Directions
This Vietnamese Salad Vermicelli is made with rice noodles and is the Ultimate Summer Dish that is always served with fresh veggies that are then topped with a grilled meat of your choice and has an authentic fish sauce / dressing for serving.
Looking for more Thai dishes? Try my Vietnamese Shrimp plating with Spring Rolls, Sweet Thai Chili Chicken, Thai Red Crab Curry, Thai Basil Mussels or Red Thai Chicken Curry.
Never made a Vietnamese salad before? No problem! This step-by-step guide will walk you through the process of creating a delicious, healthy salad in the comfort of your own kitchen. It also will show you how to make homemade Vietnamese Salad Dressing to go on top of this salad.
WHAT IS VIETNAMESE NOODLE SALAD CALLED
(Bun Bo Xao) in Vietnamese. Vietnamese Salad Vermicelli is a refreshing and healthy dish to serve on a hot summer day.
This flavorful and versatile recipe is packed with fresh herbs and veggies, protein, and a tangy dressing that will satisfy your taste buds and keep you feeling refreshed.
Thai Vermicelli salad can also have the addition of grilled pork and shrimp as well. If you would like to create that, simple grill some shrimp or sliced pork and season with salt to serve.
WHAT IS VIETNAMESE SALAD
Vietnamese Noodle Salad is served with warm or cool noodles, fresh cold vegetables and cooked meats of your liking. Typically grilled pork, shrimp or beef. The noodles are always Vermicelli rice noodles that come with a light Thai inspired sauce.
It’s fresh, filling and just like they serve in Thai restaurants.
If you have been to this blog before you will know that I’m a fan of Thai food and eat it often.
I used to go out to enjoy this food at least every other week, but now make it more at home. Because it is easy to do and saves me a ton of cash at that too!
Step-by-Step Instructions for Making Vietnamese Salad Vermicelli with Shrimp
HOW TO MAKE VERMICELLI SALAD
- You will want to make two marinades, one for the chicken and one for the sauce that you will serve alongside these bowls.
- Fresh lemongrass is very important here for the chicken marinade, it gives it that really intense lemon taste. So be sure to get your hands on a few stocks that you will simply chop and place into the marinade.
- The longer you marinade the chicken the better. If your making it for dinner then simply marinate it in the morning or the night prior. Then basically the rest of the dish can be pulled together in less than 30 minutes. Easy peazy!
What makes these rice bowls so good is the fresh ingredients and the authentic Vietnamese Salad Dressing.
WHAT IS VIETNAMES SALAD DRESSING
It is a traditional dressing that is used on almost every type of Vietnamese salad dish and the recipe can be found below. It serves very well over cold salads, that are then topped with a marinated then grilled meat protein of your liking.
VIETNAMESE SALAD DRESSING
Also know as “Nuoc Mam” sauce which is a sweet, salty, sour and spicy dressing.
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 1 lime (juiced)
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar or white vinegar
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 red chili (de-seeded and sliced, or substitute 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce or Sriracha)
This makes enough for roughly 2 people.
Substitute for Nuoc Mam sauce?
Soya sauce mixed with some red hot chili pepper flakes
The first time I ordered this salad, I was not expecting much.
That was years ago, I remember the day to a tea. I was with my aunt and she took me to this whole in the wall restaurant that I was not expecting to become my favorite restaurant in town.
Fast forward 10 years later, you will find me going to the same restaurant ordering the same dishes.
So, whenever that Thai salad craving hits and I’m not heading out to a restaurant.
I will simply make this dish in the comfort of my own home.
Trust me it’s pretty darn easy too!
So follow along and soon you will be a master chef in making Vietnamese rice bowls at home just like me 🙂
WHAT IS IN A VERMICCILI SALAD
- Carrots, cucumbers, fresh herbs such as cilantro, shredded iceberg lettuce and a meat protein of your liking.
