Napa Cabbage Picnic Salad

Are you looking for the perfect picnic salad to bring to a potluck?

Look no more, this is it. The napa cabbage picnic salad has been a favorite of my friends and neighbors for years. It’s one of the most requested potluck salads I’ve ever made.

My neighbor Pat first introduced it to me, followed by my friend Chigiy. The original recipe comes from Sunset magazine (July 2004) and serves a crowd.

We’ve scaled the recipe back for a regular family and friends meal, but you can easily scale it up for a large picnic.


Napa cabbage, while not as sturdy as regular cabbage, is much more resilient than lettuce, so it lends itself well to picnic salads that have to sit around for a while.

This salad has Chinese napa cabbage, radishes, snow peas, toasted slivered almonds, and a sweet sesame ginger mayo dressing.

Much of it can be made ahead, and then assembled when you are ready to serve. Enjoy!

Napa Cabbage Picnic Salad Recipe

The dressing recipe makes a little more than you will likely need. So, use about 1/2 of it to start, and add more to taste when you dress the salad.
This salad recipes scales easily for a potluck or picnic.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup slivered almonds
• 4 cups (1/2 lb) coarsely shredded napa cabbage
• 6 ounces snow peas, sliced into half-inch slices on the diagonal
• 2/3 cup thinly sliced radishes
• 2/3 cup thinly sliced green onions (including greens)
• 2/3 cup lightly packed chopped cilantro

Dressing ingredients

• 1 Tbsp plus 1 1/2 teaspoons rice vinegar (seasoned or unseasoned)
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 clove peeled and minced garlic (about 1/2 teaspoon)
• 1/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise

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