This Asian cabbage salad is the kind of meal you crave on a warm summer evening — refreshing, satisfying, and full of bold flavor. Crisp Napa cabbage, cucumbers, spinach, and mint are tossed in an irresistible sesame-ginger-garlic dressing, then topped with juicy grilled chicken and meaty shiitake mushrooms fresh off the grill.
I’ve been making this salad for years — actually, for decades. When Eddie and I were newlyweds, my in-laws invited us to their summer home in New Hampshire and asked us to make one meal for the family. I made this salad, and it was a hit.
It's one those recipes I return to again and again.
Why I Love This Salad
- Perfect for any occasion: It looks beautiful, tastes fantastic, and works equally well for lunch, dinner, or casual entertaining.
- Healthy and delicious: This is my favorite kind of meal — loaded with fresh vegetables and just enough protein to feel satisfying.
- Refreshing and balanced: Cool, crisp vegetables pair beautifully with the warm grilled chicken and shiitake mushrooms.
- Napa cabbage is ideal here: It's tender yet crunchy, and its delicate wrinkles hold onto the dressing beautifully.
- The dressing does double duty: it doubles as a marinade for the chicken and mushrooms — less work, more flavor.
A Few Ingredient Notes
Napa Cabbage
Napa cabbage is ideal here because it’s milder and more delicate than green cabbage, with crinkled leaves that cling to dressing instead of shedding it.
Shiitake Mushrooms
Grilled shiitakes add rich, savory depth and a satisfying, almost meaty texture — so good that vegetarian readers often tell you they don’t even miss the chicken.
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Sesame-Ginger Dressing
This punchy dressing pulls everything together and does double duty as a marinade for the chicken and mushrooms.
Napa cabbage is the perfect salad ingredient - it has a more delicate texturea nd flavor than other green cabbages. Plus, its wrinkled leaves hold salad dressing really well.
Napa is an extremely popular cabbage in Asian cuisine, used for making stir-fries and soup and as the main ingredient in Japanese Kimchi.
The salad dressing double as the marinade for the chicken and mushrooms.
Chopped peanuts are the final touch!
If you try this Asian Cabbage Salad Recipe, I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!
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Asian Cabbage Salad with Grilled Chicken and Shiitake Mushrooms
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 5-6 1x
Description
A refreshing and satisfying summer dinner salad with crisp cabbage, spinach, cucumbers, and mint, topped with grilled chicken and shiitake mushrooms, and tossed in a bold sesame-ginger dressing.
Adapted from a recipe published in Bon Appetite Magazine in 2004
Ingredients
- ½ cup unseasoned rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ cup olive oil or neutral vegetable oil
- ¼ cup toasted Asian sesame oil
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved
- 12 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 Napa cabbage, trimmed, bruised outer leaves removed, thinly sliced
- 5 ounces baby spinach, leaves stacked and thinly sliced
- 1 hothouse cucumber, sliced into rounds
- 1 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
- 12 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
- 1 cup roasted, salted peanuts, roughly chopped
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Instructions
- To make the dressing, put the vinegar, mustard, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, garlic, and lemon juice in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Slowly drizzle in the oils, whisking constantly, until the dressing is emulsified. The dressing can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Bring to room temperature before using.
- Place the chicken and mushrooms in a large glass baking dish. Pour ½ cup of the dressing over them and turn to coat evenly. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 hours.
- Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Season the chicken and mushrooms with salt and pepper, to taste.
Grill the chicken for 5–6 minutes per side, until cooked through. Grill the mushrooms for about 2 minutes per side, until tender and lightly charred. - Transfer the chicken and mushrooms to a cutting board. Slice the chicken crosswise into strips. Cut the mushrooms into thirds.
- To assemble the salad, put the cabbage, spinach, cucumber, mint, and scallions in a large bowl. Add ½ cup of the dressing and toss well to coat. For a nice presentation, transfer the salad to a platter and arrange the sliced chicken and mushrooms on top. Drizzle with additional dressing, if desired. Top with chopped peanuts and serve.
- Prep Time: 45 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: Asian
This was delicious, however, I found the dressing too runny. I added a tablespoon of crunchy peanut butter to a small amount of the dressing to try to emulsify.
Having said that, I initially quartered the recipe for 2 people and the second time I made it (for 4-6 pple) I did not need the marinade so halved the dressing recipe, but found it still too runny and too much dressing.
Still delicious though!
I had been looking for a good meal-type salad and BOOM I came across this gem. I'm vegetarian so I subbed tofu for the chicken, but honestly the mushrooms were so meaty and delicious it would have been good even without the tofu.
This is exactly what I want to eat RIGhT NOW--which is saying something, at 7:00 am! Looks fabulous!
This looks amazing - perfect for CSA veggies. I love summer salads with mint!