If you were shocked and dismayed when Panera Bread discontinued their Thai Chicken Salad, today’s your lucky day. Featuring chicken breast, blistered vegetables, and that iconic peanut sauce drizzle, our copycat version of this beloved Panera classic allows you to enjoy it at home any day of the week.
The peanut sauce is the most important part of this salad, and while it has quite a few ingredients, they’re all key to creating that trademark satay sauce vibe. The fresh ginger and garlic can both be grated using a handheld microplane or finely chopped. Grating will give you the smoothest sauce, but if you don’t have a microplane, don’t worry.
While this salad has a lot of elements—chicken, three separately sautéed vegetables, a vinaigrette, the sauce—you don’t have to prep it all at once. Both the vinaigrette and the sauce can be made in advance and kept in the refrigerator for up to a week. The chicken and the vegetables can also be cooked up to 3 days ahead and stored in separate containers. Then when you’re ready to make a salad, all you have to do is toast some almonds, pull out the prepped ingredients, and assemble. And isn’t that exactly what they do at Panera, anyway?
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