Healthy Chinese Chicken Salad

A healthy Chinese chicken salad packed with crunchy cabbage, carrots, and snap peas, tossed in a light soy sesame dressing. No fried wontons or noodles.

This healthy Chinese chicken salad has been in my weekly lunch rotation since 2019, and I have rebuilt it a few times since the original version went up. It skips the fried wontons and crispy rice noodles that make restaurant versions heavy, and instead leans on savoy cabbage, sugar snap peas, and cashews for crunch. The soy sesame dressing is sugar-free by default, so the whole salad works for low-carb eating if you leave out the mandarin oranges.

It holds up for days, which is the part I care about most. Cabbage does not collapse the way romaine does.

Why This Version Works

If you have had the Chinese chicken salad at Cheesecake Factory, you know the appeal and also the problem: the fried wonton strips and rice noodles are most of what makes it feel like a treat, and most of what makes it heavy. Removing them without the salad falling flat took some work. The dressing is also sugar-free, so this entire salad can be low-carb friendly, just omit the mandarin oranges.

Three things carry it:

Savoy cabbage instead of green cabbage. Savoy has looser, more ruffled leaves that catch dressing instead of letting it slide off. Green cabbage is denser and waxier, and the dressing pools at the bottom of the bowl. If savoy is not available, napa is the next best choice.

Cashews, not almonds. Almonds are the default in most Chinese chicken salad recipes. Cashews are softer and slightly sweet, which fills the gap the fried wontons left better than a hard, dry nut does. Toast them for four minutes in a dry skillet before adding.

A dressing that is aggressively tangy. Without sugar and without fried elements, a mild dressing gets lost. The ratio here runs 3 tablespoons rice vinegar to 3 tablespoons soy sauce, which is sharper than most vinaigrettes, and that is on purpose.

How I Tested This Recipe

I developed the original version in March 2019 and have iterated over it several times. Here is what changed along the way and why.

Cabbage: tested green, savoy, and napa. Green cabbage was the first version. It was crunchy, but the dressing sat at the bottom of the bowl, and the shreds felt tough by day two. Savoy won on both counts. Napa is close behind and slightly more tender, but it softens faster in the fridge, so I use it only when I am serving the same day.

Nuts: tested slivered almonds, cashews, and peanuts. Slivered almonds were the original. Without the fried wontons they felt too plain and dry, just crunch with nothing behind it. Peanuts were too dominant and pushed the flavor toward Thai. Cashews landed right. Toasting them makes a bigger difference than the type of nut does.

Sesame oil: tested 2 tablespoons, dropped to 1. Two tablespoons overwhelmed everything else. Toasted sesame oil is stronger than people expect, and it also goes rancid faster than most oils, so buy small bottles and store yours in the fridge.

Garlic powder over fresh garlic. This is deliberate and I tested both. Fresh minced garlic in a raw dressing keeps getting sharper over the days the salad sits in the fridge, and by day three the leftovers taste harsh. Garlic powder stays stable. If you dress the salad and eat it immediately, fresh garlic is better.

Bean sprouts: tested with and without. They add a specific wet, snappy texture and very few calories. They are also the first thing in this salad to go slimy, usually by day three. If you are meal prepping, leave them out and add fresh to each portion.

Mandarin oranges: tested fresh mandarins, canned in juice, canned in syrup. Canned in juice, drained well, is the pick. Fresh mandarin segments have membranes that stay chewy against the crunch of everything else. Syrup-packed makes the whole salad sweet enough that the dressing balance breaks.

Ingredient Notes

Cooked chicken. I use rotisserie chicken most weeks. Poached breast, leftover roasted chicken, or grilled thighs all work. Thigh meat stays more tender in the fridge if you are prepping ahead. Shred it by hand rather than chopping, since the rough edges hold dressing.

Savoy cabbage. Roughly half a medium head gives you the 6 ½ cups you need. Slice it thin, about ⅛ inch. A mandoline makes this take a minute instead of ten, which matters when there are four things to shred.

Sugar snap peas. Slice them on a diagonal so you get more surface area, and they mix in rather than sitting on top. Remove the string along the seam first.

Low-sodium soy sauce. Regular soy sauce makes this salad too salty at 3 tablespoons. If regular is all you have, use 2 tablespoons and add 1 tablespoon of water.

Rice vinegar. Unseasoned. Seasoned rice vinegar has sugar and salt added and will throw off the ratios. If you only have seasoned rice vinegar, skip the agave.

Agave. Optional. It is there for people who want the restaurant-style sweetness. Honey or maple syrup work in the same quantity. Leave it out for low carb.

Make It Ahead

This is the salad’s best feature and worth planning around.

Shred the cabbage and carrots and store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days. Make the dressing separately; it will keep for a full week. Shred the chicken and store it separately.

Assemble and dress individual portions as you go. Dressed, the salad holds its crunch for about two days, which is far longer than a lettuce-based salad, but undressed components stay crisp for the full five.

If you are packing lunches, put the cashews and bean sprouts in a separate small container and add them at the last minute. Cashews go soft, sprouts go slimy.

How to Serve It

As a main, this makes four generous portions. As a side alongside grilled meat or with lettuce wraps, it stretches to six or eight.

I usually serve it in a shallow bowl rather than a deep one so the dressing does not all collect at the bottom, and add the cilantro and scallions at the table so they stay bright.

Substitutions and Variations

No savoy cabbage: napa cabbage, or a bag of coleslaw mix plus extra shredded carrot.

Vegetarian: swap the chicken for pressed, cubed baked tofu or a can of drained chickpeas. Add an extra tablespoon of soy sauce to the dressing since you lose the savory element from the chicken.

Gluten-free: use tamari or coconut aminos in place of soy sauce. Coconut aminos are sweeter, so leave out the agave.

Add ginger: a teaspoon of freshly grated ginger in the dressing is a good addition, but like fresh garlic it intensifies over time, so use it in same-day batches.

More heat: a teaspoon of chili crisp or ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes in the dressing.

Add edamame for another 8 grams of protein per serving. Shelled, thawed from frozen.

Frequently Asked Questions

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