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Vietnamese Chicken Salad | Healthy, Gluten Free

June 15, 2019 by admin 22 Comments

Vietnamese chicken thigh salad with cucumbers, carrots, watermelon radish. Topped with peanuts and herbs.

Here’s a recipe I unearthed from the archive of notebooks I own with ideas and jotted down recipes from past jobs. This Vietnamese chicken salad was actually given to me by my mom. I stole asked her for it when I was working at a “healthy dining” concept restaurant. While her recipe had shrimp, vegetables, bean thread noodles and a fish sauce dressing, mine is a bit more pared down. I keep it easy with boneless, skinless chicken thighs, some chopped crunchy vegetables and dressing. No noodles to cook or shrimp to devein or peel and it happens to be gluten-free and healthy! If you can’t eat peanuts, leave them off or substitute cashews.

Chicken cooking options for this Vietnamese chicken salad.

watch the video here!

With cooking boneless, skinless thighs, you have several options on how to cook them. Firstly, you can broil them in the oven, flipping them over halfway through. Secondly, you can cook them easily in a skillet. Use medium-high heat, flipping them often to avoid over-browning. Third, you can always cook these outside on a grill. They’ll cook so quickly since they’re boneless and fairly thin. Whichever method you choose, they’ll all turn out tasty. Chicken breasts can be substituted but I would use a thin, chicken cutlet. For vegetarians, the chicken could be substituted with firm tofu.

Can substitutions be made for the vegetables in this chicken salad?

Herbs, limes, ginger, garlic

The answer to this is yes! Choose crunchy, sturdy vegetables that will hold up well. I’ve chosen cucumbers, carrots and radishes here but shredded cabbage, shaved Brussels sprouts, kale, jicama, celery… anything with some crunch could work. Even peeled, thinly sliced broccoli stems could be tasty! A standard leaf salad such as arugula, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes is nice too. This salad is great for when you want to do minimal cooking and it’s too hot for a heavy meal but you still want it to be filling. Otherwise known as the Perfect Summer Salad.

Don’t be alarmed by the amount of sugar in the dressing!

Vietnamese chicken salad plated
A perfect light, summer meal.

It’s there for a reason and that’s to thwart any overt tartness from all the lime juice. The traditional vietnamese dipping sauce/dressing is always a delicate balance of tart, sweet, salty and spicy. I love how it’s a combination of very bold flavors balanced in liquid suspension. Most versions I’ve had of this sauce in restaurants is very watered down to dilute the fish sauce. Don’t be tempted to do that to this Vietnamese chicken salad! You’ll be missing out.

Hopefully, with fish sauce becoming more and more common almost everywhere, people won’t be so intimidated by its’ pungency. Fish sauce is liquid gold! Add a dash to anything and you’ll be amazed how just a few drops improves savoriness and flavor in foods. I am an advocate for Red Boat fish sauce (which my mom buys by the case). It’s definitely the best but if you don’t want to get the gold standard, go for the Three Crabs brand. Available in a lot of common grocery stores now and definitely at asian markets.

print recipe
5 from 7 votes

Vietnamese Chicken Salad

A fresh, easy salad with Vietnamese flavors. Quickly marinated chicken thighs cook easily under the broiler, in a pan or on the grill. Served over crunchy vegetables and herbs with a tangy dressing and topped with peanuts. A great summer time meal when you don't want to spend too much time in a hot kitchen.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Vietnamese
Keyword asian chicken, chicken recipe, easy chicken, fresh salads, vietnamese chicken salad
Servings 4

Ingredients

For the Marinade/Dressing (makes about 1 1/4 cups)

  • 2/3 cup (165 ml) fresh lime juice (6 medium limes)
  • zest of 1 lime
  • 1/3 cup (35 g) sugar
  • 1/4 cup (60 ml) fish sauce
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp ginger, minced
  • 2 tsp sambal or sriracha hot sauce (optional)

For the Salad

  • 1.5 pounds chicken thighs, boneless, skinless
  • 1 cup carrots (peeled and julienned) (about 2 medium)
  • 1 large english cucumber, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup watermelon radish, thinly sliced (or use regular radishes)
  • 1/2 cup mint leaves (large ones roughly torn)
  • 1/4 cup cilantro leaves
  • 1/4 cup roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

Method

Marinade/Dressing

  • In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients for the marinade. Whisk until all the sugar has dissolved.
  • Reserve 2/3 cup (160ml) separately for dressing the salad.

For the Chicken and Salad

  • In a plastic bag or small bowl, marinate the chicken with the remaining dressing. Leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes (may be marinated overnight).
  • When ready to cook chicken, remove from marinade, shaking off excess.
    To broil: set oven rack on second highest level and preheat broiler on high. Lay chicken on a foil-lined rimmed sheet pan. Broil chicken for 7-10 minuteson the first side. Flip the chicken pieces and broil again for 7-10 minutes, leaving chicken to develop some browning.
    To pan-cook: heat skillet over medium-high heat. Add a little oil to the pan and cook, flipping often for about 10 minutes.
    To grill: light a grill for medium-high cooking. Grill chicken for about 10 minutes, flipping often until nice and lightly charred.
  • Rest chicken after cooking for 5 minutes and slice.
  • In a large bowl, combine all the salad vegetables and herbs, reserving some herbs for garnish. Toss with some of the reserved dressing. Taste and add more as needed. Plate salad and top with chicken slices, peanuts and more herbs.

