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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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Amazing!!
I made the Thai Crunch Salad with Peanut dressing for the first time for last nights dinner, it was really good. I have some left overs for lunch today. My husband really enjoyed it and said we definitely need to make this again for dinners. Your website instructions are so helpful. this is the first time I have been to your website, a coworker recommended it. I will be trying more recipes from “once upon a chef”. Thank you.
Would it be ok to use romaine instead of cabbage?
Hi Paula, I like cabbage here as it’s a bit sturdier and supports the other ingredients nicely, but a few readers have commented that they’ve used romaine, so you could certainly give it a try. Please LMK what you think if you try it!
Will do, thanks. I wonder if a mix of romaine and shredded cabbage might work. I have a guest who I’m worried won’t just like cabbage. 🙂 Is that a weird mix?
No, Paula, I don’t think it’s weird – it should work. Please LMK how it comes out. 😊
I love Thai food and this dressing was so yummy! Perfect balance of salty sweet, sour and heat! The cilantro was key (don’t skip it if you can). I couldn’t find Napa cabbage at 2 different groceries (!) so picked up bag of coleslaw mix (cabbage and carrots ) and added veggies sliced thin that I had (bell peppers, zuch, carrots, caul) and topped w more crunch, salted peanuts. Also added rotisserie chix. Fantastic meal!
I found a similar Thai Crunch Salad with a peanut dressing a few months ago and was dissapointed by the flavor – there was something missing.
I decided to continue my search and found your recipe, I had a good feeling when I saw your ingredient list. YUM! Your dressing is so much better because it is perfectly balanced with the sweetness, acidity and saltiness! Thank you!
Best stuff ever, perfect for summer – light , refreshing and flavorful! If you haven’t tried it, you are missing out!
This is amazing. I want to make a larger batch of the dressing to keep for salads etc. how long do you think the dressing would last in the fridge?
Hi Brianna, it should last nicely for about 7 days in the fridge (and glad you like it)!
Made this for dinner last night. It was fantastic. Added chopped peanuts, chicken breast, mint and basil leaves. A real winner. 🏆
Can you substitute basil for cilantro? You always have such great recipes. Thank you so much. Cindy
Hi Cindy, I typically suggest flat-leaf parsley in place of cilantro, but you can get away with basil too. Enjoy!
This is SO good! I will be making this on repeat. Thanks for another winner!