Chopped Asian Salad

5 from 13 votes

Crisp iceberg lettuce, green cabbage and carrots with waterchestnuts, green onion, crunchy chow mein noodles served with a sweet and tangy no mayonnaise dressing.

Prep Time5

Cook Time3

Cooling time5

Total Time13

Course: Salad, Salad Dressing

Cuisine: American, Asian

Servings: cups

Calories: 372kcal

Author: Anecia Hero

Ingredients

Salad Ingredients

6 cups iceberg lettuce, chopped (about ½ a large head of lettuce chopped)
3 cups chopped green cabbage See recipe notes
1 cup chopped green onions See recipe notes
8 ounces water chestnuts , drained and rough cut (See recipe notes)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Chow Mein noodles See recipe notes
sunflower seeds ,dry roasted and salted (See recipe notes)
salt and pepper , to taste

Dressing Ingredients

This makes about 2 cups of dressing, which is plenty. See recipe notes below about Salad Dressing.

⅔ cup brown sugar packed
⅔ cup rice wine vinegar
⅔ cup oil , vegetable, canola or olive oil

Instructions

In a small saucepan on medium low heat, add brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, oil; cook until sugar is dissolved; set aside to cool
⅔ cup brown sugar, ⅔ cup oil, ⅔ cup rice wine vinegar
Rough cut lettuce and cabbage into small pieces; place in large mixing bowl
6 cups iceberg lettuce, chopped , 3 cups chopped green cabbage
Drain water chestnut and rough cut into small pieces; add to lettuce mixture
8 ounces water chestnuts
Add chopped green onions to lettuce; season the salad with salt; toss, cover and refrigerate
1 cup chopped green onions, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
When ready to serve, pour a little of the dressing over lettuce mixture, give it a good toss; sprinkle in about ½ cup each of chow mein noodles and sunflower seeds; season to taste with more salt and black pepper
Chow Mein noodles, salt and pepper, sunflower seeds

Notes

Cabbage

I usually use prepackaged, thinly sliced coleslaw mix with green cabbage and carrots. You can chop part of a head of green cabbage and add carrot shreds to you liking if you can't find the coleslaw mix in the produce section.

A Note About The Cabbage

I do NOT recommend using a coleslaw mix with red or purple cabbage because the salad turns pink after you add the dressing. Yuck.

Green onions

I used one bunch of small green onions, which yielded about 1 cup of finely chopped onions. Chop both the white and green part of the onions.

Water chestnuts

Drain an 8 oz. can of sliced water chestnuts and rough cut them. If you don't care for water chestnuts, you can omit them.

Chow Mein Noodles

I toss these in last, after I've poured the dressing on the salad and tossed it with tongs. Put as much of the crunchy noodles as you like, or serve them on the side so your guests can add as much as they want to their salad.

Sunflower seeds

Just like the chow mein noodles, I add these after I've dressed the salad, and serve some on the side.

Salad dressing

This makes about 2 cups of dressing which is plenty! I drizzle about ½ cup of dressing over the salad, give it a good toss, and serve the remainder of dressing on the side. If you add the whole 2 cups to the salad, it might get soggy quick!

Don't have water chestnuts?

Use chopped celery, green bell pepper

Don't have rice wine vinegar?

Use apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar

Nutrition