Vietnamese Chicken Salad Recipe
- By Amy Dong
- Updated Aug. 17, 2022
This Vietnamese Chicken Salad Recipe is crunchy, yummy, and healthy. The Asian dressing is absolutely irresistible, so plan on making extra for keeping in the fridge for future salads.
Happy weekend, Everyone! And a very Happy Mother’s Day weekend to all those who play a mama’s role, either literally or figuratively.
I accidentally treated myself to a whole body cryotherapy session today, which I guess will be my mother’s day gift to myself. [Note: we can totally do that – give ourselves a little birthday gift, mother’s day gift, etc. It’s absolutely allowed.]
In case you haven’t heard of cryotherapy, it’s one of those East meets West therapies that has gained popularity like wildfire. I’ve heard whispers about the subzero therapeutic effects on injuries and wellness. But I’m the biggest cold-baby in the whole world, so cryotherapy sounded more like torture than relief. I mean, the first 3 letters spell cry.
Thus, I had no intentions of putting my whole body in a big freezer today, but someone at the gym asked if I wanted to try it out. And I said yes before I could say no. Admittedly, the guy caught me at a very weak moment: my quads were maxed out from my very first psycho-spin class. Plus, I’ve been dealing with a running injury that butted me off the roads and into the spin class in the first place. I’m desperate to get back on the roads. So I said yes.
The verdict: whole body cryotherapy is more manageable than an ice bath, despite the fact that it’a actually much colder. Whether it has miraculously healed my injury is TBD. What I do know: I was like super hungry after spinning like crazy and then voluntarily walking into a frozen chamber.
I started craving Crusty French Bread and a heaping bowl of Vietnamese Chicken Salad with its amazing Asian dressing.
Okay. About this Vietnamese Chicken Salad recipe…
This Vietnamese Chicken Salad recipe is so simple. We’ve been devouring this one for years and haven’t looked back. All you need is shredded chicken (hi, rotisserie) and pre-cut matchstick carrots, pre-shelled edamame beans, sliced peppers, napa cabbage, and yummy herbs.
The Asian dressing here is adapted from my Asiann Pasta Salad with Sesame Ginger Dressing. I tweaked a few things there to create more uniquely Vietnamese-style flavors. The dressing is so delish, I always make extra so that I can keep a bottle of it in the fridge for all the soon-to-be salads. It’s highly suggested you consider doing the same.
Then, just toss, drizzle, and munch.
And crunch and munch.
Enjoy.
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Vietnamese Chicken Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the Dressing:
- ¼ cup seasoned rice wine vinegar, found in most stores' Asian aisles
- 1 tsp ginger, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp Sriracha
- 1 TB soy sauce
- 3 TB pure honey
- 3 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 TB Asian fish sauce
- 2 TB Asian toasted sesame oil, caramel brown in color
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 TB toasted sesame seeds
For the Salad:
- 2 cups cooked shredded chicken, rotisserie works great, heaping cups
- 4 cups shredded napa cabbage
- 1 cup matchstick carrots
- 1 large red bell pepper, chopped or thinly sliced
- ½ cup edamame beans
- ½ cup fresh mint, chopped
- ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- ¼ cup thinly sliced scallions
- ½ cup chopped roasted peanuts or cashews, garnish
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients until well combined. Transfer to desired container and keep chilled until ready to use.
- Toss together all salad ingredients, except for nuts, in a serving bowl. Gently toss in desired amount of dressing. Garnish with nuts and serve immediately.
Nutrition (per serving)
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