- Thai marinade and Vietnamese salad dressing
Feel free to add other veggies such as Beans sprouts, fresh herbs, jalapeno peppers.
Now doesn’t that sound healthy and fresh? This is one of the best salads if you ask me.
IS VIETNAMESE SALAD HEALTHY
Yes, it is packed full of fresh vegetables and herbs along with a lean protein such as shrimp
Keep in mind though the soya sauce and fish sauce has a high sodium content so you may want to use a lighter soya sauce or less dressing on your salad.
If you like a bit more heat to your vermicelli rice bowls.
Then go ahead and serve along with some “hot chili sauce” or if you prefer a sweeter dish try a “sweet chili sauce”.
LIKE THAI FOOD AS MUCH AS ME?
Then you will want to try my other Thai inspired recipes on this website!
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
If you make this recipe, I would love to hear about it! You can leave a 5 star review in the comments below! Thank you very much for reading and until next time see ya in the kitchen. Don’t want to miss a recipe? Sign up for our NEWSLETTER delivered right to your inbox!
Vietnamese Salad Vermicelli
A Salad that is served for Dinner!
Ingredients
- CHICKEN MARINADE
- 2 Boneless chicken breasts
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 2 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 2 tbsp Fresh Lime Juice
- 2 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1 tbsp Low Sodium Soy sauce
- 2 stalks Lemongrass
- VIETNAMESE SERVING SAUCE / SALAD DRESSING
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 1 lime (juiced)
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar or white vinegar
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 red chili (de-seeded and sliced, or substitute 2 teaspoons chili pepper flakes or Sriracha)
- RICE BOWLS
- Rice vermicelli noodles 1, 8-ounce package
- 4 Mint leaves
- 1 cup Cilantro, chopped
- 1 English Cucumber, sliced
- 2 Carrots, sliced
- 1/2 head Iceberg lettuce
Instructions
TO MAKE THE VERMICELLI CHICKEN BOWLS: START BY MARINDING THE CHICKEN.
- Add all the chicken marinade ingredients and chicken breasts into a bowl and toss to coat. Place in the fridge in a sealable container from anywhere from 1 hour to 24. Note: the longer the chicken marinades the better it will taste.
TO MAKE THE SERVING SAUCE:
Add all the serving sauce ingredients to a small bowl stir with a small whisk and set aside.
COOK THE VERMICELLI RICE NOODLES:
- Next bowl some water in a large pot
- Once the water is boiled pour it over a heatproof bowl that has the vermicelli noodles in it.
- Soak according to package instructions, then drain and rinse under cold water till cooled and set aside.
COOK THE MARINATED CHICKEN:
- In a large frying pan add 1 tbsp of oil and place the marinated chicken along with the sauce/lemongrass in and cook over medium heat and cook for about 8 minutes till cooked throughout. Then remove the cooked chicken from the pan and allow it to cool down on a cutting board. Once cooled, slice into strips and set aside.
JULIEN AND SHRED THE VEGETABLES :
- Julienne the carrots, cucumber and shred the iceberg lettuce.
MAKING THE VERMICELLI CHICKEN RICE BOWLS:
- Place the cooled noodles into each bowl and then place the julienned carrots on top along with the cucumber and shredded lettuce. Drizzle 4 tbsp of "serving sauce " overtop of everything. Then place the sliced chicken breasts in the middle of the bowl. Serve the bowls with the remaining "serving sauce" on the side, cilantro, basil and lime wedges. Enjoy!
Notes
You can substitute bird chilies with other high-heat chilies. Serranos (which is less hot) or either habaneros, scotch bonnet peppers. Keep in mind those are hotter peppers than birds eye chilies.
You can also try birds eye chili sauce.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1446Total Fat: 53gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 39gCholesterol: 207mgSodium: 8336mgCarbohydrates: 156gFiber: 15gSugar: 58gProtein: 92g
These calculations are based off Nutritionix
