Pak Choy Salad – Spicy Asian Slaw with Coriander Lime Dressing

I’ve cooked pak choy in many ways over the years, often tossing it into quick stir-fries or adding it to noodle soups. But using it raw in a salad completely changed how I see this humble vegetable. 

Unlike regular cabbage, pak choy has a naturally tender crunch and a mild sweetness. Keeping it raw lets you enjoy its crisp texture and delicate flavour, which feels so refreshing, especially when paired with fresh herbs and zesty dressing. 

What makes this Asian-style Pak Choy Salad stand out is that it uses pak choy as the hero ingredient, not just as a filler green. The crisp stems and soft green leaves hold up beautifully to the coriander-lime dressing, soaking up the flavours whilst staying vibrant and crunchy. 

You don’t need anything fancy, just a few fresh ingredients like apple, cucumber, sprouts, and Asian herbs. I have also spiced it up with fresh hot chillies but feel free to adapt to your taste buds. 

With no cooking involved, you can have this salad ready in under 15 minutes. It’s nourishing, refreshing, and just that little bit different. 

This Pak Choy Salad works perfectly as a simple weeknight side or as a part of weekend spread when you want to add something fresh and green to the table. 

And if you’ve ever wondered about the difference between pak choy and bok choy, or how to use them beyond stir fries, this salad recipe is a great place to start. It’s light, flavour-packed, and a refreshing twist on an everyday salad. 

Recipe Overview

Flavour/Texture: There is a lot of texture going on with this Pak Choy salad, but they go well together. There is a delicate crunch to pak choy, cucumber, apple and snow pea sprouts that I love.

Pak choy is very mild in taste; therefore, it carries other flavours very well. Together with the zesty and aromatic coriander lime dressing, this Pak Choy salad is deliciously refreshing.

Ease: This pak choy recipe belongs in the easy category. No cooking involved, just chopping and stirring up a punchy Thai salad dressing.

Time: In under 15 minutes, your Pak Choy Salad is ready to be served. You can easily prepare this pak choy recipe whilst having other items cooking on the grill or oven.

Ingredients You’ll Need for This Pak Choy Recipe

Pak choy: You will need two medium sized bunches for this recipe. Choose ones that have firm stems and deep green leaves. Avoid ones that are bruised, or the leaves are starting to wilt.

Red apple: I generally prefer green apples in Asian slaws as I like tart flavours. However, in this pak choy recipe, there is a lot of green, so I decided to add touches of red to break it up.

I went with pink lady apple, which has a slightly more tart flavour compared to other red apple varieties, but you can choose your preferred type.

Cucumber: I have a preference for Lebanese cucumbers as they are smaller than continental cucumbers, and I don’t feel like I have to use it all up. Choose cucumbers that are firm with no soft spots.

Snow pea sprouts/Pea shoots: Tender new shoots of the snow pea plant, snow pea sprouts, also known as pea shoots, and are great for salads or quick stir fries.

Red chilli: Depending on how much heat you like, you can choose to use a long red chilli as I did in this recipe or choose bird’s eye chilli, which is spicier.

Fish sauce: I always have good quality fish sauce in the pantry. The better quality fish sauce will have less added salt as it draws flavour from dried anchovy.

Palm sugar: Popular choice to be used as a sweetener for Thai salad dressings, but you can substitute for brown sugar if you don’t have any at hand.

Variations and Substitutions

Vegan option: Substitute the fish sauce with soy sauce in the coriander lime dressing to make a vegan salad dressing. The salad itself is vegan friendly.

Nut-free option: Omit the crushed peanuts for a nut free option. You can add pepitas instead or crunchy ramen noodles for extra crunch but ok to leave out as well.

Add protein: Top with grilled prawns, chicken, or tofu to turn it into a full meal.

Snow pea sprouts substitute: Snow pea sprouts are not always readily available. If you can’t find it at your local greengrocer, you can substitute with bean sprouts.

Palm sugar replacement: Can substitute with brown sugar if you don’t have palm sugar at hand.

Other Asian herbs: You can mix up the Asian herbs in the pak choy salad if you don’t have coriander or spring onion available. Change it up with other Asian herbs like mint, Thai basil or Vietnamese mint.

How to Make Pak Choy Salad

Give pak choy a good rinse under water to remove any dirt sitting in between the leaves.

Cut pak choy in half where the leaves and stalk meet.

Thinly slice pak choy stem.

Then roll up the pak choy leaves and slice into fine ribbon strips.

Cut the cucumber in half across the middle and then cut into thin matchsticks.

Repeat with the red apple. Cut into thin matchsticks. Place apple matchsticks into a bowl of lightly salted water to stop it from turning brown.

Wash snow pea shoots and roughly chop them so they are a similar length to apple and cucumber matchsticks.

Roughly chop coriander leaves for salad.

Remove spring onion roots and then chop into thin rounds.

Cut ¾ of chilli into small rounds.

How to Make the Coriander Lime Dressing

Wash coriander stems well and then chop finely.

Finely dice the remainder of chilli.

In a small mixing bowl, add palm sugar and warm water. Mix together until palm sugar dissolves.

Add fish sauce and lime juice to the palm sugar mixture. Stir to combine.

Finely stir in chopped coriander stems and chilli.

How to Assemble the Salad

In a large mixing bowl, add chopped pak choy, apple, cucumber and snow pea sprouts together.

Add ½ of dressing and toss salad together.

Drop in chopped coriander leaves and spring onion to the salad mix.

Tumble salad onto a serving plate.

Drizzle with remainder of salad dressing.

Top with crushed peanuts and chopped chilli to serve.

How To Make This Salad Perfectly [Expert Tip]

Use fresh pak choy: Stems should be firm and white, not limp or wet.

Slice everything thinly: To ensure every bite has a perfect mix of flavour and crunch.

Stop oxidisation: Soak sliced apple in salted water to prevent browning and keep it crisp.

Dissolve palm sugar: Fully dissolve before mixing in the lime juice and fish sauce — this keeps the dressing smooth.

Balance to taste: Adjust lime juice, sugar, or fish sauce for perfect sweet-sour-salty balance.

Add dressing: Do so just before serving to preserve crunch and brightness.

Chill briefly: Chilling before serving for maximum freshness on hot days.

Don’t skip coriander stems: They add a subtle earthiness and authentic Thai depth.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Asian Salad Recipes