Chicken salads can be so dull… but not when it’s Vietnamese-style! This slaw-like Vietnamese Chicken Salad is everything you love about Vietnamese food: Fresh and bright, yet full of flavour. Tip: Don’t skimp on the herbs or peanuts. They really bring the dish to life with freshness and texture!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!

Welcome to Day 10 of the inaugural Holiday Salad Marathon, a series where I’m doing the polar opposite of the usual sugar-loaded baking countdowns out there: I’m bringing you a new salad recipe every day through to Christmas Eve!
Today, it’s a salad that’s an ode to summer!
Vietnamese Chicken Salad
While this exact salad is not strictly authentic, the flavours, texture and spirit of the dish I drew heavily from traditional Vietnamese food. All across Vietnam you see these shredded “slaw-style” salads like green papaya salad and banana blossom salad, loaded with fresh herbs, compared to green leafy salads common in Western cuisine.
And similarly it is with the Nuoc Cham salad dressing that I’m using here. This is the fish sauce-based lime dressing spiked with finely chopped garlic and chilli that the Vietnamese use for literally everything. And that is no exaggeration! Dipping sauce, drizzling, dressing, sauce for meats, noodle bowls… (See it in action here and here and here).

And the most wonderful thing about this salad, like most Vietnamese food? It’s light and fresh and yet SO GOOD it doesn’t even register that it’s actually incredibly healthy!

What you need for Vietnamese Chicken Salad
Here’s what you need for this chicken salad:

Just a note on some of the ingredients:
Chicken – Just using a store bought roast chicken for convenience here. Handy for hot summer nights! Otherwise, poached chicken is perfect.
Cucumber – Two short (Lebanese) or one long one (continental/English/telegraph);
Peanuts – Peanuts are best and most traditional but you can use cashews too. Sunflower seeds or pepitas would be lovely too!
Fresh mint and coriander/cilantro – You really don’t want to skip the herbs. Vietnamese cuisine treats herbs almost as a vegetable itself, such an essential part of the foods they are! I use ordinary mint here not Vietnamese mint (which has a bit of a peppery flavour and is a bit much when used in large volumes like I do here); and
Wombok / Chinese Cabbage (aka Napa Cabbage) – As recently used in Chang’s Crispy Noodle Salad (possibly Australia’s favourite salad!), this is ideal for slaw-type salads because it’s softer and juicier than regular cabbage like what you use for Coleslaw. The latter needs to be left to wilt so you don’t have pokey bits of cabbage flicking all around your mouth when you eat it. Chinese cabbage on the other hand is good to eat from the dress-go. (Yeah. I went there. Sorry.) The texture is somewhere between traditional stiffer green cabbage, and soft leafy greens.
You will need half a giant one or a full small one because because I only like to use the top 2/3 that holds (mostly) leafy bits. The bottom 1/3 or so is a bit too crunchy with stems, so the texture doesn’t meld as well with the rest of the salad. I leave it for use in stir fries and noodles.
Here is how I cut the cabbage: Two slits then finely shred. Fast and neat!

Vietnamese Salad Dressing
Here’s what you need for the Vietnamese Nuoc Cham salad dressing:

As mentioned above, this is a salad dressing form of Nuoc Cham, the Vietnamese mother-sauce that you will see used in virtually everything in Vietnam! Everybody has their own recipe and there are subtle differences depending on intended use, but the essentials in it are: Fish sauce (rather than soy sauce), sugar, garlic, chilli and something sour – either lime juice or rice vinegar or a combination of both.
Fish sauce
This is the primary sauce used in Vietnamese cooking to add salt, savour and flavour into dishes, rather than soy sauce which is common in some other Asian cuisines.
Made from fermented anchovies, it packs a punch of umami like soy sauce. Yes, the smell is strong and it is fishy-tasting in plain raw form! When cooked or diluted and mixed with other elements, that funk fades away and leaves behind incredible rich and savoury taste in anything it is used (like this reader favourite Vietnamese Pork Bowls).
When used in dressings, you really need to be careful to ensure the fishy flavour is balanced and diluted enough by the other flavours in the dressing. Many people find very traditional Vietnamese salad dressing recipes a bit too fishy!
So in this case, I’ve dialled the fish sauce down, using just enough so we have great savoury flavour in the dressing but people rarely pick that there is fish sauce in it.

How to make Vietnamese Chicken Salad
There’s a bit of chopping involved here to get everything into shredded/baton shaped form. But it’s worth it! The slaw-like texture is so great here – it holds the dressing like a mop!

By the way, if you don’t have a carrot shredding tool (as pictured above), just grate it using a standard box grater.

How to serve it
Having meat included and on sheer bulk, this is a salad that’s intended to be a meal. It makes a big bowl that will easily serve 3 hungry adults, or 4 normal servings. And it’s satisfying because it’s quite a “dense” salad because the shredded vegetables pack down, slaw-style, rather than being a deceptively large mound of fluffy leafy greens.
So you won’t be starving 30 minutes after eating this. It’s actually a filling meal. Healthy and delicious and filling? That’s a food trifecta, right there! – Nagi x
PS. If you skipped the chicken, this would make a terrific side salad for anything Asian. Otherwise another great meatless, Asian-style option is My Favourite Quinoa Salad.

