This Asian Wonton Salad is one of my absolute favorites. It’s the salad that you take to work potlucks and church parties and baby showers and people want to be your friend just because you made it. It’s full of greens and crunchy vegetables and a spectacular sweet and savory sesame dressing. The best part of the salad however, are the pieces of fried wontons. They’re crisp and crunchy and when they get coated in the dressing you’ll be picking them out to snack on.
The recipe comes from two long-time friends, Gisela and Helen, who ran a catering company together. Helen is the mother of one of my best friends, Melanie. I spent a lot of time at their house in my teen years and nearly every time I walked through the door I would find her sweet Dad in his chair in the family room and her smiling Mom in the kitchen with an apron on. I was always just as excited to go see what Helen was cooking as I was to find Melanie and get on with whatever teenage shenanigans we had planned. I’m confident you’re going to love this salad as much as I do!
Ingredients and Equipment Notes
- Greens: The original recipe calls for romaine lettuce, but I love to mix a variety of greens if I have them. Chopped cabbage (red or green) is especially great.
- Wonton Wrappers: You’ll find wonton wrappers in the refrigerated section in the produce department of the grocery store. They’re square (or rectangle) pieces of thin dough that are used to make wontons. You aren’t adding any filling in this recipe, you’re simply frying the pieces of dough to create crispy strips. Egg Roll Wrappers would be just fine to purchase as well.
- Sesame Seeds: Find sesame seeds with the spices in the grocery store. You can use toasted or un-toasted. If you purchase un-toasted seeds and would like to toast them, just place them in a dry skilled over medium heat and gently stir until golden brown.
- Pot for Deep Frying: It takes very little oil to fry the wonton wrappers. An inch or two is sufficient. I suggest a pot with sides that are at least 3-4 inches high to avoid splattering oil.
- Oil for deep frying: You can use any frying oil. Vegetable, Canola, or peanut oil are all good choices.
Instructions
- Cut wonton wrappers in into 1-inch strips. Fry, and drain on paper towels.
2. To make the dressing, combine all ingredients in a jar and shake vigorously until combined.
3. Mix greens and chopped vegetables and chicken in a large bowl.
4. Drizzle with dressing and toss well. Add fried wontons and toss again. Add more dressing as desired and season with salt and pepper to taste, if needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can this salad be prepped ahead of time? If you want to save time and prep ahead do the following steps up to a day ahead:
- Make dressing and store in a sealed container in the fridge.
- Fry wontons, let cool completely, and store in an airtight container at room temp.
- Chop vegetables and shred chicken and store until ready to assemble salad
More delicious Asian-Inspired Salads
If this Asian Wonton Salad looks good to you, here’s a few more recipes you might like!
Teriyaki Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Chrissy Teigen’s Chinese Chicken Salad
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Asian Wonton Salad
- Total Time: 30 minutes
Description
Asian-inspired wonton salad packs a ton of flavor with a sweet sesame dressing over lettuce, chicken, and other fresh vegetables.
Ingredients
Dressing
2/3 cup rice vinegar
1 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
4 cloves garlic, pressed or very finely minced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons sesame seeds
Salad
2 heads romaine lettuce, or a combination of greens (romaine, shredded cabbage, spinach etc)
2–3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (or 2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken)
large handful cherry tomatoes sliced in half
1 small red onion, sliced thinly
1 cucumber, sliced
1 package wontons
vegetable oil for frying (canola or peanut work great)
Instructions
DRESSING
Place all dressing ingredients into a quart jar (or something equivalent) and shake vigorously. If desired, make ahead of time and store in the fridge.
WONTONS
Heat about 2 inches of oil in a pot on the stove top. Use pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut wontons into thirds (about 1″ strips). You may not need the entire package, depending on how much salad you’re making. I usually use about half of the wonton wrappers. You’ll want the oil at about 375 degrees. Test by dipping a wonton in and seeing if it bubbles up quickly. Fry wontons a few at a time and set on paper towels to dry. These can be made ahead of time and kept in an air tight container.
SALAD
Tear clean lettuce into chunks and place in a large salad bowl. Top with cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumber, and red onion. Add shredded chicken and top with Sweet Sesame Dressing. Toss salad together. Once everything is well coated, add wonton strips and gently toss to combine.
Notes
If Asian salad is sounding good, you might enjoy this one too.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
Questions & Reviews
MMMMM, I am always up for homemade dressing and won tons. Looks wonderful!
