Asian Quinoa Salad with Walnut Crusted Chicken

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Asian Quinoa Salad with Walnut Crusted Chicken, full of fresh ingredients like walnuts, chicken, cabbage, bell peppers, and quinoa. A delicious and light meal for lunch or dinner!

This post is sponsored by California Walnuts. All opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting brands I love so I can keep bringing you more fabulous recipes.

(For your shopping convenience, this post contains affiliate links.)

Is everyone stuffed from the holidays? I know I am! I’m so ready for some lighter meals. This Asian Quinoa Salad with Walnut Crusted Chicken is the perfect meal to transition back into healthier eating. Full of good for you ingredients like vegetables, lean protein, and California Walnuts. It will fill you up for hours!

I’m so happy to be teaming up with California Walnuts again to bring you this delicious meal for the new year and lighter eating. As I’ve mentioned many times before, we are big nut fans here. I LOVE adding California Walnuts to our favorite meals or just eating some as a quick snack.

California Walnuts are great to add to a wide range of dishes like snacks, salads, side dishes, and even main dishes. Walnuts are also certified by the American Heart Association with the Heart-Check Mark and the only nut significantly high in Omega-3s, essential fatty acids for the body. One ounce of walnuts also has 4 grams of protein, 2 grams of fiber, and 45 milligrams of magnesium. Check out all the other good nutrition info! 

Walnut Storing Info

We always have a big bag of walnuts in our freezer, so storing them properly is always important so they don’t go bad. To keep your California walnuts as fresh as possible keep them COLD! They can go bad quickly if stored in warmer temperatures.

For best results, store the walnuts in a sealed bag or the original package. After opening, put the walnuts in an airtight container. If you’re going to use the walnuts soon, you can store them in the refrigerator. If you’re not going to use them for a month or longer, best to keep them in the freezer.

There are three parts to this meal: Quinoa Salad, Asian Dressing, and Walnut Crusted Chicken. It might seem like a lot, but I swear all three parts are quick and easy to make and simple to assemble all together.

For the salad, only 3 ingredients: quinoa, coleslaw mix, and bell peppers. I precooked the quinoa ahead of time, but you can sometimes find it pre-cooked or frozen in your grocery store if you’re trying to save time.

You can also shred your own carrots and cabbage, but a coleslaw mix makes it so simple.

If short on time, you can sometimes even find bell peppers in your grocery store chopped. Or feel free to substitute your favorite vegetables you might already have in your fridge.

Quinoa Salad Ingredients

• Quinoa (precooked)
• Coleslaw mix (cabbage and carrots)
• Bell peppers

How to Make Quinoa Salad

1. In a large bowl combine the cooked quinoa, coleslaw mix, and bell peppers.

(Full printable recipe card is at bottom of post.)

Only 4 ingredients in this quick and easy dressing. A little fresh ginger and/or cilantro would be great additions if you have them around.

Asian Dressing Ingredients

• Plain Greek yogurt (or light mayonnaise)
• Fresh orange juice
• Honey
• Soy Sauce

How to Make Asian Dressing

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt, orange juice, honey, and soy sauce until well combined. Add about half (or desired amount) of the dressing to the quinoa salad and stir to combine. Set aside and reserve remaining dressing for serving.

(Full printable recipe card is at bottom of post.)

Now time for the California Walnuts! Be sure to chop the nuts well so you have enough to fully coat the chicken. Depending on the size of your chicken, you may need a little more or less walnuts to cover the chicken breasts.

Walnut Crusted Chicken Ingredients

• Chicken, boneless skinless breasts (thinly sliced cutlets)
• Salt/pepper
• Egg
• California Walnuts
• Orange zest
• Olive oil

How to Make Walnut Crusted Chicken & Assemble

1. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt and pepper.
2. Place egg in a large shallow bowl, and beat with a fork.
3. Place walnuts and orange zest in another large shallow bowl, and stir to combine.
4. Dip chicken in egg, then in walnuts to coat both sides. Set coated chicken aside.
5. Heat half of olive oil in a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Cook chicken about 2-4 minutes per side or until nuts are browned and chicken is cooked through. Replenish oil and cook chicken in batches as needed until all of the chicken is cooked.
6. Serve chicken over or next to the salad along with reserved dressing on the side.

