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 is my go-to salad. We love it for dinner, and I have made it for potlucks. The dressing is simply delicious, and the combination of salad ingredients is so good!
I started making this salad during the summer and I’ve been making and remaking it regularly ever since. The dressing comes together fairly quickly even though there are a lot of ingredients. It is delicious. And if you are lazy or over-confident, you can be a little loose with amounts of this or that and it will still be yummy. I tend to love a sauce heavy in peanut flavor, so I lean into that ingredient. As for the salad fixings, those, too, can be mixed and matched. I’ve thrown in other vegetables and proteins. One other reason I love this recipe is that it makes for delicious leftovers. Since I’m now working from home, it’s nice to have something that reminds me of happy days in the city when I had access to a good Thai salad for lunch.
I have made this dressing recipe on more than one occasion. It is a favorite and keeps in the fridge for longer than you might think. Yum!
Perfect flavour combination. This salad is crunchy and so tasty! The dressing is unreal! Yum. Can’t wait to make again!
Have made this multiple times and absolutely love it! Flavors are yummy!
This salad is fantastic! I make a big batch and put it into Tupperware for my week’s lunches (undressed). Throw some chicken on top, dress right before eating, and yum!
This delicious salad was the first recipe I ever tried from this site. The peanut dressing is delicious so make a double batch. The salad is now a family favorite. It is easy to tailor it and add more or less of some ingredients based on personal preference.
OMG! This peanut dressing is the bomb!!! My daughters (12 and 18) and I absolutely loved every bite. Their eyes bulged out of their heads when they tried it! I did have to use fresh lemon juice instead of lime and I put a couple of pyure stevia shots instead of the sugar. I did keep the honey. We all agree we would eat it with a big salad everyday. I had fresh mint and Thai basil in our salads. It was so fresh and perfect. Thank you Jenn for this recipe. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!!
I forgot to put 5 stars!
If adding chicken to the salad, what amount would you recommend?
I’d recommend about 2 cups of shredded chicken. Hope you enjoy!
Amazing! This is the best. Thank you for sharing Jen.