Chinese Chicken Salad
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Salad for dinner? Yes, please! Packed with crunchy veggies and tender chicken, this Chinese chicken salad is the light, feel-good meal you’ll crave all summer long.
Chinese chicken salad is a California-style dish that blends Chinese and American flavors in the best way. It may have peaked on restaurant menus in the ’90s, but to me, it’s just as crave-worthy today. Honestly, I could eat a salad like this every night of the summer—if I didn’t have other people to feed.
With crisp Napa cabbage, crunchy carrots and bell peppers, tender chicken, and a sesame-ginger dressing, it’s light, refreshing, and always hits the spot. I swap the usual fried wonton strips for toasted nuts to keep it a bit healthier, but if you love the crispy crunch of wontons, go ahead and add them in. And it’s super easy to throw together, especially if you’ve got leftover or rotisserie chicken on hand.
“Great salad—crunchy and flavorful, and very easy. I used some of the dressing to marinate pounded chicken breasts for a couple of hours then grilled them. Will definitely make again!”
What You’ll Need To Make Chinese Chicken Salad
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the dressing. In a food processor or blender, combine the rice vinegar, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, vegetable oil, garlic, and ginger. Blend until completely smooth.
Step 2: Assemble the salad: Combine the Napa cabbage, chopped romaine, bell pepper, scallions, grated carrots, fresh cilantro, salted cashews or peanuts, and shredded chicken. Add the dressing, little by little, and toss to combine, until the salad is dressed to your liking. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, serve, and enjoy!
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Ingredients
For the Dressing
- ⅓ cup unseasoned rice vinegar
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 3½ tablespoons honey
- ¼ cup sesame oil
- ⅓ cup peanut or vegetable oil
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1½-inch square piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped (see note)
For the Salad
- 4 cups chopped Napa cabbage
- 4 cups chopped romaine (or substitute more Napa cabbage)
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 2 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
- ½ cup grated carrots, from 2 carrots
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- ⅓ cup salted cashews or peanuts
- 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
Instructions
- Make the dressing: In a food processor or blender, combine all of the ingredients and blend until smooth.
- Assemble the salad: Combine all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl. Add dressing, little by little, and toss to combine, until the salad is dressed to your liking. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve immediately.
- Note: For easy guidance on how to peel, grate, and chop fresh ginger, click here.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 608
- Fat: 48 g
- Saturated fat: 9 g
- Carbohydrates: 28 g
- Sugar: 19 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 19 g
- Sodium: 989 mg
- Cholesterol: 53 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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I made this for a party, and it was a huge hit. The dressing is delicious. My husband and I ended up eating it three days in a row because it was so delicious. I passed the recipe on to my sister and mom, and they love it as well.
Really wanted to love this salad but I didn’t. Not sure what flavor was turning me off but something was. Good crunch and color. Dressing was okay. Don’t think I will make again,
I have a giant head of green cabbage to use up. Any idea if that will work as a substitute for Napa cabbage?
Hi Samantha, you can use green cabbage here—just keep in mind that it’s crunchier and has a slightly different flavor than Napa cabbage.
Everyone is right that the dressing is spectacular! I have made this recipe before from scratch but have also found a couple of short cuts that make it much easier–and more practical since there are just two of us. (It would take us a REALLY long time to use a head of Napa cabbage!)
My local grocery makes an Asian salad kit that I use as a base. It contains cabbage, carrots, cilantro, wonton crisps, and sliced almonds so I just add lettuce, green onion, more cilantro, and red bell pepper. (I toss their excessively sweet dressing packet.) As Jenn suggests, I use either leftover chicken or store-bought rotisserie chicken. With the recipe dressing, it’s better than any that I’ve had in a restaurant and it’s ready in 15 minutes.
I think next time I’ll use some sliced snow peas as well.
Fabulous and so easy.
The dressing is so delicious. It will be my new go to
Extremely tasty recipe. Made as written, except added wonton strips at the end for crunch. Usually Jenn’s recipes have prep time listed, which this one doesn’t. It took me an hour to wash and chop all of the vegetables and make the dressing. It was absolutely worth it, but others should know that this isn’t a quick weeknight salad.
Hi Jenn, I usually have great success with your recipes however this one just doesn’t work for us. The salad was fine but we found the dressing(although it smelled amazing) to be a bit too oily. Really wanted to love it.
This was fantastic!!! It’s now a go-to crowd favorite! Another fun topping we added was sautéed crunchy ramen noodles (from the package), so easy and adds a some crisp!
This recipe for Chinese Chicken Salad is delicious! I’ve never used Nappa Cabbage before and the head was huge – enough to double the recipe if needed. I followed the recipe as written, using a store roasted chicken. It made a lot and there are just two of us. I refrigerated it overnight and it was just a delicious today as it was yesterday! This will be made again. Thanks!