Asian Cabbage Salad with chicken, herbs, veggies and peanut dressing makes for the best easy 30 minute lunch or dinner. Asian Fusion for the win! Gluten Free & Dairy Free too.
Asian fusion is hands down my favorite cuisine, if we can even call it that. I just love combining elements from different cuisines with an underlying Asian touch. Sesame oil, tamari, lime juice, ginger, fish sauce – I just can’t live without those.
If I have to go with a traditional cuisine, one of my all time favorites is Thai, with Vietnamese coming in second place.
The use of kaffir lime, ginger, and lemongrass as well as all the curry pastes in Thai cooking just blow me away, whereas the abundance of fresh fragrant herbs such as cilantro, and mint in Vietnamese cuisine is also an explosion of fresh flavors. And then there’s the creamy dreamy Indonesian peanut sauce – the ultimate dressing that brings everything together.
And so I present to you yet another one of my Asian themed recipes – this Asian cabbage salad with chicken. Cabbage is a Russian favorite veggie but never in raw salad form. It’s mostly used in soups, cabbage rolls, or just sauteed. Not so much in fresh salads, but why not.
The crunch of Napa cabbage leaves and their light flavor makes for a great alternative to regular leafy green salads and holds up better with all the other ingredients in this Asian cabbage salad.
There is no shortage of ingredient variations in an Asian cabbage salad but this time I went with cilantro, green onions, cucumbers, shredded chicken and peanuts. A few red chilis throw on for spice too.
Also the cucumbers are best chopped into matchsticks. Doesn’t it amaze you how just cutting a vegetable different gives it a whole new place in a dish? Cucumber cut into round work well too, but not here, here they’re better in long thin matchsticks. That’s the way you can extract the flavor from them perfectly with all the other ingredients.
You could easily use shrimp instead of chicken as the protein in this dish, or replace it with tempeh for a vegan recipe. I used leftover chicken from make home made chicken broth but rotisserie chicken, or just boiled and shredded chicken breasts will work too.
Mix all the ingredients together in large bowl and whisk the dressing together. For the dressing in this Asian cabbage salad I was in the mood for peanut flavors, so opted for peanut butter, but you could just as easily use almond butter, cashew butter, or even sunflower seed butter if you have a nut allergy.
Drizzle the Asian cabbage salad with the dressing and your meal is good to go!
This makes for the perfect light yet hearty and filling lunch or dinner. No cooking required and minimal clean up afterwards. The kind of meal you’ll be dreaming about all summer – crunchy veggies with fragrant herbs and a creamy dreamy nutty dressing.
For some of my other favorite Asian fusion recipes check out my:
- Asian Chicken Bowls with Broccoli, Carrots and Almond Butter Sauce {GF, DF}
- Thai Veggie Quinoa Bowls {Vegan, GF}
- Asian Cucumber Noodle Salad {GF, Vegan}
Asian Cabbage Salad with chicken, herbs, veggies and peanut dressing makes for the best easy 30 minute lunch or dinner. Asian Fusion for the win! Gluten Free & Dairy Free too.
- 1/2 cup green onions diced
- 1/2 cup cilantro diced
- 2 cups rotisserie or boiled chicken diced
- 1/2 whole cabbage
- 2 whole English cucumbers cut into matchsticks
- 1/4 cup peanuts crushed
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon tamari
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
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In a large bowl combine salad ingredients - cabbage, green onions, cilantro, chicken cucumber and peanuts.
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In a small bowl combine dressing ingredients and mix until smooth. Add more water if needed until desired consistency is reached.
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Drizzle salad with dressing.
To make this recipe vegan: use pan fried tofu or tempeh instead of chicken
For nut allergies use sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter and omit the peanuts
Vladka says
Looks like the dish of my dreams, full of flavors, healthy and garnished with peanuts on the top. What a great idea for today’s dinner!
Vicky says
Thanks!
Claudia Lamascolo says
I have been looking for a great Asian salad like this one and the flavors are just perfect I cant wait to make this recipe I love healthy salads! thanks
Vicky says
Healthy salads are the best!
Lisa | Garlic & Zest says
I love salads like this, they’re so bright and crunchy and full of flavor. That dressing looks to die for.
Vicky says
My dressing is my favorite part!
Sandi says
This looks like my dream lunch! So healthy!
Pam says
Beautiful slaw, but that dressing! It looks to die for, and would be good on so many dishes other than just slaw. Lovely photos!
Vicky says
Thanks!!
Harriet says
You had me at peanut dressing – just love it! I must make it soon. Thanks
Vicky says
ENjoy!
wuxiaworld says
This sounds so good!! Can’t wait to try it!
Vicky says
Thanks! Enjoy!