This 15 minute chicken salad is light, fresh and filled with your favourite Southeast Asian flavours. A fragrant blend of herbs and spices give Lao Larb Gai is the perfect combo of salty and sweet.

Why We Love This
Lao Chicken Salad (also known as Lao Larb Gai) is an amazing side dish that also works well as a main. It’s rich umami flavours are balanced out with fresh herbs and seasonings that bring out the full range of spicy, sour, salty and sweet.
With similar flavour to Thai chicken salad or Thai beef salad, it’s full of restaurant quality flavour while being so, so easy to make at home.
This dish comes together quickly too, making it the perfect mid-week meal. Any leftovers make for a great lunch the next day!
While it is meat heavy, the fragrant herbs and contrasting textures make this salad light and refreshing – a healthy way cool off on a hot summer’s day.

What is Larb?
Larb (also spelled laap or laab) is the unofficial National Dish of Laos. You can find similar versions across Southeast Asia, especially in northern Thailand, where it became popular due to migration of people from Laos.
While there are some differences in seasonings and ingredients used, the essence remains the same. This mouthwatering salad usually consists of minced meat mixed through with fresh coriander, mint, lime juice, chillies or chilli powder, and fish sauce. Toasted sticky rice powder adds a uniquely nutty flavour and texture.
Where We Learned This
Larb is one of our most treasured edible discoveries from Southeast Asia. We had our first taste in Chiang Mai, Thailand but our favourite version (and today’s recipe) comes from the sleepy village of Nong Khiaw, in northern Laos.
Laos is also where we also learned how to make mok pa (Lao steamed fish in banana leaves)!

What You’ll Need
- Chicken Mince – For the best result, make your own mince by slicing the chicken as thinly as you can then chopping it up into small pieces just like we did. Of course, if you prefer to use store-bought mince to save time and effort, you can certainly do that too. Substitute with beef, pork, turkey or duck mince. It’s also a great way to use up leftover turkey or roast chicken.
- Toasted Sticky Rice Powder – This amazing ingredient adds a burst of nutty flavour. Look for it at your nearest Asian grocery – we found our first batch near the spices section, so try there first. It’s very simple to make at home by toasting glutinous rice and grinding it with a mortar and pestle or spice grinder.
- Fresh Ingredients – These add the refreshing, cooling, summery flavours to the salad. You can use any variety of fresh mint (peppermint or spearmint both work well), along with coriander/cilantro, finely chopped shallots (or red onion) and spring onion.
- Fish Sauce – This staple Asian ingredient has a strong smell in the bottle, but is perfect for adding savoury flavour to your cooking. You’ll find it at Asian grocers or in well-stocked supermarkets in the international foods section, or online. If you can’t find it or don’t want to use, you can substitute with soy sauce.
- Other Seasonings – Along with fish sauce, lime juice, chilli and sugar team up to bring the salty, sour, spicy and sweet notes to the dish.

Wandercook’s Tips
- Use High Heat – This will sear and brown the meat, giving it a crispier edge. It will also help prevent any juices from steaming and making the meat rubbery.
- Splurge On Fresh Herbs – They literally MAKE this salad and are essential to its bright fresh flavour.
- Fresh Chillies vs Chilli Powder – We used chilli powder for convenience, but if you have fresh chillies feel free to use them. Thai red chillies are pretty hot, so if you’re worried about heat, start with 1/2-1 and increase from there.
- Garnish – Save some toasted sticky rice powder and fresh herbs to garnish the salad once you’ve plated up.
- Serve Hot or Cold – If serving cold, let the meat cool down completely before adding the fresh ingredients. This will help the herbs especially to stay crisp and stop them from wilting.
FAQs
Larb is traditionally served with sticky rice, but you can use any kind of rice such as jasmine or basmati if you prefer. You could also swap the rice for rice vermicelli or glass noodles. It’s also great served as a filling for lettuce wraps (cos / romaine lettuce have the best shaped cups for this). We also think it would be great served alongside crispy Thai spring rolls for a crunchy contrast.
Yes, just pop it into an air-tight container and store it in the freezer for up to three months.
Of course you can – your kitchen, your rules! However, these two ingredients really do help to bring that authentic flavour and texture to the dish, so we highly recommend them.
Variations
- Amp Up the Citrus – Use fresh sliced kaffir lime leaves or kaffir lime juice instead of regular lime juice. Or swap the lime for tamarind paste and/or fresh lemongrass.
- Extra Garnishes – Try it with few drops of sesame chilli oil for a nuttier zing, or add a scattering of fried shallots or white sesame seeds for extra crunchy texture.
- Extra Veggies – Add capsicum, cabbage, boy choy, bean sprouts or baby spinach and cook in with the mince meat.
- Make it Vegetarian – Swap the mince meat for finely diced mushrooms, tofu or tempeh, and season with soy sauce instead of fish sauce.

