If you’ve been looking for a fresh, crunchy, filling salad that’s anything but boring, here it is.
This sesame chicken salad is packed with a rainbow of veggies, tossed with my go-to homemade sesame ginger dressing, and topped with juicy grilled sesame chicken. When we first made it years ago, the team and I were immediately OBSESSED with that incredible crunch and all of the wonderful flavors and textures.
It has the perfect amount of sweetness from the dressing and marinade, plus lovely savory elements from the grilled chicken and toasted nuts. This salad is so easy to customize with your fav meat and plant-based proteins, so enjoy the perfect hearty lunch or dinner any day of the week.
FREE Summer Salad E-book
Sign up below to get a FREE salad e-book with 5 of my very best summer salad recipes, plus amazing salad-making tips and hacks that you’ll come back to time and time again!
Ingredients in this sesame chicken salad
This gorgeous salad is filled with a rainbow of crunchy veggies, super flavorful grilled sesame chicken, and my go-to sesame ginger dressing. Here’s everything you’ll need to make it:
- Chicken: we’re cooking up my Grilled Sesame Chicken and adding it straight to the salad! See below for more protein options.
- Veggies: this sesame chicken salad is packed with shredded red and green cabbage, green onion, cilantro, carrots, red bell pepper, and jalapeño. So fresh and colorful.
- Dressing: you’ll be tossing everything in my famous Sesame Ginger Dressing that has the perfect balance of sweetness and tang.
- To serve: top the salad with some toasted sliced almonds (learn how to toast them below!), roasted cashews, sesame seeds, extra cilantro, green onion & jalapeño slices. I also like to add crispy wonton strips if I have them!
Can I make it vegan or vegetarian?
Yes! You can easily make a vegan sesame chicken salad by simply omitting the chicken or replacing it with:
- Cooked, cubed tofu (learn how to grill tofu here!)
- A can of rinsed, drained chickpeas
- Cooked edamame
More delicious proteins to try
This salad would also be perfect with grilled shrimp or salmon! Feel free to marinate either one the same way that you marinate the chicken, or use my Spicy Maple Glazed or my Firecracker Salmon.
More ways to customize this sesame chicken salad
Feel free to mix and match ingredients to truly make this salad your own! Here’s what I can recommend:
- Try a new dressing: I think this Healthy Thai-Inspired Peanut Dressing would be perfect.
- Add sweetness: feel free to add fruits like mandarin oranges, mango, or pineapple for delicious bites of sweetness.
- Pick your veggies: you can pretty much use any veggies you’d like in this salad. Shredded brussels sprouts, finely chopped broccoli, and even a leafy green like kale would be delicious.
- Go nut-free: simply omit the almonds and cashews to keep the salad nut-free.
Looking to make this salad heartier?
- Make it a wrap: wrap it all up in a large, burrito-sized tortilla! Follow the instructions for this size in my Homemade Tortillas. I recommend making extra dressing for dipping.
- Add noodles: this salad would also be delicious with cooked rice or ramen noodles tossed right in. You may want to reduce the amount of chopped veggies a bit so that the noodles shine through and soak up all of that delicious dressing.
How to toast almonds
You can easily toast your own almonds right at home for this salad, and there are two ways to do it: on the stovetop or in the oven!
- Stovetop method: add sliced almonds to a pan and place over medium heat, stirring occasionally for 2-5 minutes until almonds are slightly golden brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool before adding them to the salad.
- Oven method: preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place sliced almonds on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes until fragrant and golden brown, stirring once halfway through baking. Watch carefully so that nuts do not burn!
Prep this salad ahead of time
If you’re looking to save some time, I’d recommend chopping up all of your veggies 1-2 days ahead of serving or eating the salad so that you can easily throw it together! You could also make the dressing 1-2 days ahead of time and store it separately in the fridge.
Storing tips
Store any leftover sesame chicken salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2-3 days.
Our go-to salad tools
- Salad or veggie chopper
- Dressing shaker
- Salad bowl with tongs
- Large platter
Get all of my favorite kitchen tools here!
More salad recipes to try
- Spicy Ranch Chopped Chicken Cabbage Salad
- Copycat Portillo’s Chopped Salad
- Spicy Cashew Chickpea Broccoli Salad with Ginger Peanut Dressing
- Herby Olive Italian Orzo Salad
- Scoop It Up Kale Couscous Salad
Get all of my salad recipes here!
