Chicken Oriental Dip Appetizer Recipe

My husband has requested that I prepare this dip for every party we have hosted in the past ten years. It’s a cold layered dip, containing cream cheese on the bottom, then a mixture of chicken topped with sweet and sour sauce, which I drizzle at the end. Before I even set the napkins out, it always disappears.

The flavor is really hard to explain to someone who hasn’t experienced it. The creaminess, slight sweetness, and garlic are components that create an amazing dip. Add to that, the crunchiness of cashews and carrots. It’s definitely not buffalo dip or spinach dip, and that’s exactly the reason people always stop and ask what it is before going for that second scoop.

Before starting, remember the chicken mixture must sit in the fridge for 24 hours before cooking. The garlic and ginger marinade needs time to soak into the chicken and it is the most important part of the dish. There is a huge difference between the same day and the next day. Set yourself up for success, the rest will be easy.

What Goes Into Chicken Oriental Dip

\You will spread a layer of cream cheese across the entire platter. After that, you will add chicken toppings. Here’s a list of what you need and why it is important.\

The Cream Cheese Base

Let two 8-ounce bars of full-fat cream cheese sit at room temperature to soften. For this, full-fat is essential. Reduced-fat cream cheese doesn’t work because it gets soft and runny under the weight of the topping. It spreads into an even layer on the platter and becomes the base everything else sits on.

To avoid tearing the cream cheese, take it out of the fridge 30 to 45 minutes before using it. If the cheese is cold, it will be difficult to spread creating an uneven base with lumps. If you need to do it quickly, heat the cheese in the microwave for 15-20 seconds without the wrapper.

Rotisserie Chicken

Buying a rotisserie chicken is a good choice for this recipe as it will give you lots of cooked diced chicken. On top of that, it will be more poled and seasoned than plain poached chicken, which is more flavorless. Plus, you won’t need to do any additional cooking. I often get one from Costco when I am getting the other supplies.

Chop the chicken into small, uniform pieces so that every cracker scoop has a bit of everything. If there are large, uneven pieces, the topping will be unbalanced, and it will be difficult to eat off the cracker.

Cashews and Carrots

Half a cup of chopped cashews and half a cup of diced carrots. These two are essential for achieving the right texture. The cashews provide a rich, buttery crunch, while the carrots add a bright, more crisp crunch. Both ingredients are essential; without them, the topping will just be shredded chicken and sauce and it will not hold together as well.

Dice both so that they’re about the same size as the chicken pieces. That way, every scoop from the platter will be even, rather than one cracker getting all of the cashews, and another getting none.

Green Onions and Parsley

In a separate bowl, combine three tablespoons of chopped green onions and two tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley. Green onions provide a mild savory “bite” while parsley adds a bit of “brightness” to the dish and keeps the flavor profile from falling flat. Both ingredients take mere minutes to prepare and both make a huge difference. I’ve done parsley-less versions before when I happened to forget to buy some, and it was definitely less interesting.

The Ginger — Measure This One Carefully

An added ingredient is a quarter teaspoon of ground ginger. This amount is tiny, but gives the dip a warmth and unique smell that intrigues people and makes them wonder what is in it. This ingredient measurement is one you will want to use a measuring spoon for. Ginger is one of those ingredients that even the slightest over measurement will cause the dip to taste sharp and unbalanced. A quarter teaspoon is the right measurement for this dip.

Using fresh ginger means you’ll need at least 3 tablespoons since it has a less intense flavor than ground ginger, so the overall result will be a little different, but it still comes out good. It’s particularly important to allow the dish to chill overnight since it will help tone down the flavor that fresh ginger can have.

Garlic

Two fresh garlic cloves, minced. I always use fresh garlic here instead of garlic powder. After a night of chilling, the sharp raw garlic flavor softens and becomes one with the overall savoriness of the dip. Garlic powder ends up resulting in a far more muted and flattened effect.

