This Asian Chopped Salad recipe is brimming with fragrant herbs and vibrant veggies. Add your favourite protein for a complete meal, or serve it as a tasty and effortless side for weeknight dinners.
I love using herbs in my salads, and this Asian-inspired salad is full of beautiful fresh flavours and crunchy veggies. We have citrus-like cilantro/coriander, cooling mint and aromatic basil.
What I love about chopped salads is being able to taste a combination of flavours that are in every bite of the salad.
Our chopped Asian salad recipe features crunchy summer vegetables for one that includes cabbage; try our Seedy Cabbage or Thai Coleslaw; they are both delicious.
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Why I Love This Salad
This is a favourite salad recipe that I love for so many reasons!
- First, it's full of crunchy, colourful veggies – it's a feast for the eyes!
- The dressing is simple yet delicious – it's got the perfect sweet-tart combination that pairs perfectly with the subtle sweetness of the tomatoes.
- Plus, the cashews add a great nutty flavour and give this salad a great crunch.
- Best of all, it's super easy to make – we love easy recipes!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Mini Roma tomatoes - I just love these adorable tomatoes with their pop of sweetness. But feel free to use any tomatoes you have on hand. If you are using regular-sized tomatoes, then just dice them up.
- Cucumbers - choose a seedless, small variety such as Persian, Lebanese, Kirby or qukes/cukes.
- Yellow Bell Pepper /Capsicum - any pepper will do here; I just chose yellow for a variety of colours.
- Red onion - for its bright crimson colour and pungent bitterness. White, brown or green onions will also work well here.
- Nuts and seeds - we have used roasted cashews and black sesame seeds, but peanuts and white sesame seeds will also work great here.
- Herbs - we have used coriander/cilantro, Asian mint and basil. If you are not a fan of coriander, then just add more of the others to make up the quantity.
- Asian Salad Dressing - the dressing brings everything together it's a simple soy, fish sauce, lime juice with a touch of chilli, and ginger. garlic and some palm sugar to sweeten things up. If you love sesame, try our sesame dressing instead.
Variations
- Sometimes, I like to add some cooked edamame beans or grilled chicken breast to boost the protein.
- Add some crispy wonton strips for crunch; you'll love the extra crunch they bring to this delicious salad.
- Make this salad go further by adding a bag of coleslaw mix; look for one that has both purple cabbage and green cabbage for a wonderful mix of colours. But you will need to double the dressing.
You Will Need
How to Make this Salad
Step 1 - Shake-up the Dressing.
I like to start with the dressing for this salad to allow the flavours to develop.
Just place everything in a glass jar and shake until emulsified (well combined). Taste and adjust seasonings according to your taste.
ADD DRESSING INGREDIENTS TO JAR
SHAKE WELL TO COMBINE
Step 2 - Chop and Dice Veggies.
Wash all your vegetables and pat dry.
Cut your Roma tomatoes in half across the middle or in thirds if they are large.
Trim the tops and bottoms of your cucumbers, then dice.
Remove the core and seeds from your capsicum, then dice.
Remove the papery skin from your and trim the top and bottom, then dice.
CUT TOMATOES HORIZONTALLY
CUT CUCUMBERS INTO DICE
DICE YELLOW PEPPERS/CAPSICUMS
DICE RED ONION
Step 3 - Prepare the Herbs.
Wash all your herbs, shake to remove excess water, pat dry, remove the leaves from the stems, and then roughly chop them.
PICK LEAVES FROM STEMS
CHOP THE HERBS
Step 4 - Assemble an Asian Summer Salad.
Add all the chopped vegetables, herbs, nuts and sesame seeds to a large bowl and season with some sea salt and cracked black pepper.
Pour the dressing over the salad and then toss to combine.
Arrange in a large salad bowl and keep chilled until ready to serve.
ADD INGREDIENTS TO A BOWL
SEASON AND POUR OVER THE DRESSING
MIX WELL TO COMBINE
ARRANGE IN A BOWL & GARNISH
Some Serving Ideas
This Asian chopped salad is loaded with flavour and makes a great side to any grilled meats; it is excellent to serve with a store-bought charcoal chicken for a quick weeknight dinner.
Or it can be made as part of an Asian dinner and served with a Malaysian curry, crying tiger beef, chilli chicken, teriyaki chicken or whole roasted Asian fish.
To make it a complete meal, you could add some shredded pork, crispy tofu or chicken.