What is the Holiday Salad Marathon?
This is my inaugural Christmas recipe countdown where I am sharing 30 salad recipes in a row until Christmas Eve – something completely different to people’s usual baking countdowns!
These salads are in addition to my regular 3 new recipes a week. Because aren’t you bored of the usual tomato-cucumber-lettuce garden salad routine??
Click here to see all the Holiday Salad Marathon recipes to date, or sign up for instant updates and you’ll receive a free email alert whenever I publish a new salad! 🙂
Watch how to make it
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Vietnamese Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Salad:
- 350g/12oz cooked chicken , cut into thin batons (2 large cooked breasts, Note 1)
- 6 heaped cups wombok cabbage (Napa cabbage), finely shredded (Note 2)
- 1/2 red onion , very finely sliced (so it’s floppy)
- 1 red capsicum / bell pepper , finely sliced into thin batons
- 2 cucumbers , remove seeds then finely sliced into half moons (or 1 long continental/English cucumber)
- 1 large carrot , peeled then julienned (I use a shredder)
- 1 large chilli , deseeded then julienned, optional (Note 3)
- 1 cup (tightly packed) mint leaves , large leaves roughly torn by hand (Note 4)
- 1 cup (tightly packed) coriander/cilantro leaves (Note 4)
Dressing:
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup fish sauce (sub light or all purpose soy sauce)
- 1/4 cup canola oil (or vegetable, grapeseed, peanut)
- 1 tbsp white sugar
- 1 large garlic clove , very finely minced
- 2 tsp red chilli , deseeded then very finely minced (birds eye or Thai Red Chilli best, Note 3)
Finishing:
- 1/2 cup peanuts, roasted unsalted , finely chopped (~1/3 cup once chopped, Note 5)
Instructions
- Dressing: Shake Dressing ingredients in a jar. Set aside 10 minutes to let flavours meld.
- Toss: Place all Salad ingredients in a very large bowl. Pour over half the Dressing and toss well. Set aside 5 minutes (veg will soften slightly, making it more "slaw-like").
- Toss again: Just before serving, toss again then add most of the remaining Dressing. Taste then add more Dressing if you want.
- Serve sprinkled with lots of peanuts! (Note 6)
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
A familiar sight – Geoff, the local who lives at the dog park (the unofficial caretaker!), sampling some recipes I’m working on. And Dozer, hot on his heels!



This salad is on high rotation at our place. I keep the salad separate from the chicken and dressing and it keeps us in lunches and dinners throughout the week. We cant get enough of it!
How long would leftovers last in the fridge? I love the recipe but I need to minimise it for a single bloke.
Hi Ken, if you keep the dressing separate it should last up to 3 days. N x
Holy moly this was good! My husband and I are the whole thing – which meant two crazy big servings. Will definitely make again. Thanks!
I love this salad! Just made it for the second time to eat as my lunch all week. I took another commenters suggestion and wrapped them as a spring roll and love that as well. Thanks for the great recipe! I always come to your site first when looking for ideas, your recipes never fail!
I am truly ADDICTED to your Vietnamese Chicken Salad
I make it EAT it and even use it added to a broth for soup and add noodles. I wait a week to explore more of your salads THEN repeat.
Absolutely LOVE it
It was delicious! I used romaine instead of the napa cabbage, and it was just delish! Only comment is that I cooked the chicken myself, and it needed some seasoning, so we marinated it in soy, mirin, rice wine vinegar. Totally would make again!
Loved it. So fresh and healthy. Thanks Nagi
That’s great to hear Lisa, thanks so much! N x
Red chili is listed as one ingredient for the dressing. Do you mean a red chili pepper ?
I’ve been eating this nearly everyday for 2 weeks. It holds out so well in the fridge if you leave the peanuts and dressing off it! Perfect healthy lunch prep for a busy mum of newborn and toddler. Thanks!
A lovely fresh salad! Poached the chicken using your recipe. This is a wonderful way to cook the chicken and so easy.
The salad does take a bit of chopping but it is so worth the work. I actually liked the chilli which as you said added a tickle. Overall a hit and I will make again.
Love your recipes Nagi!
So good! Nailed it again Nagi! I didn’t have fish sauce so used soy, would be interested to make again with fish sauce to taste the difference!
I think I’ll leave out or halve the garlic, I found it a little too strong for my liking.
My partner even liked it and he hates anything with vinegar in it so that’s saying something!
This was delicious! Family loved it. It was easy to adjust for personal preferences. My son and I love fish sauce, so added more to our portions. Whereas my husband and daughter liked it as is. Such a good meal for summer and a good way to get kids to eat more veges.
Hi
Absolutely loved this recipe and the poached chicken is a must.I’ll never use bbq chicken again.
Can you replace the sugar and chilli with sweet chilli sauce do you think.
So easy to make and a hit with the whole family – though that did mean leaving the coriander out to keep a tween happy! Still fresh and delicious.
Great salad – fresh, exotic, simply delicious. The dressing is very versatile. It can be used on almost anything. I can eat this salad often. It’s that good.
I made this last night, even though it is a summery dish and we are in a cold Dublin winter! I wanted something light before a heavy dessert, and this was perfect. Kids loved it and said it was as good as the Vietnamese salads we used to eat in our favourite Melbourne restaurants. In fact, they were disappointed I hadn’t made enough for seconds! Thank you Nagi, and well done on your spread in the Good Food magazine this week
Made this tonight and it was fantastic! So delicious, Also poached the chicken breasts your way and will never go back thanks for the recipe.
That dressing and the mint = great flavours, even “I’m not a -salad type of guy” teenager enjoyed it!
Sensational!!! Thank you Nagi.
Nagi,
I really hate the smell of fish sauce! If someone else makes it I’m ok but I can’t handle using it myself 😬 would this work if I sub it with soy sauce?
Hi Cherie, I know it smells but it’s essential for that Vietnamese flavour – if you really can’t stand it, you can sub with soy. N x