Thai Crunch Salad with Peanut Dressing
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This Thai crunch salad is crisp, colorful, and tossed in a creamy peanut dressing that’s so good, you’ll want to drizzle it on everything.
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
This recipe is a nod to the popular Thai crunch salad served at California Pizza Kitchen. It’s made with crisp Napa cabbage, crunchy vegetables, and edamame, but it’s the creamy peanut dressing that makes it so good. I guarantee you’ll want to put it on everything!
Serve this salad as a light lunch or pair it with grilled chicken or steak for a more substantial meal. It also pairs nicely with chicken satay or honey, lime and sriracha chicken skewers. This is one of those recipes with a long list of ingredients but don’t let that deter you; you can use many of the prepared vegetables available at the supermarket, and the dressing is quickly puréed in a blender.
“This salad was such a big hit at dinner last night that my guest requested seconds. It’s so over-the-top delicious that it’s insane!”
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the dressing. Combine all of the dressing ingredients except for the cilantro in a blender and blend until completely smooth. Chopping the garlic and ginger first prevents the dressing from being gritty or uneven, especially if your blender isn’t super powerful. Add the cilantro.
Blend for just a few seconds until the cilantro is finely chopped. (Adding it at the end keeps the dressing a creamy, natural color instead of muddy green.)
Step 2: Combine the veggies. In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, carrots, bell peppers, cucumber, edamame, scallions, and cilantro. Seeding the cucumbers is key for keeping the salad crisp and avoiding excess water that can dilute the dressing.
Step 3: Dress and serve. If you’re serving right away, drizzle the peanut dressing over top and toss to coat. Otherwise, store the chopped veggies and dressing separately—the veggies will keep for 2 days and the dressing for up to a week. The peanut dressing may thicken slightly as it chills, so give it a good stir (or a quick whisk) if you’ve made it ahead.
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Thai Crunch Salad with Peanut Dressing
Ingredients
For the Peanut Dressing
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, from 1 lime
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2½ tablespoons sugar
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- (1-in) square piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves
For the Salad
- 4 cups chopped Napa cabbage or shredded coleslaw mix
- 1 cup prepared shredded carrots
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced into bite-sized pieces
- 1 small English cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeded and thinly sliced
- 1 cup cooked and shelled edamame
- 2 medium scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
- ½ cup loosely packed chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- For the dressing, combine all of the ingredients except for the cilantro in a blender and process until completely smooth. Add the cilantro and blend for a few seconds until the cilantro is finely chopped. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- For the salad, combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and toss to combine. If serving right away, drizzle the peanut dressing over top and toss; otherwise, serve the dressing on the side so the salad doesn't get soggy.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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This salad was absolutely the hit of our barbecue! Although it took some time to assemble because I neglected to purchase pre-sliced/shredded ingredients (won’t make that mistake next time), the labor was well-worth it, judging by all of the satisfied faces around the picnic table. Thank you Jenn for yet another 5-star recipe.
Made this last night and it turned out perfect! For those that wanted chicken on top, I marinated a couple of breasts in Trader Joe’s Soyaki, grilled and sliced up. I also topped salad with chopped peanuts. Very good and simple!
Really tasty, loved the peanut dressing with the crunchy veggies!
This recipe is amazing, much better than any restaurant Thai peanut salad. I don’t add the oil to the dressing to make it a little lighter and still tastes amazing!! highly recommend it!
A favorite at our home and referred to as “confetti coleslaw”. Thank you
Loved this salad and especially the peanut dressing. It also is so beautiful in appearance. A real winner.
My entire family of five loves this salad! The flavorful dressing mixed with the crunchy colorful veggies makes this a tasty side with a variety of dishes.
This was totally delicious. Usually my husband only likes creamy very traditional cole slaw, but even he loved this and we had it three days in a row. The only thing I might change is to not put quite as much sweetener in the peanut sauce, and maybe don’t put all the sauce in so it doesn’t get soggy by the time you get to the bottom of it.
Absolutely delicious! I used both green and red cabbage. It has all the flavors I love. I have tried other peanut dressings and have been disappointed until trying this one. I think it would be great on a noodle dish, as well. It reminds me of the peanut dressing used on the Southwestern Salad at the Cheesecake Factory. So good… I could eat the dressing with a big spoon (uhmmm… and I did… well, just a bit!)
Hi Jenn,
I LOVE this dressing and have been making it weekly! Do you think it would work as a sauce for stir fry? I was thinking of using your beef with broccoli recipe and using this dressing as the sauce. Any changes I’d need to make? Thanks!
Elizabeth
So glad you like it, Elizabeth! Yes, I think you could serve this with a stir-fry. A few other readers have commented that they’ve done that with success. I don’t think you’d need to make any changes.