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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)
If you’ve ever had the Thai Crunch Salad at California Pizza Kitchen, you know how good that combination of crisp vegetables and creamy peanut dressing can be. This recipe is my take on that restaurant favorite, with crunchy Napa cabbage, colorful vegetables, edamame, and a peanut dressing that’s so good, you’ll want to put it on everything!
Don’t be put off by the long ingredient list. You can save time by using pre-shredded carrots and other prepared vegetables from the supermarket, and the dressing comes together in minutes in a blender. The salad makes a wonderful light lunch, and it’s easy to turn into a more substantial meal, too.
“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!”
How to Make Thai Crunch Salad
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.)
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.
Dress and serve: When you’re ready to eat, pour the peanut dressing over the vegetables and toss until everything is nicely coated. That’s it! The salad is best served right away, while all those vegetables are still crisp and crunchy.
Make-Ahead and Storage Instructions
This salad is great for making ahead, as long as you keep the vegetables and dressing separate until you’re ready to eat. You can chop and combine the vegetables up to 2 days in advance and store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The peanut dressing can be made up to 1 week ahead and refrigerated separately.
When you’re ready to serve, give the dressing a good stir or whisk, as it may thicken slightly in the fridge. Toss the salad with the dressing just before serving to keep everything nice and crunchy. Once dressed, the salad is best eaten right away.
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
- Prepare 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.
- Prepare the salad: Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and toss to combine.
- Dress and serve: Just before serving, drizzle the peanut dressing over the salad and toss well to coat. If you're not serving the salad right away, keep the dressing separate so the vegetables stay crisp.
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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What to Serve with Thai Crunch Salad
This salad is satisfying enough for a light lunch, but you can easily turn it into dinner by adding sliced grilled chicken, shrimp, or steak. It’s also delicious alongside chicken satay or honey, lime, and sriracha chicken skewers for a fun, Asian-inspired dinner. And if you’re bringing it to a potluck or cookout, it’s a nice change of pace from the usual slaw.
More Asian-Style Salad Recipes You May Like
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Hi.
Just trying to figure out the difference between the ThaI crunch salad or the Asian slaw? Is it just lime?
Hi Nicole, they are quite similar, but there are some very minor differences in both the dressing and the salad.
delicious, easy and healthy!
Have made this multiple times and love it. The dressing is great over pasta. If I want to add protein…shrimp or shredded chicken?
Glad you like it! I’ve topped this with shredded chicken but shrimp would be delicious too. 🙂
I love, love , love this salad! Great recipe! I will be making this many times! Thanks Jenn!
Delicious! I also cut down on the sugar by half, but left in the honey. It’s still very sweet on it’s own, but considering this is going on a big, undressed salad, it needs a lot of the flavors to be very pronounced, as not to get lost in all the veg. Used crunchy peanut butter to add more texture and peanut flavor. Along with some poached chicken slices, it made for a satisfying dinner.
This is excellent and makes a huge amount! Used a small head of Napa cabbage and this easily feeds 6. Couldn’t find edamame, but toasted sliced almonds worked well. Also used 3 packets of stevia instead of sugar and taste was great! Mixed 1/2 with 1/2 dressing, so the rest will stay fresh and crisp for tomorrow. Thanks for a great recipe!
We had this last night with the sriracha chicken. Amazing recipe and it is definitely restaurant quality. Making it again tonight. Another winner.
Ok seriously, this was phenomenal. The only changes I made was adding a couple extra veggies in the salad but the dressing I made exactly as the recipe states. Guys, ITS SO GOOD! The dressing is so delicious my boyfriend is topping it on everything including dipping his sushi in it! Sounds weird, I know, but this dressing is out of this world. Had to make a double batch 3x!!!! Great great great great recipe! I’ve spent so much money at the Cheesecake Factory on their Thai Chicken Salad so eventually I scoured the internet for a substitution that would do the trick and this went way beyond what I was expecting! I’ll never have to spend $24 on a Thai salad again! Thank you thank you!
We love this salad! The dressing is so good! And the crunch is amazing. If you want leftovers, be aware that the cucumbers wilt after the first few hours. I use a can of water chestnuts instead, so no wilting!
Made this tonight and it was a big hit. I had shredded rotisserie chicken breast for those who wanted to add it on top of their salad. I used Trader Joe’s cole slaw mix, ready to eat edamame and shredded carrots which cut down prep time. The dressing is fantastic and I’m not a big peanut butter fan so I was a bit hesitant but the other ingredients add a lot of flavor.
This is an absolutely delicious salad, I loved it and everyone else that ate it raved about how wonderful it was. This is sure to become a regular in my house!!!