I hope you love this fresh & crunchy sesame chicken salad recipe! If you make it be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Sesame Chicken Cabbage Crunch Salad
Ingredients
- For the chicken:
- Grilled Sesame Chicken
- For the salad:
- 4 cups shredded green cabbage
- 2 cups shredded red cabbage
- ½ cup diced green onion
- ¾ cup freshly diced cilantro
- 1 cup shredded carrots (bagged or cut into matchsticks for excellent crunch!)
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly julienned
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
- For the dressing:
- 1 batch Sesame Ginger Dressing
- For serving:
- ⅓ cup toasted sliced almonds
- ⅓ cup roasted cashews halves
- Sesame seeds
- Extra cilantro
- Extra green onion
- A few jalapeño slices
- Optional: Crispy wonton strips
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken using this grilled sesame chicken recipe.
- Make the sesame ginger dressing. Set aside.
- Assemble the salad together: in a large bowl, add the green and red cabbage, green onion, cilantro, carrots, bell pepper and jalapeno. Pour dressing all over the salad and toss to combine and coat all the veggies. Cover and set aside while you bake or grill your chicken according to the recipe.
- Serve the salad: add salad to a large platter. Garnish with toasted sliced almonds, cashews, extra cilantro, a sprinkle of sesame seeds, a few jalapeno slices and some additional chopped green onion, if desired. I also love adding crispy wonton strips but that’s totally optional. Dig in! Serves 4 as a hearty main dish or 6 as a side dish.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on August 18th, 2022, and republished on May 3rd, 2026.
I’ve made many recipes like this and this one is by far my favorite. The dressing was the perfect amount for the salad and omg the chicken was such a great combination with the salad. Grill marks were prime. I added cashews, sesames and sliced almonds along with a topping of wonton strips. My teenager ate it up along with us. Thanks again Monique!
So good!! Glad it was a hit!
OH MY GOODNESS!! ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! I made all 3 recipes recipes exactly as recommended – with only 1 substitution. I didn’t have green cabbage but I had a package of broccoli slaw. It was atually tremendous and when I make this salad again (which I DEFINITELY WILL!!) – I will deliberately use the broccoli. My husband said he would eat this again-and-again! THANKS for yet another wonderful reipe. ambitious kitchen is now my got-to site!
Perfect!! This one’s great for customizing 🙂 So glad this was a hit!
This is my new favorite recipe for large crowds! It’s delicious! I make the chicken a day in advance and chop it into about 1/2 inch cubes and serve cold. Personally, I think the cilantro is essential in this recipe but I know many people don’t eat it. I have thought about serving it on the side for a smaller group, but its not practical on a large buffet. Do you have any substitious?
Amazing! Yes, this is great for feeding a crowd. I think the salad will still have great flavor and freshness even without cilantro!
Delicious!! This will be my go-to warm weather lunch and dinner.
One of our favorites, too!!
Hey, I think you forgot to add the ingredients for the chicken marinade.
Hi! The chicken recipe is linked in the ingredients list (adding HERE, too).
This is one of the most delicious salads I have ever made/eaten! Restaurant quality
So happy to hear that!
Amazing salad. So fresh, tasty, and crunchy. The sesame ginger dressing was delicious and packed such a punch of flavor. Adding almonds and wonton strips on top took it over the top! I made a huge bowl of this and ate it 4 days in a row. I’m not one for leftovers, but now I’m sad I don’t have any left to eat tomorrow night. Guess I’ll just have to make it again 😉
YES perfect for meal prep! Glad you loved it!
Delicious!! Make this and you will love it!
It was great for meal prep lunches last week. Lots of great comments from the co workers. I mixed the chicken with some chickpeas. I ran out of the ginger dressing, but your pb and tahin from your cookbook was a quick and great substitute. Sliced almonds gave it the texture it needed. Thank you for the inspiration.
Amazing! So glad it was a hit!
I love a crunchy, coleslaw-based salad and this sesame chicken one was no exception! So fresh and with the sesame chicken on top it kept me full for hours!
So delish!! We loved it!
So happy to hear that!
This is delicious. I did filet my chicken breasts and marinated that way since I didn’t have a lot of time to marinate. The chicken alone is a meal! Love it!
Perfect! Such a great summer lunch or dinner!
So good! The FLAVOUR! My family dislikes cilantro so left it out but otherwise followed the recipe as written. Next time I’m making double 😍
One of my all-time favorite salads! Glad you loved it!
Amazing salad!! Takes some time to prep all of the ingredients but worth it!