Sweet and Sour Sauce for the Drizzle

Duck Sauce, Kikkoman, and La Choy are sweet and sour sauces. Stay away from sauces labeled as “marinade” as they are thinner and less flavorful. Sweet and sour sauces are meant to be used right before serving and not an hour before as they will soak into the chicken mixture and the sauce will lose its flavor and visual effect.

How to Make Chicken Oriental Dip

This will take two days and there are four total steps. Step one is five minutes of chopping and mixing on day 1. On day 2, we’ll put it all together just before the party.

Step 1: Mix the Chicken Topping and Refrigerate

Place the chicken, carrots, cashews, micronized garlic, green onion slices, parsley, and ground ginger in a large bowl and stir until evenly distributed. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a day, or overnight.

This is where the real magic happens! After spending the night in the fridge, the garlic and ginger will infuse with the other ingredients. Instead of tasting like five different things, it will all meld together into one cohesive mixture. Although this step takes the least effort, it is the most crucial!

Step 2: Spread the Cream Cheese

Grab your room-temperature cream cheese and a large flat serving platter. With an offset spatula or the back of a large spoon, spread the cream cheese starting from the center and working your way to the edges to keep the layer even. The toppings will need a little space to spread out, so leave a border without cream cheese along the edge.

Step 3: Layer the Chicken Mixture

Gently spread the chicken mixture on top of the cream cheese layer without mixing it too much. Try to leave the chicken mixture on top of the cream cheese layer. For a better look, cover the cream cheese layer as much as you can.

Step 4: Drizzle the Sauce and Serve

Right before sending the platter, drizzle sweet and sour sauce across the top. Combine with Triscuits, which due to their firm and textured surfaces, hold up better than thinner crackers in dip situations. Club crackers and sturdier rice crackers work well too.

Swap Questions I Get Every Time I Make This

Here are the honest responses to the few ingredient substitutions that happen often.

Can I use something other than cashews?

Water chestnuts can work as a substitute for pecans. They are nut free but still offer a similar crunch as pecans and they won’t affect the dip’s flavor. The extra crunch from the water chestnuts could even be a nice feature.

Can I use canned chicken?

Using rotisserie chicken for the recipe is preferable to using canned chicken, however, if canned chicken is being used, make sure to completely drain the canned chicken and try to dry it as much as possible before mixing. Any moisture will cause the toppings to become wet and soggy after sitting in the fridge and will ruin the finished dip.

Can I swap the sweet and sour sauce?

If you want to finish with a less sweet sauce, consider teriyaki. It looks nice drizzled over it, plus it goes with the chicken mixture. We’ve done both and still like sweet and sour the best, but if teriyaki is what you have, it’s a reasonable option.

Make-Ahead Timeline and How Long It Keeps

You can prepare the chicken topping a few days in advance and it will taste better after chilling. In fact, it doesn’t change taste wise for another day. You can put the cream cheese base on the platter a few hours before the party. Just cover it with plastic wrap and chill the platter until it’s time to put everything together.

As guests arrive, place the top for chicken and the sweet and sour drizzle. If the entire platter is put together, and, is put in the fridge for the sauce to seep in, then the presentation is ruined. It may taste fine, but the layered effect is gone.

Leftovers stored in an airtight container can stay safe to eat in your fridge for 3 to 4 days. If the layers mix together, no problem, it’s still good on crackers. Please don’t freeze it, the cream cheese will become grainy, and the texture after it thaws just isn’t worth it.

Other Party Appetizers That Go Just as Fast

If this one is a clear winner, then these are surely worth including to the list.

• Buffalo Chicken Dip — warm, creamy, and spicy — the crowd-pleaser that goes next to this one on the table every time.
• Taco Dip Recipe — another layered cold dip that requires almost zero day-of effort.
• Cranberry Jalapeño Salsa — bright, a little sweet, a little spicy, and it always gets questions too.

If you try the chicken oriental dip, I’d love to hear how it turned out. Did you make a different sauce or do a nut swap? Leave a comment!