What’s better than a hearty meal at your table without even cooking? This Vietnamese chicken salad is exactly that, a delicious healthy salad that doesn’t require you to cook anything, just add some veggies, earthy herbs, and chunks of pre-cooked chicken with a dressing of your choice and you are good to go!

However, get your knives ready as you may need to do excessive chopping, but that’s something we can do if we are going to get a perfect salad at the end. 

I love to chop although I’m not quite artistic in cutting and chopping but it centers my mind and keeps my anxiety at bay.

We all know that salads make a complete meal with the addition of protein so we are going to do exactly that by adding rotisserie chicken with subtle notes of spices. Add your typical Vietnamese, nouc cham dressing and you are ready to rock at your dinner table.

Get ready with us to make the delicious Vietnamese chicken salad, what it is, the essential ingredients, how you can add variations, and the means to store it.

What Is Vietnamese Chicken Salad?

It also goes with the name, ‘Goi ga’ and is one of the essentials in Vietnamese cuisine. Well, cold salads are served best as a side meal so here we have this delicious one. 

To Prepare this add some rotisserie chicken (the skewered one if you aren’t already familiar with that), scallions, cabbage, and rau ram (i.e., we commonly call Vietnamese coriander). 

However, there are plenty of other vegetables you can add and bring a unique edge to your typical salad. The salad is generally completed by adding dressing at the end.

One thing that appeals to me in Vietnamese cuisine is the use of lots of veggies all contributing to its flavor and visual appeal. Here we have added the vegetable star, Cilantro known as Rau ram, which contributes to its fragrance and taste that overpowers all other veggies. 

Vietnamese cuisine is all about garnishing with plenty of peppery herbs and fresh veggies, and that’s what I love the most about it!

Ingredients Used In Vietnamese Chicken Salad

Each of the ingredients used in Vietnamese chicken salad has its contribution to flavor and taste. Here let’s get a breakdown of the main ingredients used:

Chicken

Out of all the cuts, my favorite is chicken breast. It seems convenient for me to utilize in recipes like salads. 

But if you are short on time, like all of us are, use rotisserie chicken. Shred it down and add it to your salad as a base, and you won’t be disappointed.

Vegetables

Veggies made the base of Vietnamese chicken salad, although you can be creative in the vegetables you add to your salad here I’m adding scallions, carrots, capsicum, cucumbers, and onions.

However, out of all, Napa cabbage got the most hype as it absorbs nouc cham and gives your salad a particular meaty flavor.

I personally red onions in my salads but you can use shallots as well.

Another important veggie we will add is Rau ram commonly we call it Vietnamese coriander, it tastes ravishing believe me. But if you aren’t using raw chicken and going for the rotisserie chicken option, then I’ll suggest you use mint instead of it.

Nouc Cham

Now the Star of our dish, its nouc cham no surprise! Vietnamese love adding it into literally everything whether it’s a dressing of salad, a dipping sauce, or a drizzling sauce. nouc cham can be used anywhere. Everyone can make it differently but its hype remains the same.

You will love it because of its salty, umami taste with subtle notes of sweetness.

What To Use Instead Of Rotisserie Chicken?

Don’t you have rotisserie chicken? No worries, you can poach your chicken breast and have the tender chicken you desire. How poaching works? 

Well, it’s quite simple, just boil some water and let it simmer for 5 minutes on low flame. Now remove it from the flame and let your breast be poached in a pot with the lid closed. 

After at least 20 minutes, you can put it out and shred it. It’s ready to be used in your salad now!

Servings Along With Vietnamese Chicken Salad

You can be creative and serve it along with any of your favorite meals. Let’s look into our suggestions: 

• You can add mangoes. Sound weird, right? But believe me, it gives it a unique taste, besides that you can add beans, legumes, or order veggies including edamame, herbs or red cabbage.

• An extra portion of protein never hurts anyone, so serve it with tuna, and turkey.

• Nuts tremendously enhance the flavor profile, so you can go for roasted peanuts and cashew nuts.

Storage Tips for Vietnamese Chicken Salad

• Salads taste better when freshly made, but if necessary you can store them in a refrigerator for 5 days in an airtight container.

• However, we strongly suggest you do not drizzle the sauce if you don’t plan to come right that instant.

• Your Vietnamese sauce, nouc cham can be saved in a mason jar for almost a week in the refrigerator.

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