Gordon Ramsay’s chicken salad is an Asian-style bang bang chicken with shredded chicken breast tossed in a warm peanut, sesame and mirin sauce, served over beansprouts, watercress and radishes with toasted peanuts. It serves 4 and takes about 25 minutes.
This recipe is called Bang Bang Chicken Salad, from Gordon Ramsay: Bread Street Kitchen. He writes: “This Asian-style salad is light but really tasty and is a great way to use up leftover cooked chicken or even turkey after Christmas.” He notes you can leave out the chilli if cooking for kids.
The technique that makes this different: instead of dressing cold chicken with a cold sauce, he cooks the shredded chicken in the peanut sauce over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Warming the sauce with the chicken lets the meat absorb the flavour rather than just sitting under it.
Gordon Ramsay Chicken Salad Recipe
Course: SaladsCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
10
minutes25
508
kcal35
Shredded chicken warmed through a peanut butter, sesame and rice wine vinegar sauce, piled over beansprouts, watercress and radishes, from Gordon Ramsay: Bread Street Kitchen. Uses leftover roast chicken or freshly poached breasts.
Ingredients
- For the salad:
1/3 cup (60g) unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped
5 oz (140g) beansprouts
3.5 oz (100g) watercress
3 oz (80g) breakfast radishes, finely sliced
2 oz (60g) mooli/daikon, finely sliced (optional)
1/2 to 1 red chilli, deseeded and cut into julienne
1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into julienne
1 tbsp olive oil
4 spring onions (scallions), trimmed and finely sliced
Small handful of fresh cilantro (coriander), torn
Sea salt
- For the chicken:
1/2 to 1 red chilli, deseeded and quartered
1 garlic clove, peeled
1/4 cup (60g) peanut butter
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp mirin rice wine
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
Pinch of caster sugar
Pinch of paprika
1 lb 5 oz (600g) cooked chicken breast or thigh, shredded
Directions
- Toast the peanuts: Toast the chopped peanuts in a dry frying pan (skillet) over medium heat for a few minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, until golden. Tip into a small bowl and set aside.
- Build the salad base: Mix the beansprouts, watercress, radishes, mooli (if using), chilli and ginger in a large bowl. Season with salt, stir through half the toasted peanuts and dress with the olive oil. Toss well and divide between four bowls.
- Make the sauce: Using a pestle and mortar, pound the chilli and garlic together to make a paste. Put the paste, peanut butter, sesame oil, mirin, rice wine vinegar, sugar and paprika into a saucepan and mix until combined.
- Warm the chicken: Stir the shredded chicken through the sauce until coated. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 3 minutes until warmed through. Don’t rush this step because the gentle heat lets the chicken absorb the peanut sauce instead of just wearing it.
- Serve: Spoon the chicken and sauce on top of the salad. Sprinkle over the spring onions and torn coriander, then finish with the remaining toasted peanuts.
FAQs
Why does Ramsay warm the chicken in the sauce?
Most chicken salads toss cold meat in cold dressing. He cooks the shredded chicken directly in the peanut sauce for 2 to 3 minutes, which opens up the fibres of the meat so the flavour gets inside rather than sliding off. It also loosens the peanut butter so the sauce becomes silky instead of thick and sticky.
Can you make a Gordon Ramsay chicken salad sandwich with this?
Yes. The warm peanut-coated chicken works well stuffed into a toasted baguette or flatbread with a handful of the beansprout and watercress salad on top. Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen serves several dishes designed to cross between plates and sandwiches, and this filling holds its texture in bread better than a mayo-based chicken salad because the peanut sauce clings to the meat.
Why pound the chilli and garlic in a mortar?
A knife chops chilli and garlic into small pieces, but a mortar crushes the cells and releases the oils. That means the heat and flavour dissolve into the sauce evenly instead of concentrating in the odd chunk you bite into.
How is this different from his Panzanella with Poached Chicken?
His Ultimate Fit Food panzanella takes a completely different direction. That version poaches chicken gently in stock, tears it into chunks and tosses it with ciabatta croutons, ripe tomatoes, anchovies and basil in a red wine vinegar dressing. It’s Italian and light at 469 kcal per serving, while this bang bang version is Southeast Asian and richer from the peanut butter and sesame oil.
What can you use instead of leftover chicken?
Ramsay includes a tip: poach 4 large skinless boneless chicken breasts in simmering stock or water for 15 to 20 minutes until cooked through, then cool and shred. Thigh meat works too and has more flavour because of the higher fat content. He also suggests leftover turkey after Christmas as a direct swap.
I’m Ava Taylor. I’m A Self-taught Home Cook Who Loves Gordon Ramsay Recipes. I Try Every Dish In My Small Apartment Kitchen And Tweak It Until It Works. I Write Clear Steps With Simple Words So Anyone Can Follow. I Share Honest Wins, Mistakes, And Quick Tips To Help You Cook With Confidence.