Notes

-salad vegetable substitutions: shredded cabbage or Brussel sprouts, jicama, arugula, chopped romaine lettuce, thinly sliced broccoli stems, celery, daikon radish
-leftover dressing keeps for 2 weeks in refrigerator
-cashews can be substituted for peanuts
 

Pin It For Later

Vietnamese chicken salad pinterest graphic.

Filed Under: Blog, International/Ethnic Tagged With: asian chicken, easy chicken recipe, summer salads, vietnamese chicken, vietnamese salad

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alisha Ross

    January 9, 2020 at 4:18 am

    5 stars
    After exploring a handful of the blog articles on your site, I honestly
    appreciate your way of writing a blog. I book
    marked it to my bookmark website list and will be checking back soon.

    Reply
    • admin

      January 9, 2020 at 7:45 am

      Thank you so much for the feedback! That’s wonderful to hear! You can also subscribe and I’ll let you know when I write a new recipe or post. Thanks for reading my blog. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Rose Martine

    January 13, 2020 at 2:27 am

    GREAT list. Bookmarked so I can remember to come back when I need to make basics. Thank you!

    Reply
    • admin

      January 13, 2020 at 8:23 am

      I’m so glad you found my recipes useful! Thanks for checking out the blog!

      Reply
  3. Hannah Flack

    March 15, 2020 at 11:52 pm

    5 stars
    thank you this worked great! can i freeze the left over spaghetti squash or how long does it keep in the fridge?

    Reply
    • admin

      March 16, 2020 at 2:05 pm

      Hi Hannah! I’m a little confused because this recipe was for a chicken salad made with raw cucumbers, radish and carrots? If you made the recipe as stated, any undressed salad will keep in the fridge for about 5 days? If the salad is dressed with the dressing, I’d say it’s best to consume within 2 days, as the dressing will make everything wilt a bit. Thanks for trying my recipe!

      Reply
  4. Michelle

    April 16, 2020 at 2:39 pm

    Nom,nom,nom!!! *cookie monster sounds* this looks absolutely delicious!!!

    Reply
    • admin

      April 30, 2020 at 3:03 pm

      Thank you so much!! Enjoy!

      Reply
  5. Amy

    April 17, 2020 at 9:29 am

    These are some of our favorite flavors in salads! Putting this in our rotation for summer dinners—thanks you for sharing!

    Reply
    • admin

      April 30, 2020 at 3:03 pm

      Great! I hope you enjoy this recipe. 🙂

      Reply
  6. Hannah Flack

    May 21, 2020 at 4:32 am

    5 stars
    This looks delicious, and I appreciate all your helpful notes and tips! Bookmarking for this weekend 🙂

    Reply
    • admin

      May 21, 2020 at 9:48 am

      I’m so glad you found the tips useful!! Let me know how you like the recipe!

      Reply
  7. Hannah Flack

    March 1, 2021 at 4:37 am

    5 stars
    Yum! Now I am craving chicken! I love roasting whole chickens on Sunday evenings, and I always use the bones to make a broth. It’s a great way to have a surplus of broth in the freezer, and it’s so handy when anyone in my house gets sick! I will try this recipe the next Sunday I roast a chicken 🙂

    Reply
    • admin

      March 1, 2021 at 3:42 pm

      That’s a great way to make use of the entire chicken! I try to do that too. Hope you like the recipe!

      Reply
  8. Ashley Jones

    June 23, 2021 at 10:54 am

    It’s actually a nice and helpful piece of info. I’m glad that you simply shared this useful information with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  9. Joseph Donahue

    July 10, 2021 at 11:07 am

    5 stars
    What an awesome idea. I buy ground beef and chicken in 5lb bulk bags and have always divided it up ready to cook and stored in the freezer, but pre-cooking would save so much more time. Have you found that the cooked/reheated meat does or doesn’t absorb your spices as well? That would be my only concern, although I think you could avoid the bland meat scenario by putting some garlic, salt, pepper and some other “general” seasonings (parsley, minced onion) in there when you cook in the crock pot. I would think these are common enough to most things you do with the finished meat that you wouldn’t endanger the final dinner product.

    Reply
    • admin

      July 11, 2021 at 12:22 pm

      Hi Joseph! I’m not where you got the pre-cooked meat idea from my blog? In my opinion, I wouldn’t pre-cook meat and freeze it. I do the same as you and buy meat in bulk and portion it out into smaller amounts before I freeze it. That way, it’s quick to thaw out and I can get dinner on the table more quickly.

      Reply
  10. Kelly Hubbard

    August 27, 2021 at 4:58 am

    5 stars
    Have used this method a couple of times, and it really is fool proof. This is my go to recipe for grilling chicken for one.

    Reply
    • admin

      August 30, 2021 at 2:07 pm

      Thanks! Glad it worked well for you. 🙂

      Reply
  11. Ashley Jones

    September 9, 2021 at 10:03 am

    5 stars
    Oh mmmyyyy, i love that recipe! Perhaps one of the best chicken breast recipes I came across to. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I’d love to try that this coming weekend.

    Reply
    • admin

      September 9, 2021 at 1:11 pm

      I hope you like it! Thanks for reading!

      Reply

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