Can this Salad be Made Ahead?
- This salad can easily be made an hour in advance with the dressing tossed through but without the herbs. When you toss the salad, transfer it from your mixing bowl minus the excess dressing to a salad bowl so it doesn't get soggy.
- The dressing can be made the day before and kept in a glass container (mason jars are perfect for this) in the fridge, bring it to room temperature and shake it up before using.
- For a crunchy Asian Salad, I suggest chopping up the vegetables a few hours in advance and keeping them in separate air-tight containers in the fridge. Then right before serving, place everything in a mixing bowl, add the dressing and mix well to combine.
People Also Ask
If you keep all of the veggies in separate airtight containers, and the herbs and the dressing separate, then store in the refrigerator, it should last 2-3 days. All you need to do is assemble it on the day.
In our house, not long! But if you have any leftover salad, put it in an airtight container and pop it in the fridge, and you will be able to enjoy it the following day.
Consuming a colourful Chopped Salad can be a nutritious and healthy way to eat the rainbow and maximise your nutritional intake as it is packed with low-calorie and high-fibre vegetables.
This salad can be enjoyed on most diets, low-carb, vegetarian, dairy-free,
With a little tweaking, it can be made suitable for all others.
For keto/low carb, use tamari or coconut aminos instead of soy sauce.
Use coconut aminos to make it whole30 and paleo-friendly.
For vegan, swap the fish sauce for extra soy sauce, coconut aminos or tamari.
For gluten-free check, the labels on the soy and fish sauce as some may have unsuitable additives.
Each serve contains 184 calories with a net carb count of 15 grams.
(Please note we use a nutritional database to calculate the nutritional information and should be considered as an estimate).
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 400 grams mini Roma tomatoes (2 small punnets, 14.1 ounces)
- 2 medium Lebanese cucumbers (approximately 240 grams, 8.46 ounces)
- 1 medium yellow bell pepper/capsicum (approximately 200 grams, 7 ounces)
- 1 small red onion (approximately 80 grams, 2.82 ounces)
- 1 small bunch coriander/cilantro (approximately 50 grams, 1.76 ounces)*
- 3 stems basil leaves*
- 3 stems Vietnamese mint leaves*
- 1 cup cashews (roasted)
- 2 tablespoons black sesame seeds
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- ½ tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon ginger, freshly grated
- 1 clove garlic, minced
Instructions
- Start with the dressing for this salad to allow the flavours to develop. Add all ingredients to a glass jar and shake until emulsified, taste and adjust seasonings.
- Wash all your vegetables and pat dry.
- Cut your Roma tomatoes in half across the middle or in thirds if they are large.
- Trim the tops and bottoms of your cucumbers then dice.
- Remove the core and seeds from your capsicum then dice.
- Remove the papery skin from your and trim the top and bottom then dice.
- Wash all your herbs, shake to remove excess water, pat dry remove the leaves from the stems then roughly chop them.
- Add all the chopped vegetables, herbs, cashews and sesame seeds to a large mixing bowl, season with some sea salat and cracked black pepper. Pour over your dressing and then mix well to combine.
Rachi says
Colourful and vibrant salad. Super fresh and light.
Anastasia says
Thank you Rachi, my niece love it too !
Gavin says
YUM- loving the look, simplicity and no doubt the taste (when I make it). I’ve got some chicken thighs that I’m gonna grill up later this week and this looks PERFECT as a healthy and tasty addition to them
Robyn says
This is such a beautiful and fragrant salad, and the meaty cashew nuts are a fantastic addition. Yum!
Sarah says
Yum! I need some more lunch ideas atm and this looks fresh and tasty. Love the idea of pairing it with a roast chook for an easy meal 🙂
Tiffany Lei says
This salad looks delicious and simple, so I will definitely try it out! I love salads!!
Ashlea says
This salad sounds amazing! The fresh herbs and veggies with the lime and ginger in the dressing...yum! I'd love to make this with some grilled chicken on a hot summer day. I always see prepackaged Asian chopped salad mixes—they aren't anywhere as fresh and tasty looking as this salad is. It will be great to make the salad for myself. And! It comes together so quickly there's really no reason I should be buying mixes at all! Great recipe! Thanks for sharing.
Sylvie says
Such a fresh and colourful salad, so perfect for summer! Love the addition of cashews for an extra crunch
Anastasia says
Thank you Sylvie, I am a huge fan of roasted nuts!