Indulge in the irresistible flavors of this Chinese chicken salad, featuring a delectable sweet and tangy dressing that can make any vegetable delicious! This vibrant salad makes for great dinners or meal prep, so you enjoy a delicious and convenient meal throughout your busy week.
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Why I Love This Asian Chicken Salad
This Chinese chicken salad is practically perfect in every way, but here are a few reasons why you’ll want to add this into your meal rotation right away:
- Easy to make: just combine the ingredients, toss, and go.
- Perfect for prep: just stash the dressing and salad ingredients separately for lunch all week.
- Makes veggies taste GOOD.
- Beautiful: a salad dish I’m proud to serve to guests.
Ingredient Notes
This Asian chicken salad comes together with a handful of veggies and a few pantry staples to make the dressing. Here’s what to gather:
- The dressing – A classic combination of umami flavors; ginger, garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, vegetable oil, and sugar. If you’re eating low carb or keto, sub in Swerve or Lakanto for the sugar.
- The veggies – Cabbage, carrots, green onions, and cilantro are perfect for the nutrients and crunch.
- The chicken – Feel free to use whatever type of cooked chicken you have here, I typically poach it, shredded rotisserie chicken salad is always a great option as well!
- Everything else – We love slivered almonds to top this Chinese chicken salad. Crushed ramen and mandarin oranges are also delicious.
Tweaks, Subs, + Add-Ons
We absolutely love Asian chicken salad as is, but there are tons of ways to customize it to your preferences. Here are some ideas for you:
- Add more veggies, even if they aren’t classically in this salad. Get inspired by my chicken poke bowl and mix in sliced avocado. You can also try celery or cucumbers.
- Adjust the dressing to your taste, either by making it sweeter (level up the sugar) or spicey (add some sriracha).
- Make it low carb by subbing sugar for Swerve or Lakanto. You can also skip the shredded carrots.
How to Make Chinese Chicken Salad
After you’re done chopping your veggies, your work is almost done. Here’s how:
- Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Toss your salad ingredients together in a large bowl.
- Dress now or later depending on when it will be served, and enjoy!
Storing Tips
Store this Chinese chicken salad in an airtight container in the fridge with the dressing on the side to prevent your veggies from getting soggy.
What Goes With Chinese Chicken Salad
This salad is so filling and flavor-packed, we usually eat it as a main. But if you’d like to serve it as a side, here are a few dishes to compliment its flavors:
- High protein options like string bean chicken or Asian salmon.
- Grains or veggie subs like cauliflower fried rice.
- More veggie sides like sauteed bok choy or pan fried green beans.
More Chicken Salad Recipes
- Classic Chicken Salad
- Buffalo Chicken Salad
- Avocado Chicken Salad
- Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad
- Curry Chicken Salad
- Chicken Fajita Salad
Chinese Chicken Salad
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
Salad
- 4 Cups Napa Cabbage finely shredded
- 1 Cup Red Cabbage finely shredded
- 1 Cup Carrots shredded
- 1/2 Cup Green Onions chopped
- 1/2 Cup Fresh Cilantro chopped
- 2-3 Cups Chicken shredded
Dressing
- 3 Teaspoons Ginger grated
- 3 Garlic Cloves minced
- 3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 3 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil
- 4 Teaspoons avocado or vegetable oil
- 2 Teaspoons Sugar or your fave sugar sub
Toppings
- Sesame Seeds
- 1 Cup Crispy noodles We use slivered almonds instead
Instructions
- Add all dressing ingredients to a salad shaker or small bowl, shake/mix and set aside.
- Add the salad ingredients to a large bowl and toss to combine.
- Pour half the dressing over the salad, toss together, and taste. Add more dressing based on your preference.
- Top with chopped cilantro, almonds, and sesame seeds, and enjoy!
Fans Also Made These Healthy Recipes:
Lindsey’s Tips
- Lakanto, Swerve, or Erythritol. I stick to Lakanto and Swerve which are a 1:1 swap with traditional sugar. If using a different brand of Erythritol, keep in mind it’s 70% as sweet as sugar, so you may need to add more to taste.
- Mild Tasting Oil. You want an oil with a high smoke point and mild flavor — think avocado, vegetable, safflower, sunflower, peanut. Skip EVOO, coconut, or sesame oil.
- For a more traditional version of this recipe, swap 1/2 cup of sliced almonds with 1/2 cup of crunchy noodles or ramen.
- To cut down on carbs skip the carrots (2g carbs per serving) and cut down on the almonds (currently, they add 5g carbs per serving).
- Nutritional information is for 1 serving if you divide this recipe into 6 servings:
Thank you for such a great recipe! Husband and I loved this salad. Used a bag of broccoli slaw to save on prep time. Will definitely be making this a lot more.
Thanks Molly! So glad you guys enjoyed! 🙂
on the carb count is that net carbs or total carbs? I am looking forward to making this over the weekend
Hello Karen! total carbs are 12g – 5g of fiber.Net carbs would be 7g per serving. Hope this helps, Enjoy 🙂
How long would this last in the refrigerator?
Hi Lauren! I usually try to eat salads within 4 days. Hope you enjoy ?
Your recipes look inviting. Why don’t you have a Pinterest button on them?
Thanks Karen! You can find the Pinterest button on the left side of your screen. Hope this helps!?
Exceptional- I used Napa Cabbage in mine, rather than Romaine. Love it!
Sounds great! I have to try Napa Cabbage next time ? thanks for sharing your tweaks!
Really good but used too much dressing.
Thanks Pauline! yes you can adjust the amount of dressing depending on your preference. I hope you enjoy ?
Are the 252 kcal for 1 of six portions
Yes Jackie. I hope you enjoy ?
Sounds great the dressing seems perfect! What about the carrots? I usually try to stay away from carrots how many carbs in those.
Hi Mary Jo! The dressing is my fave ? Carrots add 2g carbs per serving, but you can absolutely skip them! Hope you enjoy!!
How would you go about cooking the chicken? Sounds amazing! Can’t wait to try!
Hi Tianna! I would poach the chicken (it’s the easiest and keeps it nice and juicy!) you can grab poaching instructions here. Can’t wait to hear what you think!
Me and my family loves it! thanks for the recipe!
Hi Ellie!I’m so glad you enjoyed!?
Omg totally love this salad. My new favorite.
Yay! SO glad you loved it, Penny!
Menu planning for next week. This is making the cut of new things to try out.
Yay! Can’t wait to hear what you think, Stephanie!