Copycat Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad

I'll admit, I've been somewhat obsessed with copycat recipes of late. I'm not sure if it is because I live so far from restaurants now, or because I just want to see if I can replicate restaurant food at home. I imagine it's a little of both! This particular salad is my husband's favorite thing from Applebee's Restaurant, so I wanted to give it a try. There are several versions of the recipe on line, but I based mine off of one from Mandy's Recipe Box.

Looks good, right?!  

What's even better...it is very easy to put together with some pre-packaged items from the grocery store.

Copycat Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad

from Mandy's Recipe Box

For the Dressing - 

3 Tablespoons honey

1 1/2 Tablespoons rice vinegar

1/4 cup mayonnaise (*I use Hellman's with Olive Oil)

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/8 teaspoon sesame oil

For the Salad - 

6 crispy chicken strips, cooked

Pre-packaged salad mix (w/romaine lettuce, carrots, and cabbage)

Pre-packaged coleslaw mix

3 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted (I used toasted sesame seeds)

1 cup Chow Mein noodles

Directions - 

For the Dressing 

Whisk all of the ingredients together in a small bowl.

Refrigerate while preparing salad.

For the Salad 

Cut chicken strips into bite size pieces. Set aside.

Mix together about half the bag of each of the pre-packaged salad and coleslaw mixes.

Top with cut up chicken, almonds & Chow Mein noodles. 

Drizzle the dressing on top, to taste.

Makes approx. 3 large salads

You can make as much or as little as you want by altering the amounts of salad used.  The amount of dressing used per salad is such an individual preference, so you may need more or less.  The amount listed was enough for 3 salads (a dinner sized salad entree) for us, but my husband said he would have liked more dressing (he likes a lot, where I like just a little!) 

I added mandarin oranges to my salad, and I used toasted sesame seeds in the place of almonds, just because I love them!

This was a convenient, filling and delicious salad, and I can't wait to tackle my next copycat recipe!  So far, I've tried Copycat Chick-fil-a Chicken, Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana, and Chili's Monterey Chicken.

Have you got a restaurant favorite that you make at home? I'd love to hear about it!

I'm linking up this recipe over at - (Wednesday) Fluster Buster, Semi Homemade Mom, Adorned from Above, Lady Behind the Curtain, Ginger Snap Crafts, Hungry Little Girl, Naptime is My Time, Bloom Designs, Cherished Handmade Treasures  (Thursday) Project Inspire ,Joyful Homemaking, Designed Decor, Taste and Tell,  Miz Helen's Country Cottage, The Mandatory Mooch,  The Busy Bee's, (Friday) Not Your Ordinary Recipes,  Simple Living and Eating, Just Us Four, Bacon Time with the Hungry Hungry Hypo, Diana Rambles, The Better Baker,Craftionary, Mummy Deals, One Artsy Mama, The Best Blog Recipes, One Creative Mommy, Michelle's Tasty Creations, Close to Home, A Peek Into My Paradise (Saturday) Sassy Little Lady,  Lemons for Lulu,  Or So She Says..., Six Sisters' Stuff (Sunday) Mommy's Sweet Confessions 

Yay! This recipe was featured at The Better Baker and The Best Blog Recipes!