Vietnamese chicken salad with chili lime dressing (Goi Gá)
Vietnamese chicken salad with chili lime dressing is fresh and delicious. It’s the perfect light and refreshing lunch or dinner, and it’s great for meal prepping. This spicy shredded chicken salad recipe comes together quickly – just toss all of the ingredients in a bowl. With plenty of crunch and texture, this salad is satisfying, good for you, and so delicious.
I’ll give you variations and substitutions where I can, plus helpful tips and tricks for success. Read on for this info as well as the recipe. If you’d like to skip straight to the recipe, use the jump to recipe button at the top of the post.
You may also be interested in my chicken taco salad and my cranberry apple chicken salad recipes. For ease of browsing, you can find all of my salad recipes in one place.
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Vietnamese chicken salad (Goi Ga)
This recipe for Vietnamese chicken salad is one of my favorites. I love it in the heat of summer, but the truth is, I eat this year round.
The base of this salad is shredded cabbage. I use a combination of Napa cabbage and green cabbage, for the different textures and crunch. In addition, grated carrot, a handful of herbs and shredded chicken are added to the mix.
Making this chicken salad recipe could not be easier. Everything is mixed up in one large bowl. I will admit that there is a bit of chopping, if you don’t have a food processor, but it isn’t too labor intensive.
What you need to know
It is perfect for making ahead for lunches during the week. The Vietnamese salad will stay fresh for up to 4 or 5 days, undressed. It is quick and easy to put together. This recipe takes about 30 minutes, start to finish, even quicker with a few shortcuts.
Most of the ingredients can be adjusted to suit your personal preferences. I like it heavier on the herbs and vegetables, but you can adjust the ratio of chicken, vegetables, and herbs to your liking. The dressing can also be adjusted to your tastes – make it spicier, or less spicy.
Lastly, the individual components can be prepped ahead of time, then assembled when you are ready to eat. This salad is so light and fresh, but it is a filling meal that doesn’t leave you feeling weighed down.
Ingredients
This is the base of this Vietnamese cabbage salad – lots of vegetables and herbs with a bit of chicken. I go heavy on the herbs, because I like it that way. If you don’t, feel free to cut back on them, or add in more cabbage, carrots or chicken.
- Cabbage – Use green or Napa cabbage, or buy a coleslaw mix, for a shortcut.
- Chicken – Shredded chicken breast provides protein in the salad. Buy a rotisserie chicken as a time-saver.
- Snow peas – Fresh snow peas are delicious and crunchy. Not everyone uses them, but I love the crunch and sweetness they give this salad.
- Carrots – Shredded or grated carrots give a crunchy sweetness to the salad.
- Scallions – Also called green onions, they have a very mild onion flavor.
- Mint – Mint gives the salad freshness and tons of flavor.
- Cilantro – If you don’t like cilantro, substitute with flat leaf parsley, or omit it.
- Thai basil – This herb is found at Asian markets. A decent substitute is regular Italian basil, though it’s not quite the same.
- Peanuts – They provide a salty crunch.
Chili lime dressing ingredients
This spicy chili lime dressing for the Goi Gá is fast and simple. If you have difficulty finding fresh chili peppers, and you like a little heat in your food, you can add a dash of sriracha, sambal oelek, or any other hot sauce that you like.
I accidently roasted all of my garlic, forgetting that I needed raw for this dressing. Either way, it was still delicious. One more note, I prefer red chili for this dressing, but the market was out of them, so I had to use a green hot pepper. Again, the dressing will be delicious no matter what kind of chili you use.
How to make
Here’s a quick summary of how to make Vietnamese chicken salad. Please see the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full recipe.
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- Prep – Make the dressing first. The chili, garlic, and shallot will sit in the lime juice and vinegar for a bit to mellow.
- Cook – Poach the chicken breasts, if you are cooking them. I poached a couple of chicken breasts while I was grating vegetables and chopping herbs. It takes roughly 10 – 12 minutes. Then use a couple of forks to shred the meat and set it aside to cool. If you are using a store-bought rotisserie chicken; reserve the thighs for sandwiches or soups, and the carcass for stock.
- Chop/Shred – While the chicken is poaching, shred the cabbage and carrots, and chop the herbs.