(Full printable recipe card is at bottom of post.)

Serving Suggestions

• This salad is a meal in itself, so you don’t really need to serve it with anything else. If you’d like, you could serve with some fresh bread or rolls.
• Serve the salad and chicken with the remaining Asian dressing on the side to drizzle over both the salad and chicken if you’d like. If you like A LOT of dressing, you can also double the dressing recipe. 
• You can serve this chicken and salad right away, or it’s also a great meal prep idea for the week. You can divide between 4+ containers, store in the fridge, and you have an easy meal option for the week. 
• The salad is great warm or cold. If you’d prefer the salad warm, keep the quinoa warm and you can sauté the coleslaw mix and peppers in a nonstick pan for a few minutes to heat before mixing with dressing.

 

Quick Tips for Best Results

• Nuts can quickly burn if cooked too long, so be sure your chicken is THIN so it cooks through before the nuts burn. I buy thin chicken cutlets that are ready to go, but you can also slice and pound your own chicken if you’d like.
• You can add other vegetables to the salad if you’d like such as onions or could even use other types of “slaw” such as kale, broccoli, or Brussels sprouts.
• For more flavor in the dressing, you could add some cilantro and/or ginger, or your favorite herbs, spices, or Asian condiments. 

Asian Quinoa Salad with Walnut Crusted Chicken FAQ

How should I store the salad and chicken?
Store any leftovers in airtight containers in the refrigerator.

Can I freeze the salad and chicken?
I wouldn’t really recommend it, but you could freeze the cooked chicken. Wrap the chicken well and then freeze in an airtight container. The salad will not freeze well.

How long will the salad and chicken last?
If covered well, the chicken and salad should last at least a few days in the refrigerator.

Substitutions?
Instead of a cabbage and carrot coleslaw mix you could use your favorite slaw mix such as broccoli, kale, or Brussels sprouts. Instead of yogurt, you could substitute a light mayonnaise. Instead of orange juice and zest you could try your favorite citrus such as lime. Instead of honey, you could use your favorite sweetener or sugar substitute.

Can I use low-fat ingredients?
You can use low-fat yogurt or mayonnaise in this recipe. 

What else can I add to this recipe?
You can add any of your favorite vegetables to the slaw such as chopped onion, broccoli, or whatever else you have on hand!

Can I make this vegan/vegetarian/low carb/gluten-free?
Here are some suggestions, but I can’t guarantee results. Be sure as always to check particular brands and ingredients if you’re following a specific diet or have diet restrictions or allergies.

Vegan – Might be a little tough for this one but you could try using tofu or your favorite meat substitute for the chicken. Also could try using a vegan mayo or yogurt substitute for the dressing and sugar instead of honey. Instead of the egg, you could try an egg substitute.

Vegetarian – Instead of chicken, you could try using tofu or your favorite meat substitute.

Low-Carb – This meal is fairly low-carb to begin with. You can also decrease or omit the honey or use a sugar substitute to cut back on the carbs even more.

Gluten-Free – Be sure your soy sauce is a gluten-free brand, but otherwise, the other ingredients should generally be gluten-free. 

Other Walnut Recipes You May Enjoy

• Cilantro Walnut Chicken – Made in an Instant Pot and ready in less than 30 minutes!
• Maple Walnut Energy Balls – Great for a midday boost of energy.
• Chipotle-Lime Seasoned Walnuts – A quick and easy snack option.

Hope you enjoy this delicious Asian Quinoa Salad with Walnut Crusted Chicken featuring California Walnuts. Tell me in the comments if you added any other ingredients!

 

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Love walnuts? You might also like this Walnut Cheesecake French Toast Sticks and Mini Walnut Apple Pies!