Thai Chicken Larb Salad (Larb Gai)
Looking for a hearty salad that won’t leave you feeling hungry? This Thai Chicken Larb Salad is packed with bold Thai flavours and has the perfect combination of freshness and spice. It takes less than 30 minutes to make and is Paleo, Whole30 and Keto!
There was a little Thai place close to the office that I used to work at in London that made the most incredible Pork Larb salad. I would get it at least 3 times a week for lunch, because I just couldn’t get enough of the combination of spice, umami flavour and fresh herbs.
This is my healthy homemade version of that salad. It has all of the same bold flavour, is incredibly filling, and best of all, can be made in just 30 minutes!
Why you are going to love this Thai Chicken Larb Salad:
- Quick & easy to make: It takes less than 30 minutes to make start to finish, perfect for weeknight dinner
- The combination of spicy, sour and fresh flavours is incredible! I find the bold flavours of this salad highly addictive! The rich spicy chicken is really lightened up with the addition of fresh cilantro and mint plus the quick pickled red onions which give it a nice acidic hit of flavour.
- Make ahead: You can make the pickled red onions and chicken filling a day in advance. Before serving quickly chop the cucumber and lettuce and warm up the chicken.
- It’s healthy! This recipe is Whole30, Paleo and Keto
Homemade ground chicken
Here in the UK ground chicken or turkey can be hard to find in grocery stores, and often quite expensive! To make ground chicken in minutes, cut chicken breasts or thighs into cubes and then place them in a food processor and pulse for 10 seconds until it forms a minced consistency. For this recipe 1.5lbs of ground chicken will equate to approximately 4 medium sized chicken breasts.
Ways to modify the recipe:
- Switch up the meat: swap the ground chicken for ground turkey, pork or even beef
- Salad or lettuce cup: I prefer eating this salad on a big bed of lettuce, but alternatively it can all be spooned into lettuce cups and eaten with your hands.
- Swap out the chopped cashews: The cashews can be replaced with chopped toasted peanuts or almonds, or left out completely for those with a nut allergy.
- Bulk it up: This salad is really filling, but if you want to bulk it up even more, cook 2 cups of cauliflower rice in a pan on high heat until it becomes golden in colour and slightly crispy
- Want more veggies? Cook chopped mushrooms with the ground chicken mixture or add raw green beans to the salad.
- Love spice? Kick up the spice by adding more chili flakes or alternatively use a chopped red chili. For those not on SCD you could also add in 1 tbsp of red chili paste.
Here are a few other Asian inspired recipes that use ground chicken or pork:
- Asian Pork Meatballs
- Pork & Eggplant Stir Fry
- Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Pork Fried Rice
- Szechuan Pork & Green Bean Stir Fry
If you make this recipe let me know in the comment section below, I would love to hear what you think or take a photo and tag me (@everylastbite_) on Instagram, I love seeing your photos!
Thai Chicken Larb Salad
Ingredients
Pickled Red Onion
- 1 small red onion
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Chicken
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 3/4 cup thinly sliced shalllots
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 tbsp chili flakes (or 1 tbsp finely chopped red chili)
- 1.5 lbs ground chicken
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 3/4 cup chopped green onions
- 1/2 cup mint
- 1/2 cup cilantro
Salad
- 6 cups lettuce
- 1/2 cucumber thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup chopped toasted cashews (or peanuts)
- 2 tbsp chopped scallions
- 2 tbsp chopped mint
Instructions
- To start, finally slice the red onion and place the slices in a small bowl. Pour the apple cider vinegar overtop and arrange the red onion slices so that they are all submerged. Set aside.
- In a large skillet heat the sesame oil on medium high heat. Add in the minced garlic, sliced shallots and chili flakes (or diced chili) and cook for 3 minutes until the shallots begin to soften.
- Add in the ground chicken and use a wooden spoon to break the meat up into a crumbly consistency. After 5 minutes of cooking the chicken should be mostly cooked through. Add in the lime juice, fish sauce and chopped scallions and cook for another 3 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked. Stir in the chopped mint and cilantro and remove the pan from the heat.
- Arrange the lettuce in two bowls. Divide the chicken mixture between the two bowls and then top each with the pickled onion, sliced cucumber, chopped nuts, mint and scallions. Enjoy!
This is AMAZING! My husband who adds soy sauce to any and all Asian dishes at it as is. This is amazing and so filling. We love your recipes but this one is even better than most!!
I can’t get 5 stars to work on my phone, but we made this tonight and it was a hit! Subbed the ground chicken with leftover diced roast chicken and diced mushrooms to add enough. The spices are perfect, another awesome meal from Every Last Bite. Can’t wait for my cookbook to arrive!
My 6 year olds loved it – but they’re a little a-typical when it comes to dining. We left out chilli flakes and added spice at the end.
So good and so easy.
Really don’t know why this dish is called Larb because it has not much in common with original version of the recipe
Needs namtok spices to be called proper larb, and roasted rice on top