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Coconut Poached Thai Chicken Salad with baby spinach, spring herbs and scallions.
A flavorful, paleo approved entree salad.
Spirituality has nothing to do with the atmosphere you live in.
It’s about the atmosphere you create within yourself. ~ Sadhguru~
Spring has sprung and with it come the tenderest baby greens imaginable. In this paleo-approved Thai Chicken Salad, the chicken breast is gently poached in a flavorful coconut broth. Once cooled, the poached chicken is gently pulled apart and tossed with baby spinach and three different herbs – basil, mint and cilantro which gives this its incredible flavor. From here you can add other veggies like thinly sliced radishes, Turkish cucumbers, carrot ribbons and green onions. Top the salad with something crunchy or crispy- roasted peanuts or crispy shallots. It’s a lovely entrée salad, perfect for spring and summer.
On the home front: we are still on our west coast road trip, almost to our southernmost point. Currently we are perched high up in the hills of Los Angeles, the city that I grew up in.
One of the best things about this area, aside from the ethnically diverse, delicious food, is all the incredible produce at local farmers markets. I’ve been in heaven. A million kinds of citrus, tender spring greens, crazy unusual mushrooms, gorgeous colorful beets and carrots. And Artichokes! Oh! And my favorite….. strawberries! Incredible. The diversity here is beautiful and astounding. On so many levels.
Give this Coconut Poached Thai Chicken Salad a try…. I know you’ll love the flavor!
For more Thai – inspired dishes take a peek at these 10 Warming Thai Recipes.
Or my favorite…. Thai Noodle Salad! Always a hit!

Coconut Poached Thai Chicken Salad with Spring Herbs
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Entree Salad
- Method: poach
- Cuisine: Thai
Description
Ingredients
- 1 14 ounce can coconut milk
- 1 lime (divided)
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
- 3 kefir lime leaves– optional
- 2 4-6 ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts ( or one 8 ounce breast, cut in half)
- 2 large handfuls baby spinach ( about 4 ounces)
- 1 small Turkish cucumber
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced at a diaganol
- 1/4 cup cilantro leaves
- 1/4 cup torn mint leaves
- 1/4 cup torn basil leaves (Thai basil is nice)
Instructions
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 393
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 1106.7 mg
- Fat: 27.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 22.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 11.2 g
- Fiber: 2.7 g
- Protein: 30.2 g
- Cholesterol: 82.7 mg
This recipe is my absolute favourite and the flavours OMG👌
I add mango in mine also which is lovely on warmer summer days!
★★★★★
Great to hear Amber!
My husband and I loved this! So easy and super free delicious! I added a little rice to bulk it up a little and it was perfect.
★★★★★
Perfect Katie- glad you both like this one!
Could you make this somehow with tofu instead of chicken? If so, same prep method? Thanks!
You know, yes I think you could…but may be a bit bland? I would make crispy tofu, then add to Poaching liquid.
I thought this was pretty tastey but a little bland/cool. I added some chopped peanuts and some sriracha and that pepped it right up! Perfect for a light dinner on a hot night!
★★★★
Very nice salad, different but good.
★★★★
Sounds delicious. Anything special to do to multiply the recipe by 3?
No, although you may only need to double ( instead of triple) the coconut poaching liquid, it may be enough??