds. You can use peanuts or cashews if you wish. they are higher in carbs but would taste good in this salad. I hope you enjoy this tasty Kung Pao chicken salad and the nutrition for one serving is:

269 cals / 13.9g fat / 10.2g carbs/ 3.2g fiber / 25.5g protein = 7.0g net carbs

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Kung Pao Chicken Salad (low carb)

This Kung Pao chicken salad is a refreshing and low carb dish that you'll love. The Kung Pao dressing is full of flavor and easy to whip up. 

Prep Time 15 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Servings 4

Author Denise Wright (MyLifeCookbook.com)

Ingredients

• 4 cups romaine lettuce chopped
• 1 cup bell peppers cut into chunks
• 2 stalks of celery cut into chunks
• 4 green onions chopped
• 2 cups cooked chicken breasts chopped
• 1/3 slivered almonds

Dressing

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons of Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry
• 1 large clove of garlic crushed
• 2 tablespoons of oil
• 2 teaspoons of grated fresh ginger
• 4 teaspoons of garlic chili sauce
• 2 teaspoons of vinegar
• 2 packets of Splenda
• hot pepper flakes optional

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, add your lettuce and vegetables and toss.
2. Add chopped chicken and almonds on top.
3. In a bowl mix the rest of the ingredients and whisk until well combined.
4. Pour dressing over top the chicken and almonds.
5. Serve as is or toss if you like.

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