This Chinese chicken salad works because the textures stay distinct while you eat it. The slaw stays crisp, the chow mein noodles stay crunchy, the mandarins stay juicy, and the ginger-sesame dressing evenly coats everything.
A lot of versions of this recipe collapse into a soggy bowl within minutes of tossing. This one was tested specifically for balance and freshness. The dressing has enough acidity to keep the salad lively, while the toppings give it a restaurant-style crunch.
Read Before You Start
This is a serve-at-the-table salad, not a make-ahead-and-bring-to-a-potluck salad. You can do almost all the prep in advance, but the dressing and the noodles go on within minutes of eating. Toss only what you are eating right now and store the rest.
Ingredient Notes
- Plain toasted slivered almonds can sometimes be harder to find than flavored versions. Toasting raw almond slivers yourself works perfectly well.
- Do not substitute the chow mein noodles with ramen. Ramen reads as a different texture and absorbs the dressing twice as fast. If you want to go the ramen route, make my ramen noodle salad instead.
- Drain the mandarin oranges well. Extra liquid waters down the dressing and collects at the bottom of the bowl fast.
- Often, you can purchase half heads of cabbage at the grocery store. Or, use the leftover halves of the cabbage to make Fried Cabbage.
“The chinese chicken salad turned out really good. It looked good and tasted good too. The flavors all come together very well.
Similar flavor profiles include my Asian Cucumber Salad and Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps.
Recipe Testing – Last Updated May 2026
Originally published Jube 2021. Retested February 2026.
The recipe itself tested successfully without needing flavor changes. The tester found the salad tasted excellent fresh, with strong texture contrast and balanced flavor from the dressing, chicken, noodles, and mandarin oranges.
The biggest finding during retesting was storage behavior. The chow mein noodles softened far more than expected once stored dressed in the refrigerator, which changed the texture of the salad significantly within hours.
Because of that testing result, the storage guidance was updated to emphasize serving immediately rather than positioning this as a strong leftover salad.
Updated Storage Instructions
You can prep all the components ahead:
- chop the lettuce
- shred the chicken
- mix the dressing
- toast the almonds
Store everything separately in the refrigerator – 2 days for the produce, 3 for the chicken and 1 week for the dressing and almonds.
Do not combine the salad or add the chow mein noodles until right before serving if you want the crisp texture this salad is built around.
Do not store dressed leftovers as the noodles will be inedible within a few hours of refrigeration.
Chinese Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Soy Ginger Dressing
- ½ cup rice wine vinegar
- ¼ cup light soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon roasted garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon ginger paste
- ½ cup vegetable oil
Salad
- ½ head green cabbage, thinly sliced
- ½ head red cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced (seeds and stem removed)
- 1 small carrot, sliced thinly
- 2 green onions, chopped (you can use the green parts only or the whites too, for added onion flavor)
- 1 cup loosely packed cilantro, chopped
- 2 cups cooked chicken, cubed or shredded
- 1 cup crispy fried chow mein noodles
- 1 cup crispy fried wonton strips
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Whisk together vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, garlic paste, and ginger paste. Slowly drizzle the oil into the other dressing ingredients while whisking vigorously to emulsify the ingredients. Set aside.
- In a large salad bowl toss together cabbage, bell pepper, carrots, green onions, cilantro, and chicken.
- Chill, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- Just before serving, add chow mein noodles and wonton strips to the salad ingredients.
- Whisk sesame seeds into the dressing. Drizzle desired amount of dressing over the salad and toss to combine.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- To make the dressing, heat sugar, salt, pepper, and vinegar until sugar is dissolved. Cool, then add ½ cup of oil. Put in a sealed jar and shake well to mix.
- Chinese Chicken Salad is best served immediately but leftovers can be kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Nutrition
Comments
Toni Thomason says
I love a great hearty salad and this one does the trick. It’s a great alternative to a boring salad.
Treena says
Great tasting salad and easy to throw together for quick lunch.
Gloria says
This is so fresh and delicious – one of my favorites.