The hero of this Chinese Chicken Salad is the Asian Dressing and crunchy noodles. It can make any bowl of fresh greens devilishly moreish! Made with cabbage, carrots, green onions and chicken, finished with sesame seeds, this is terrific for packed lunches as it keeps well for days!
CHINESE CHICKEN SALAD – MY MOST MADE ASIAN SALAD!
This is my most made faux Asian salad. It’s “faux” because it’s in no way authentic Chinese and that’s totally ok.
I love it anyway because it’s so delish, and it’s a good way to make me inhale large volumes of fresh greens.
THE ASIAN SALAD DRESSING
The Asian salad dressing I use in this salad is based on a recipe by David Chang of Momofuku. It’s made with all manner of Asiany ingredients – soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, garlic and ginger – but there’s plenty of flex here which I’ve jotted down in the recipe notes.
I love the fresh hit of ginger and garlic in the dressing but I quite often make this salad using my standby simple Asian Sesame Dressing. Made with just soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, oil and sugar, it keeps for days, weeks even. It would be unusual if I didn’t have a jar of this lurking in the dark depths of my fridge at all times!
I think the thing that really seals the deal for me about this Chinese Chicken Salad are the crunchy noodles. I just use Chang’s Fried Noodles which are often on sale at the supermarket for around $1. Any brand will do – the thin ones I’ve used or even the wider ones. Just as long as they’re crunchy!! – Nagi x
PS This is a terrific do-ahead meal. The chopped veggies stay fresh for days in the fridge – I’ve kept them for 5 days in an airtight container – and shredded chicken can be frozen. The only thing to add fresh is the ginger and garlic in the dressing.
MORE ASIAN SALADS
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Chinese Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Asian Dressing
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce (Note 1)
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar (aka rice wine vinegar, or use cider vinegar)
- 1 tbsp sesame oil (toasted)
- 2 tbsp grapeseed oil (or canola or any other neutral flavored oil)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp fresh ginger , grated or very finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Salad
- 4 cups Chinese cabbage (Nappa Cabbage), finely shredded (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 cups red cabbage , finely shredded
- 1 cup carrot , finely julienned (see video)
- 2 cups chicken , shredded
- 1/2 cup shallots / scallions , finely sliced on the diagonal
Garnishes
- 1/2 to 1 cup crunchy noodles (I use Chang’s) (Note 3)
- 1 – 2 tsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- Combine the Dressing ingredients in a jar and shake. Set aside for 10 minutes or so for the flavours to meld.
- Place the Salad ingredients together in a large bowl along with half the crunchy noodles. Drizzle over dressing then toss. (Note 4)
- Divide between serving bowls. Top with more crunchy noodles and a good sprinkle of sesame seeds. Serve immediately!
Recipe Notes:
Originally published June 2015, updated with new photos and video. No change to recipe.Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
He wasn’t bothered by the burs. Unlike me. Prickly legs!!!
I absolutely love the picture of Dozer where he is turning to the side. He looks so much younger in that shot and truly a happy boy. Nan
This is the Asian dressing recipe I’ve been looking for! It’s a lot like an amazing dressing I always buy in Japan. I put it on a regular salad and it was so delicious. I’m sure it would be great on the salad in this recipe too, which I’ll make soon!
Love your Asian recipes! Thank you
Unlike many recipes on the Internet, Nagi’s are consistently reliable. This was good, withe one caveat. Taste the Napa cabbage in your grocery store. I didn’t because it looked ok (I didn’t have time to go to an Asian grocery store, where it might have been fresher Anyway, I used a lot less on it in the salad; luckily my friend had some delicious crispy romaine lettuce. I also added a little torn mint leaves. The ginger in the dressing added great flavor. All in all, nice recipe. Thank you, Nagi.
Another great recipe! My family devoured it and I got many high fives. I suspect we’ll be eating this on the reg. I did find the dressing to be a bit too sour for me as written. I added a fair bit more sugar to make it more balanced. I scaled the recipe up quite a bit so I’m not sure if that has anything to do with it. Next time I’ll keep the proportions of the oil/vinegar/soy even and see if that does it. A gear jumping off point. Oh, I also added cucumbers and cilantro in. Delightful. Thanks Nagi!!
Hi Nagi; Following your request to access your website directly to find recipes! This looks perfect. Making for a crowd, so anything I need to do different if quadrupling?
This salad is outstanding! I searched for a no fuss recipe and this fit the bill. I subbed green onions for the shallot. I also threw in half a yellow bell pepper for extra color. For the chicken I used a cold rotisserie. Next time I will double the dressing bc we like it saucy! Thank you!
Thanks Nagi ! A great twist on the changs crispy noodle salad ! I added avo too ❤️ love it and love your work
The dressing is absolutely delicious (and easy!). I marinaded chicken thighs in the dressing and grilled them. Just for something fun but followed the recipe exactly other than that. Thank you!!
This salad is amazing!!
The dressing is delicious I double or triple the the recipe
Do yourself a favor make this salad you”ll feel great after you eat it.
This was delicious and healthy! I used all green cabbage and frozen chicken nuggets for a fabulous lunch. Oh yeah, I didn’t listen to your advice about noodles and added chopped almonds instead-lol.
Ooh, Cindy! What a great idea, thank you! I’m going to add slivered almonds AND the crispy noodles next time. I love SUPER crunchy salads.
Delicious and crunchy! Thank you Nagi!
Loved this recipe Nagi! I pimped up my left overs with some edamame and xo mushroom sauce and it was AMAZING!
Salad looks delicious, I be making the salad for 80 people, I am sure all will love it. Wish me luck
One of my very favorites!
Made this tonight. Awesome. Didn’t have the crisp noodles, so used toasted crumbled ramen. Also made it a bit sweeter.
Love reciepe. I just added a few items to help use up some food in house. Water chestnuts, frozen peas, and I toasted almonds in butter adding salt till it brought the sweetness out. I also added mandrine oranges that is such a great add.
Yum simple and yet so flavourful. Thank you Nagi
Just perfect! I added a little shredded cucumber as well.
Delicious! Mine had to be gluten free so I used tamari (less than what was called for) and added cilantro and almond slivers (in lieu of crunchy noodles. Also tried it with GF spaghetti in the salad! I’ve been making it once a week for dinner. It’s that good.