This looks so good! I will be making this very soon.
I can't wait to try this and I really wanted to thank you for putting the instructions at the end. It was so much easier to print off.
I found ya'lls blog looking for mini pies. How cute!
I wonder how this would taste with toasted sesame seeds. Hmmm…
Mmmm… my mouth is watering! Thanks so much for sharing another great recipe!
Looks fantastic, Sara! Is there anything Helen can't do? 🙂 Hope you're feeling well!
I love anything made with seasame oil. And fried wontons! Yummy yummy!
Oh my, this looks delicious! I'm not a big fan of frying either, but I am going to have to try those wontons. Yum!
Is it my pregnancy hormones that made me tear up reading that, or is it just because I adore those same memories. Thanks Sara… my mom will definitely appreciate your sweet words. Two thumbs up to this recipe! Its best! Adding cashews is also another delightful addition if you are at all craving nuts in it (or a candied walnut/pecan would be tasty too!) LOVE YOU!
Kara, a sesame seed allergy? That stinks! You could totally leave out the *seeds* out without a problem, but honestly there's no good substitute for sesame oil. At least not without missing a major flavor component. I wish I had better advice!
Kate- fatso…haha, I love it.
Yes, true Morgan. I've baked wontons before for other things, but for this salad I sooo would go with the frying. It makes a huge difference. Plus, the lettuce cancels out the oil, right?? 😉
You can bake the wontons if you don't want to fry them. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking oil, lay the wontons down, and spray them too. Bake at 400 until they're golden brown. I'm not going to lie. They are NOT as good as frying them, but if you are resolving to be better, it's a good option. 🙂
Oh my! I can hardly contain myself! I absolutely love a good Asian salad and now I can make this deliciousness at home… Mmmm! My tummy is rumbling just thinking about it. P.S. I'm two months preggers and this couldn't have been posted at a better time! 🙂 Thanks!
Oh, good question Lolly. I actually meant to mention that and didn't. Rice vinegar comes in regular and "seasoned". For this recipe it really doesn't matter which one you use so grab whatever is in your pantry. I usually keep both on hand and it's great with either.
This looks very tasty! I have an award for you on my blog if you want to pop over there and get it. Thanks! http://www.mandysrecipebox.blogspot.com
I cannot wait to try this but I do have a question… that rice vinegar… it says seasoned on the bottle. Is that something special? Cause I have plain ole rice wine vinegar… can I use that???
We are eating much lighter this week. Ron actually stopped eating for two solid days because he declared himself overly full (I don't care how full I get… I cannot ever see myself fasting for two solid days). I think the holiday eating was just too much for him… so this salad is right up his alley this week!
Oh my goodness; how amazing does this look? I'm a huge fan of sesame oil and seeds; that dressing looks so divine, I would use it for cooking rice, noodles…everything! I'm printing it out right now. Thanks for sharing. xx
I was so looking forward to a month of new healthy meal ideas come January, but completely understand the 4 months pregnant situation as well. Great to have a new party food 🙂
Wow this salad looks so wonderful! i love fried wonton skins!
Mmmmm….I've been wanting more salad recipes, since my hubby loves vegetables almost as much as sugar, sometimes more! This looks easy and super yummy. Thanks!
mmmm… looks yummy!
Sounds delish! I think I would add some chicken too. Maybe marinate it in the dressing, then grill? Think that would work?
That looks so yummy! I think I am going to make it tonight. My mouth is watering!
awww congrats on the new little one!! and this salad looks A-MAZING… yum.
the salad looks absolutely delicious and very colourfuli love the step by step pictures that accompany.
I love, love, love this salad!!! And every time I've ever taken it to a party, people freak out at its awesomeness.
P.S. My verification word is "fatso." Nice for a food blog, right?
This sounds so interesting… can't wait to give it a try!
🙂
ButterYum
Oooh I love those wonton skins! They're so good! This salad looks great.
Wow, I love a good Asian salad so I am just drooling over this one! Except I have one problem….I am allergic to seasame seeds. I know, what a random and weird allergy. It sucks, but that's beside the point… My question is there any other oils that make a decent substitude for seasame oil? I know, I know, seasame oil is like the secret ingredient, but if you have any suggestions I would appreciate it. Thanks so much! And I also wanted to say that I just recently found your blog and I. LOVE. IT! So many incredible recipes, so thank you for sharing!
How about walnut oil?