This twist on the viral crispy rice salad takes the flavor of juicy satay chicken and turns it into a lovely, satisfying salad. Crisp up your rice, combine with lots of lovely crunchy greens, and pour over a GORGEOUSLY creamy peanut dressing that you’ll be wanting to drink.
I might be entering my rice era. It’s (weirdly) not an ingredient I typically cook with, but recently I’ve been absolutely LOVING it. There’s a life-changing (not hyperbole, I swear) baked rice recipe that we’ve been enjoying over and over, and now this gorgeous salad, studded with crispy spiced rice and the absolute best, and most satisfying flavors and textures.
This might be my ultimate salad? It’s a bit like a satay chicken rice bowl, in salad form, and it really works. I wasn’t sure what the crispy rice would be like – I worried it would go hard and not be enjoyable to eat, but it 100% works. Crispy and crunchy without being hard, it brings another lovely element to the salad and provides bulk, so it feels like a full meal. Try my crispy ramen noodle salad, ‘Marry Me’ chicken crispy rice salad, juicy chicken shawarma crispy rice salad or Korean grilled chicken crispy rice salad for a similar experience!
It’s a brilliant way to use up any leftover rice you might have, but I’ve also included instructions for cooking rice specifically for this salad in the full recipe at the bottom of the page.
If you like these flavors, you’ll love this charred peanut chicken recipe, chicken satay flatbreads or these juicy chicken satay bowls.
Ingredients
- Rice. You can use leftover cooked rice, or cook the rice for this recipe (I’ve included both options in the recipe at the bottom of the page). You could also use a packet of microwave rice. I’m using long-grain rice (like basmati or jasmine), but short-grain will work too – you’ll end up with little clusters of crispy rice rather than individual grains, which is a nice change.
- Peanut butter. This forms the base of the satay dressing. Use natural peanut butter here (so peanut butter with only peanuts and salt listed in the ingredients). Smooth or chunky – it’s up to you!
- Edamame beans. I always like to have a bag of podded edamame beans in the freezer – they add a lovely bit of protein to salads and rice bowls and work beautifully here. Just soak them in warm water for a few minutes to quickly defrost them. You could use peas or broad beans instead if you like.
- Chicken. You don’t have to add chicken to this salad, but it’s a lovely way to use up any leftovers (or a great way to use a rotisserie chicken). If you’d like to cook the chicken specially for this recipe, this grilled miso chicken is a lovely one to use.
- Thai basil. This gorgeous, vibrant herb has an aniseedy flavor, so if you’re not a fan of that, swap it for more mint or cilantro, or regular basil.
- Fish sauce. You’ll use this in the satay dressing – it adds a lovely savory depth and doesn’t make it taste fishy at all – but if you don’t want to use it or want to make the salad vegetarian, use more soy sauce.
How to make it
If you’re cooking your rice, do that first, then spread it out onto a lined oven tray and pop it into the fridge to cool while you prep the rest of the salad. If you’re using leftover rice, you can skip ahead.
Mix the cooled rice with sesame oil, soy sauce and chili oil, then pop into the oven to get lovely and crispy. You can also do this in the air fryer.
While that’s happening, mix your dressing and prep all your salad ingredients.
Combine everything in a mixing bowl – or save on washing up and use the bowl you’ll serve the salad in – then pour over the dressing. Serve with an extra sprinkling of peanuts and more dressing on the side.
Watch how to make it
Satay Crispy Rice Salad FAQs
Once you mix the salad with the dressing and store it, you’ll lose the crispiness of the rice. It’ll become a little chewy (which is still delicious) so if you’re entertaining or taking it along to a potluck, I recommend mixing the rice and dressing through the salad just before serving. It’ll keep well (roughly 4 days in the fridge) and doesn’t get soggy (!) so it’s a brilliant one to meal prep.
Shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, chunks of avocado, finely diced red onion or shredded carrots are lovely additions. You can really play around, based on what you have to hand.
Like this recipe? Try these salads next
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a recipe rating and a comment below. And remember to tag @DishedByKate on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok if you’ve made one of my recipes. Seeing your recreations really makes my day 😊.
Satay Crispy Rice Salad
Ingredients
Method
- Cook your rice (skip this step if you're using leftover rice). Add ⅔ cup of rice to a small pot you have a lid for. Add 1 cup of water, then set over high heat until you see foamy bubbles on top. Pop the lid on, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 12 minutes. Remove from the heat (still with the lid on), and set aside for another 10 minutes, to finish steaming. After this, fluff up the grains with a fork, then spread onto a tray or plate lined with parchment paper and pop it into the fridge to cool for at least 10 minutes.
- Prepare your crispy rice. Heat your oven to 400°F (200°C). If you're using leftover rice, transfer it to a parchment paper lined sheet pan. If you're using your fresh rice, get the tray out of the fridge. Pour 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of chili oil over the rice, then toss to combine.
- Make your crispy rice (oven instructions).Spread the seasoned rice into a thin, even layer (ideally one layer), then pop it into the oven for 25 – 30 minutes to crisp up. Check the rice after 15 minutes to see how it's going – some ovens are a little uneven, and you may want to rotate the tray. Check it at 20 minutes too, as it can easily burn, and again, all ovens are different.
- Mix your satay dressing. Add ½ cup of peanut butter, 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, 2 teaspoons of fish sauce, and 1 tablespoon of sweet chili jam to a bowl or a jar. Use a fork to mix into a thick paste. It'll seem like it won't come together, but just keep mixing. Slowly drizzle in ½ cup of water, mixing as you do, until you get a lovely creamy dressing with the consistency of heavy cream.
- Mix your salad. Once your rice looks lovely and golden and crispy around the edges, remove it from the oven. Add the edamame beans, diced cucumber, chicken, cilantro, mint, Thai basil, red chili (if you're using it), most of the peanuts, sesame seeds and scallions to a mixing bowl, or straight into a serving bowl. Pour the crispy rice on top, then pour roughly half the dressing on top. Mix well to combine. Drizzle over more dressing and scatter over the remaining peanuts to serve.
I absolutely love this recipe! So much lovely crunch and the hint of mint adds a refreshing touch. I prefer a sweeter peanut sauce, so I add more sweet chili sauce and a bit of sugar, but otherwise we follow this recipe precisely.
This looks so good! What a great combination of flavors!