Try these fresh salad ideas next:




★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and a star rating below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 600 g chicken mince
- 1 handful mint chopped, some reserved for garnish
- 1 handful fresh cilantro / coriander chopped, some reserved for garnish
- 2 shallots finely chopped
- 1 spring onion / green onion finely sliced
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp lime juice divided into 2 potions
- 3 tsp Thai toasted rice powder 1 tsp reserved to garnish
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder or fresh chillies, sliced
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- Place chicken mince in a mixing bowl. Add half the lime juice and stir through. This will tenderise the chicken.600 g chicken mince, 2 tbsp lime juice
- Meanwhile heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan or work over high heat. Add the chicken and stir fry until browned and the edges are crispy, around 5 minutes. Transfer to a clean mixing bowl.1 tbsp vegetable oil
- Add the water, fish sauce, remaining lime juice, toasted sticky rice powder, chilli powder and sugar and mix well.1/4 cup water, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 2 tbsp lime juice, 3 tsp Thai toasted rice powder, 1/2 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp sugar
- Next, add the shallot, cilantro/coriander, spring onion and mint. Toss to combine, then transfer to serving plates.1 handful fresh cilantro / coriander, 2 shallots, 1 spring onion / green onion, 1 handful mint
- Garnish with extra mint, spring onion and toasted sticky rice powder.
Recipe Notes
- Chicken Mince – For the best result, make your own mince by slicing the chicken as thinly as you can then chopping it up into small pieces just like we did. Of course, if you prefer to use store-bought mince to save time and effort, you can certainly do that too. Substitute with beef, pork, turkey or duck mince. It’s also a great way to use up leftover turkey or roast chicken.
- Toasted Sticky Rice Powder – This amazing ingredient adds a burst of nutty flavour. Look for it at your nearest Asian grocery – we found our first batch near the spices section, so try there first. It’s very simple to make at home by toasting glutinous rice and grinding it with a mortar and pestle or spice grinder.
- Fresh Ingredients – These add the refreshing, cooling, summery flavours to the salad. You can use any variety of fresh mint (peppermint or spearmint both work well), along with coriander/cilantro, finely chopped shallots (or red onion) and spring onion.
- Splurge On Fresh Herbs – They literally MAKE this salad and are essential to its bright fresh flavour.
- Fish Sauce – This staple Asian ingredient has a strong smell in the bottle, but is perfect for adding savoury flavour to your cooking. You’ll find it at Asian grocers or in well-stocked supermarkets in the international foods section, or online. If you can’t find it or don’t want to use, you can substitute with soy sauce.
- Other Seasonings – Along with fish sauce, lime juice, chilli and sugar team up to bring the salty, sour, spicy and sweet notes to the dish. We used chilli powder for convenience, but if you have fresh chillies feel free to use them. Thai red chillies are pretty hot, so if you’re worried about heat, start with 1/2-1 and increase from there.
- Use High Heat – This will sear and brown the meat, giving it a crispier edge. It will also help prevent any juices from steaming and making the meat rubbery.
- Garnish – Save some toasted sticky rice powder and fresh herbs to garnish the salad once you’ve plated up.
- Serve Hot or Cold – If serving cold, let the meat cool down completely before adding the fresh ingredients. This will help the herbs especially to stay crisp and stop them from wilting.
- Amp Up the Citrus – Use fresh sliced kaffir lime leaves or kaffir lime juice instead of regular lime juice. Or swap the lime for tamarind paste and/or fresh lemongrass.
- Extra Garnishes – Try it with few drops of sesame chilli oil for a nuttier zing, or add a scattering of fried shallots or white sesame seeds for extra crunchy texture.
- Extra Veggies – Add capsicum, cabbage, boy choy, bean sprouts or baby spinach and cook in with the mince meat.
- Make it Vegetarian – Swap the mince meat for finely diced mushrooms, tofu or tempeh, and season with soy sauce instead of fish sauce.
Nutrition