- Combine – Once you have all of the vegetables and herbs chopped, the chicken shredded and the dressing whisked together, add everything to a large glass bowl to show off all of the colors of this Vietnamese salad. Toss to combine well with dressing. It’s so simple to make and it is so delicious!
If you can’t find Thai basil, substitute with regular basil, or omit it. The flavor is very unique, so I recommend checking out your local market to try to find it. Thai basil (pictured below) can be found at any Asian market. This is out of my garden, yours will likely not have flowers.
Make the dressing for the Vietnamese chicken salad
Combine rice vinegar, lime zest and juice, shallot, chili pepper and garlic in a small bowl. The acid will help break down and mellow garlic & shallot and the flavors along with the chili pepper will infuse dressing.
Let this sit for 10 – 15 minutes before adding the remaining ingredients. After you’ve added everything, give it whisk and let it sit for another 10 – 15 minutes. I like the acidic bite of vinegar and lime juice, however, if you don’t, reduce limes to one.
Time saving shortcut – Use rotisserie chicken from the store instead of cooking chicken breasts!
Vietnamese chicken salad FAQ’s
Yes! Keep the dressing separate and dress before serving so it doesn’t get soggy.
Stored in an airtight container in the fridge, undressed, it will last up to 5 days.
Variations and substitutions
- If fresh snow peas are unavailable, try fresh green beans, or omit them altogether.
- For those who prefer a less spicy dressing, omit the chili pepper, or cut the amount in half.
- Use a bagged coleslaw mix for a short-cut, as well as a store-bought rotisserie chicken for maximum timesaving.
Helpful tools and equipment
- If there is one thing that I would recommend, it would be a good Chef’s knife. This is the same one I’ve had since culinary school and it continues to serve me well.
- A food processor makes quick work of shredding cabbage and carrots, and it’s certainly nice to have.
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Vietnamese chicken salad with chili lime dressing
Ingredients
For the dressing
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 limes zest and juice
- 1 shallot finely sliced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
- 1 small red Thai chili green if you can’t find red, minced
- ¼ cup neutral oil vegetable, grapeseed, canola
- salt and black pepper to taste
For the Vietnamese chicken salad
- 6 cups Green cabbage or Napa cabbage about 3/4 of a head
- 3 medium carrots peeled and grated
- 10 ounces cooked chicken breasts shredded, about 2 chicken breasts *see notes
- ½ cup salted peanuts roughly chopped
- 1 bunch scallions green onion, sliced on bias
- 1 cup snow peas thinly sliced on bias
- 3 tablespoons cilantro chopped
- ¼ cup Thai basil chopped (sub regular basil if you can’t find, or omit)
- ¼ cup mint chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Make the chili lime dressing
- Combine rice vinegar, lime zest and juice, shallot, chili pepper and garlic in a small bowl. Let this sit for 10 – 15 minutes, then add remaining ingredients and give it a whisk. Let the dressing sit for an additional 10 – 15 minutes, while you are making the salad. Set aside until ready to use.
Make the Vietnamese chicken salad
- Shred the cabbage and carrots in the food processor, or grate carrots on box grater and thinly slice cabbage. Add to large mixing bowl.
- Add shredded chicken, scallions, snow peas, herbs, salt and pepper. Toss to combine.
- Pour dressing over and mix thoroughly to coat. Sprinkle chopped peanuts on top. Serve immediately.
Notes
- If you are serving this salad later, or meal prepping, DO NOT add dressing. Keep it separate and mix just before eating. The acid will turn the herbs dark and make the mixture soggy. The crunch is the best part of this salad!
- I like a combination of green cabbage and Napa cabbage. This isn’t the “traditional” way of making this salad, but it gives it a nice contrast in textures. The green cabbage is very crunchy, and the Napa cabbage is more delicate.
- To poach chicken breasts: Fill a pot with enough cold water to cover the chicken by a couple of inches, about 4 cups. Add 2 chicken breasts and 2 tablespoons of kosher salt (Diamond Crystal is my preferred brand). Then bring the pot to a simmer and cook chicken for 10 – 12 minutes. *You can check the temp of the chicken to make sure it is cooked though, it should be between 160° – 165°F. Remove from the pot, and let it rest for a few minutes before shredding.
- The serving size is for 6 “normal” servings, or 4 hungry adults who actually eat.
Nutrition
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Originally published 7/10/12, most recent update 2/19/25.