This gluten free Vietnamese Cabbage Chicken Salad is light, vibrant, and packed with fresh flavour. It tastes like summer in every bite. Filled with crisp veggies, tender chicken, and a tangy-sweet dressing, it’s perfect for entertaining or a light, healthy dinner. I make this recipe year after year and seeing fresh mint coming up in my garden is my reminder.
Like so many Vietnamese dishes this chicken salad is naturally gluten-free and dairy-free, a gift to the gluten free community. To make this a dinner for friends I'd serve homemade strawberry cheesecake ice cream in spring and grilled fresh peaches in summer. If I wanted a dairy-free dessert I'd make this coconut ice cream with mango.
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Ingredients
A seasonal approach to cooking naturally adds variety to your meal rotation as the produce comes into season.
- Thai bird chile or jalapeno
- rice vinegar
- lime juice
- fish sauce
- vegetable oil
- onion
- chicken
- green & purple cabbage
- carrot
- fresh mint & cilantro
- peanuts
See recipe card for exact amounts.
Variations & Substitutions
In this recipe the dressing is nuoc cham. This popular sauce is used for dipping Vietnamese Salad Rolls, or sprinkling over a Vietnamese Rice Noodle Bowl or this Pork in Tomato Sauce. Each recipe is slightly different just because I found and perfected them over time. Feel free to mix and match my three slightly different versions of nuoc cham among these recipes.
A Canadian Celiac Podcast
Thanks to Sue Jennett for sharing this photo of her version of my Vietnamese Chicken Salad. Sue is the host of A Canadian Celiac podcast and I'm a follower of hers. Listening to podcasts is a great way to keep up with the changes in the gluten free space. The only thing we know for sure is that things are always changing so continuous learning needs to be part of a gluten free lifestyle.
Top Tip:
Grow fresh herbs. Many herbs are easy to grow and mint is one of them. You don't need a green thumb or even a garden. Put a pot on the deck with a small mint plant in the spring and enjoy mint all summer. The one time cost is about the same price as a single package of fresh mint at the store.
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Vietnamese Cabbage Chicken Salad
Ingredients
DRESSING
- 1 Thai bird chile*, seeded and finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoon lime juice
- 3 tablespoon fish sauce
- 3 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
- freshly ground black pepper
SALAD
- 2 small chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (about 2 cups)
- 2 cups shredded green cabbage
- 2 cups shredded purple cabbage
- 1 cup shredded carrot
- ½ cup shredded fresh mint
GARNISH
- cilantro sprigs
- fresh mint sprigs
- ¼ cup crushed peanuts
Instructions
DRESSING
- Combine all dressing ingredients. Set aside for 30 minutes.
SALAD
- Fill a large frying pan with water and bring to boil over high heat.
- Add chicken, put lid on and turn heat down to maintain a low boil. Poach for 10 minutes, turn chicken and continue poaching until cooked through, another 10 minutes depending on the thickness. Remove from water and cool.
- While still warm shred the meat using 2 forks or cut into thin slices.
- In a large mixing bowl combine chicken, cabbage, carrot and mint. Sprinkle dressing over and toss well. Transfer salad to serving platter or plates.
- Garnish with cilantro springs, mint and chopped peanuts.
Notes
Nutrition
More Vietnamese Recipes
Be sure to collect enough recipes to keep your pantry ingredients moving all year. Here are a few ways, and more recipes, to use fresh mint, fish sauce and the Nuoc Cham you might have leftover.
- Make ice cubes with fresh mint and put them in any summer drink.
- Add small bouquets of mint to a summer table.
- Cut long stems of mint and add them to a bouquet of herbs or flowers for a summer table.
Steshni Corea
would love to try a vegetarian version of this!
Cinde Little
Agreed Steshni! This is a perfect recipe for canned young jackfruit. Let me know if you try it.