Asian-Inspired Chicken Salad– gluten free and grain free

Plain chicken, shredded cabbage, and a rainbow of veggies transformed by a delicious sesame dressing make a tasty, healthy, and filling summer salad. This Asian-inspired chicken salad is free of gluten, grains, soy, dairy, eggs, nuts, and sugar, you can serve this easy chicken slaw recipe to many people on special diets, too.

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This is not an authentic Asian recipe. Not really Chinese, Thai, or anything else in particular. While I have never been to Asia, I doubt you would find this exact chicken slaw there. This is a very American recipe.

It does, however, draw on some flavors you would find in some places in Asia, and they are delicious! Also, you can find these ingredients easily and pull a nourishing, flavor-packed meal together with the parts you like best. So, let’s just say this chicken slaw is Asian-inspired.

American are likely to be familiar with this genre of chicken salad. A similar dish was a great favorite in my family growing up on hot summer evenings. The summer I worked in a salad bar restaurant as a college student, the Chinese chicken salad was far and away the most popular of the 12 prepared salads on the bar. We could hardly keep the huge bowl filled!

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Making a Healthier Asian-Inspired Chicken Salad

I’m not knocking those older versions, or any of the multitude of other Chinese, Thai, or other Asian chicken salads out there. They tend to be absolutely delicious!

My tastes have evolved a bit, though. So have my dietary needs and goals. This is likely to be true for many people; you will see what I mean.

In the 80’s and 90’s, a lot of those salads relied on dried, ground spices. There is nothing wrong with those; I use them all the time! But fresh ginger? That is not the same! It is much more vibrant, and so good for us. And cilantro? Love it or hate it; I love it! Jalapeños and rice wine vinegar add something, too.

After I found out I had celiac disease, I had to tweak the old recipe a bit. No more soy sauce, no more crumbled up ramen, and no more crunchy chow mein noodles on top. (The chow mein are the only ones I actually miss! Those are delicious.)

Then, I started to look askance at sugar and soy. I’m not opposed to a little soy here and there, especially in fermented form. But I limit it, and just use soy sauce now and then. (I like to limit soy because of its effect on the thyroid and other aspects of health, but don’t worry about a little bit here and there.)And I try to reserve even the more natural sugars for dessert!

This recipe has oodles of flavor, but none of the things I had to (or chose to) eliminate or limit. No gluten, no grains, no sugar, no soy. If I can’t find a super price on coconut aminos, I use liquid aminos or another high quality, gluten free soy sauce. You should do what you think best about that.

Ingredients

A convenient aspect of salads and slaws is that you really don’t need to strictly follow a recipe. Maybe a dressing recipe is helpful, but otherwise you can use up bits of veg, lean on your garden’s bounty, and opt for what you enjoy. The quantities also aren’t set in stone.

• cabbage– somewhat essential to slaw, I love a Napa cabbage for this recipe. Slice thinly and you’re in business! Regular chopped or shredded cabbage is also good. In these pictures, I used pre-shredded cabbage. The Napa cabbages were sold out and I had a headache. It works.
• chicken– I used leftover chicken after making chicken stock, but any plain-ish chicken will do. Poach a little chicken in some water, sauté some on the stove, or use a rotisserie chicken all pulled apart.
• veggies– use what you like! This time, I had sugar snap peas and green onions from my container garden, plus carrots, red pepper, jalapeño, cilantro, cucumber, and pineapple. Plenty of color, some crunch, something aromatic, and a fruit make it interesting.
• dressing– the dressing is simple, but it makes the flavor. Dressing is essential!
• something crunchy– chow mein noodles are delicious, and if I could have them, I would. No, they’re not good for us. Often I like to add roasted cashews, but I forgot to buy them. I blame the headache. Roasted peanuts or French fried onions are also delicious here!

How to Make Asian-Inspired Chicken Salad

This is an easy recipe, and the work is mainly chopping. Start with the chicken and dressing. That way, the plain chicken can absorb flavor while you work on the rest of the salad.

If you need to cook the chicken, do that first. Stir up the dressing while it cooks.

You could use all sesame oil, but it is a little expensive. I usually use avocado oil with sesame mixed in for the nutty flavor. Coconut aminos (or soy sauce), rice vinegar, and garlic and ginger supply big flavor.

You don’t have to peel the ginger, but I like to most of the time. If you use a regular table spoon, you can scrape the peel off without much trouble, curving it into the nooks and crannies of the knobby root without sacrificing much of your ginger.

Stir about half the dressing into the shredded chicken. Set it aside (or in the refrigerator) to marinate.

Now start chopping. Whatever shape or size you like. I like to get things pretty small so there is a bit of nearly everything in every bite. It’s up to you!

Assemble the Salad

This is the easy part, provided you use a big-enough bowl!

Start with the cabbage. Add the chicken and all the veggies, then pour the dressing on top and mix the whole thing up.

If you use a crunchy ingredient like nuts or noodles, you could mix them in, sprinkle them over the top, or mix some in and garnish with more. Something like cashews or peanuts will hold up well in the salad, but if you use crunchy noodles or French fried onions, you will do better to add them at the last minute or just keep them on top so they don’t get soggy.

Should I eat raw cabbage with low thyroid?

I mentioned limiting soy for the sake of thyroid function. Alert thyroid readers will be wondering about the raw cabbage. Raw cruciferous vegetables are also known goitrogens, or thyroid-inhibitors. For this reason, I rarely consume them in raw form; I do eat lots of cooked and fermented cruciferous veggies, like roasted broccoli, cauliflower pizza crust, and sauerkraut. They offer many health benefits, including to the thyroid gland!

Realizing raw cabbage may not be ideal for my sluggish thyroid, I don’t eat it often. I don’t worry about having some now and then, though. Mainly in the summer, and not daily, or even weekly. I also use a lot of other vegetables and chicken in this recipe. That is mainly for flavor and interest, but the added benefit is that I can have a heaping serving of the salad without all that much cabbage. You should make your own call on this!

Is this recipe GAPS friendly?

Well, sort of, with some tweaks. I wouldn’t have it often, and only on full GAPS. It is nourishing, and a tasty way to consume plain chicken left from making GAPS chicken stock!

The biggest problem is the coconut aminos. They aren’t great for GAPS, though many people use them. They would be more GAPS-adjacent than soy sauce, though. You could leave them out, and salt the dressing well. The flavor will be lacking, though.

The other ingredient to swap is the rice vinegar. It isn’t GAPS compliant, so use apple cider vinegar or lemon or lime juice (or a combo) instead. That is easy enough!

Substitutions

This is a salad. It is flexible. Here are some ideas to consider:

• other veggies– snow peas, mushrooms, those cute baby corns you buy in cans, bamboo shoots, zucchini, ??? There are no rules.
• different fruit– canned mandarin oranges would be classic (and yummy), or use fresh orange in place of pineapple. Or don’t use fruit!
• aromatics– the cilantro and green onion supply a lot of flavor. Skip the cilantro, try other herbs (parsley or basil?), use a different type or fresh, pickled or fermented onion, use hotter peppers than jalapeño, or leave any of them out
• alter the dressing– sweeten it (most salads like this one have sweet dressing), make it saltier, use more or less garlic and ginger, add sriracha or red pepper paste for a spicier dressing, stir in a couple of tablespoons of fish sauce, etc. Swap sesame oil for avocado oil for sesame allergy and increase the other flavors if you want.