24 Comments
Barb Clough
16/07/2021 at 7:54 pmWonderfully delicious!! added chopped baby bok choy and a little chopped lemongrass (as suggested) – recipe had water in ingredients but didn’t say when to add, so added to sauce (a good thing!) Also added a tiny splash of sriracha and sesame oil
Wandercooks
18/07/2021 at 4:57 pmOh brilliant Barb – and good pick up on the recipe, we’ve now updated to include the water 😅. So happy you enjoyed the dish!
Vicky @ Avocado Pesto
10/04/2016 at 10:42 pmLoved Nong Khiaw, when I was there in 2013! Haha too bad you didn’t have any luck with the fishing, and those spiders are TERRIFYING! I looooved Larb Gai while in Laos – so good!
Wandercooks
11/04/2016 at 8:19 amNong Khiaw is such a gorgeous place isn’t it? We couldn’t get enough of the views from that bridge, and the funny little chickens running around everywhere haha. And the lovely people too of course! Yep, a pity about the fishing, but a very very very good thing we didn’t have to get ANY closer to that spider. Uuugh!
Brian Jones
08/04/2016 at 5:03 pmThis sounds wonderful and definitely want to give this a try, I immediately thought about subbing out the lime juice for some tamarind water to add the same citrus effect but with some earthiness.
Wandercooks
08/04/2016 at 5:31 pmOh great idea, it’s amazing the subtle differences you can achieve with trying different ingredients. Enjoy Brian, and let us know how you go!
Elizabeth
08/04/2016 at 4:43 pmWhat an amazing experience! I want to be there with you so bad! Gorgeous recipe too. You guys are so lucky 🙂
Wandercooks
08/04/2016 at 5:30 pmLaos is such an incredible country. Looking back, we wish we could have spent more time there, but at least we have some tasty recipes to remember it by!
Brianne | Natural Girl Modern World
08/04/2016 at 4:14 pmLove this post! I absolutely loved visiting Thailand (especially Chiang Mai for the food) and Laos. Your photos take me back to those days 😀 Sticky rice powder is definitely a new one for me!
Wandercooks
11/04/2016 at 8:22 amThanks Brianne! It’s what we love most about sharing food and recipes, how the flavours and memories can bring you back to places you’ve been or whisk you away to somewhere new! 🙂 Sticky rice powder is an interesting ingredient too. It’s hard to describe what it brings to do the dish, and yet it just wouldn’t be the same without it!
Mica @ Let's Taco Bout It Blog
08/04/2016 at 2:49 pmI’m in love with all of your photos! So much beauty! Love it! Recipe sounds great. This will be my second recipe with fish sauce. Still haven’t tried it… yet!
Wandercooks
08/04/2016 at 4:12 pmThanks Mica! Oh you really have to try fish sauce, it’s such an amazing ingredient. Just try to resist smelling the bottle haha, it’s guaranteed to smell horrid every time!. 😛
P.S. We love your blog too, the colours and flavours in all your recipes are gorgeous! 🙂
Valentina
08/04/2016 at 2:02 pmI want to make a lettuce wrap with this deliciousness!
Wandercooks
08/04/2016 at 4:08 pmThat is a BRILLIANT idea! We might just do that too next time!
Sam | Ahead of Thyme
07/04/2016 at 11:48 amUmmm, this salad is making me hungry even though I just ate dinner!!! Thanks for the recipe
Wandercooks
07/04/2016 at 11:48 amFOR dinner, AFTER dinner, however you want to eat it we will NEVER judge! 😀
Sherri @ Watch Learn Eat
07/04/2016 at 11:26 amIt looks like you had a lot of fun on the river! That spider is seriously CREEPY! I have been afraid to set foot in a river since I was 15 because I spider fell from a tree down my shirt! Not fun! But in any event, the chicken salad looks and sounds amazing. Awesome flavors going on here! Love your story too! 🙂
Wandercooks
07/04/2016 at 11:48 amHaha thanks Sherri, it really was heaps fun, but we felt sooo bad when those rods went overboard. Oh oh, a spider down the shirt does NOT sound like fun! I think I would have fainted if a spider like THAT landed on me!
Heather
07/04/2016 at 11:26 amI love that you have both mint and lime in this recipe … great contrast in flavors! Beautiful pics too!!
Wandercooks
07/04/2016 at 11:46 amThe combo is totally delicious. So popular in Southeast Asian cuisine too. I think that’s why so many Asian dishes are so refreshing!
Mahy
07/04/2016 at 11:24 amSuch a refreshing post! Loved reading it and oh the chicken salad–I am craving it! Thanks for sharing!
Wandercooks
07/04/2016 at 11:45 amHaha thanks Mahy, glad you enjoyed. 🙂
Sara
07/04/2016 at 10:57 amThis looks really delicious!! I have to try this sometime!
Wandercooks
07/04/2016 at 11:43 amThanks Sara, enjoy!