Chinese Chicken Salad
Updated Feb 28, 2026
Easy Chinese Chicken Salad recipe with cabbage, shredded chicken, fresh vegetables, and a homemade peanut ginger dressing.
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Try this crunchy Asian chicken salad!
I forget about Chinese Chicken Salad for a while, and then I make it once and wonder why I don’t keep it in regular rotation. It’s crunchy, filling, and holds up really well in the fridge, which makes it easy for lunches.
It’s mostly thinly sliced Napa and red cabbage tossed with shredded chicken, carrots, red pepper, green onions, and cilantro. The peanut dressing is what pulls it together. It’s salty, a little sweet, and has just enough ginger and garlic to make it interesting. I usually throw some crunchy noodles on top of my Chinese Chicken Salad right before serving, but it’s just as good without them.
Happy Cooking!
– Yumna
Chinese Chicken Salad Ingredients
- Cabbage: I use a mix of Napa cabbage (also called Chinese cabbage) and red cabbage. You can use one, the other, or a mix of both! You can also just use green cabbage. Here are my tips on how to thinly slice cabbage, or buy it pre-shredded to save time.
- Vegetables: I mix in shredded carrots, julienned red pepper, and thinly sliced green onions. Don’t forget chopped fresh cilantro, if you like the taste!
- Shredded chicken: This is a great recipe to make with leftover chicken. Read my tips on how to cook shredded chicken. This salad would also work really well with some cooked shrimp, baked tofu, or shredded jackfruit.
- Asian salad dressing: Blend rice vinegar, soy sauce, peanut butter, sesame oil, garlic, and ginger until smooth. *After some feedback and further testing and tasting, I decided to add 2 tablespoons honey to the dressing for a sweeter result, but this is optional.
How to Make Chinese Chicken Salad
Recipe Video Tutorial
This video shows how to make the Asian Chicken Salad, with one slight difference. In the video, I use chicken breast marinated in a Chinese Five Spice blend. This is how I originally created this Chinese chicken salad recipe, but I’ve since simplified it to use shredded chicken instead.
Chinese Chicken Salad Recipe
Video
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 6 cups Napa cabbage thinly sliced
- 1 cup red cabbage thinly sliced
- 2 cups shredded chicken
- 1 cup carrots shredded
- 1 red pepper julienned
- 3 green onions thinly sliced
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
- Chow mein crunchy noodles for serving
For the Dressing
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons honey optional, but recommended
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 1-inch thumb fresh ginger
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the Napa cabbage, red cabbage, shredded chicken, red peppers, carrots, green onions, and cilantro.
- In a small blender or food processor, blend together the ingredients for the dressing: rice vinegar, soy sauce, peanut butter, sesame seed oil, garlic, and ginger. Taste and season with salt if needed.
- Pour the dressing over the bowl of cabbage and vegetables, and toss to combine. Divide into four bowls and top with crunchy noodles, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Recipe Variations
- Make it crunchier: Add bean sprouts, edamame, snow peas, or toasted peanuts for even more crunch.
- Turn it into a bowl: Serve the Asian salad with chicken over chilled rice noodles or soba noodles for a more complete meal.
Recipe Tips
- Blend the peanut dressing ingredients until smooth. If you don’t have a food processor, you can whisk it together by hand in a bowl and grate the ginger and garlic.
- Taste the salad before serving. You may need to adjust the seasoning as necessary with a bit more salt, pepper, or acidity, depending on your preferences.
Serving Ideas
- Starters: Vegetable Spring Rolls, Spicy Edamame, Red Curry Noodle Soup
- Lettuce wraps: Salmon Lettuce Wraps, Beef Lettuce Wraps, Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Stir-fry: Ground Beef Stir Fry, Shrimp and Broccoli Stir Fry, Teriyaki Beef Stir Fry
FAQs
There are a few things you can do to thicken up your dressing. The first is to add more peanut butter to thicken it up. Another option is to whisk in cornstarch or arrowroot powder until combined, and the dressing reaches your desired consistency.
Comments
Our family loved this salad and also made some to take to another family who also loved it! I made extra dressing, so after letting the salad marinate in the refrigerator for about an hour, those who wanted to drizzled a little extra dressing on theirs. I added slivered almonds and one package of crushed ramen noodle to the salad also (right before serving) for added texture.
So glad the salad was a hit with your family!! Love the tweaks you made. Thank you!
I made this but as a warm salad with cooked veggies and it was amazing! The dressing is so good.
Ooh yum, that sounds good! Thank you!!
Dressing is off. Had to look elsewhere for peanut dressing
Sorry it didn’t turn out how you expected, Marga. Was there something specific about it you didn’t like?
We liked everything about this salad except the dressing. I found it to be quite sour or tart. I eat a version of this at a local restaurant, and the dressing is somewhat sweet. I had to modify the dressing in this recipe and add a significant amount of honey.
Thank you for the feedback, Kathy! I’m glad you liked the salad and appreciate your comment about the dressingโI’m going to retest the recipe to see if I’d like to add a sweetener.
Was very good! We made both chicken katsu and just pan cooked chicken breast with teriyaki to go with it. I did need to add some honey and a bit more peanut butter to the dressing, was a little too acidic for me. But otherwise this was very good!
Thanks for your feedback!
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