One of my all-time favs! Glad you loved it 🙂
So delicious the entire family enjoyed it
Added additional crunch roasted cashews
So happy to hear that!
Made this using Vegan Chicken Breast and it was Amazing. So flavorful!
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
We made the dressing, grilled chicken and the salad, and they were all absolutely delicious! The chicken alone was juicy and flavorful and when added to the salad, it was the perfect combo. All the flavors in the salad blended beautifully together (red peppers, cabbage, jalapenos, carrots, etc) and the crunchiness made it even more delicious. My husband really liked the sesame dressing, but I like a little sweeter dressing, so added some poppy seed dressing and it was incredible. This cook is so talented – we will be trying even more of her incredible recipes. And we love that you have so many that are heart healthy. From someone who is not great in the kitchen, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your recipes are easy to follow, even for a novice! TY!
Amazing!! So happy you both love this one 🙂 I hope you keep finding recipes here to try!
Oh my goodness! I love to cook and rarely follow recipes exactly. Part of what I love is to make delicious things on my own — a little of this, a little of that and be creative. But with Asian flavors I just don’t have as much confidence to modify and play with ingredients. So I followed your recipe exactly and boy am I glad I did! I will make this again and again. And your ginger dressing is the best I have EVER had — I’m obsessed and am now making it in the blender (quadrupled) so I can have it on hand for salads, wraps, or just drinking it straight (kidding. kinda.)! Thank you for an exceptional recipe. I’ll be trying out others based on how delicious this was!
Amazing!! So happy you found this recipe 🙂
Such a hearty meal salad. My husband loves it too. I especially love the dressing.
I have a question. Is this the kind of salad I could add a bit of farro or quinoa to? Thank you
Hmm the texture might be a little strange as the cabbage and veggies are chopped sort of “long,” but I’m never opposed to throwing in a grain!
This is an awesome revipe.It’s perfect for a hot summer day. I made it as written and added soba noodles. So versatile! I am making it again today and adding edamame.
Great idea to add soba noodles! Glad you loved it!
This is a 10 out of 10! I have made this salad three times in the last two weeks because my husband absolutely loves it and he is not a salad guy nor does he like nuts in salad. I served it at a potluck and it received rave reviews. It is not a simple salad to make because there are many parts but it is well worth the effort. My number one favorite salad.
Amazing salad! I swapped a little agave for the brown sugar in the chicken and it turned out so tasty! I also added some peas to the salad and it was a hit with my family. I’ll be making this on repeat!
Perfect! So glad it was a hit!
DELICIOUS! Followed this to a T (minus cilantro) and it was amazing. I love having a salad prepped that doesn’t go soggy in the fridge.
Gotta have that crunch! This is one of my favs to prep for the week, too 🙂
Delicious & bright flavor.
Glad you enjoyed!
This salad is AMAZING!! I just made it for lunch, and yum! I even forgot to put the red pepper in – I was hungry😉
Subbed balsamic for the rice vinegar, fyi.
Thanks for the recipe!!
Perfect! Glad you loved it!
I made it for dinner tonight and everyone raved. We marinated chicken breasts for 1 hr then grilled….the marinade is so, so tasty! I added tahini to the dressing as suggested and toasted the almonds/cashews in a skillet with a little toasted sesame oil and salt. This dish is amazing!
Love that! Perfect hearty salad for dinner 🙂
Oh man! So glad I made this tonight. It was absolutely delicious. My husband and I inhaled it. So glad I marinated and grilled the chicken according to the sesame ginger chicken recipe. We will definitely be making this again. So fresh and flavorful!
One of our fav salads, too! Glad you both enjoyed!
I make a lot of recipes from Pinterest and rating one 5 stars is rare, but this recipe was amazing! I made the marinade and the dressing that was recommended. They were both delicious. The only changes I made were because I didn’t have some of the ingredients, so I added some rice noodles to fill it out. I just had purple cabbage, green onions, carrots and red bell peppers. As for cooking, I made foil packets and poured the marinade in them. They were done on 30 minutes and it infused the taste perfectly! This recipe will definitely go into our dinner rotation. My husband and daughter loved it too.
So glad you loved this one! It’s great for customizing with ingredients you have on hand, too 🙂
I only had time to marinate for 45 minutes or so but that still gave plenty of flavor. This was a great big dinner salad that we’ll be making again. I might add sriracha to the dressing next time for a little extra spice!
Perfect! Love the idea of adding an extra kick of heat, too.