Thai Crunch Salad with Peanut Dressing
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
Inspired by California Pizza Kitchen’s recipe, this Thai crunch salad with peanut dressing always satisfies.
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
This recipe was inspired by 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’s excellent with my 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!”
What You’ll Need To Make Thai Crunch Salad With Peanut Dressing
What You’ll Need To Make The Peanut Dressing
- Creamy Peanut Butter: Provides the rich, nutty base essential for the dressing’s flavor and texture.
- Unseasoned Rice Vinegar: Adds tanginess and helps balance the richness of the peanut butter.
- Fresh Lime Juice: Introduces a zesty citrus note and a bit of tang, enhancing the overall freshness of the dressing.
- Vegetable Oil: Helps emulsify the ingredients and provides a smooth consistency.
- Soy Sauce: Contributes savory depth and a touch of umami flavor.
- Honey and Sugar: Sweeten the dressing, balancing out the acidity and saltiness.
- Garlic Cloves and Fresh Ginger: Infuse aromatic and pungent notes, adding complexity to the flavor profile.
- Salt: Enhances other flavors and helps balance the sweetness.
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes: Provide a subtle heat and depth of flavor.
- Fresh Cilantro: Adds a bright, herbaceous flavor and a pop of color to the dressing.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
What You’ll Need To Make The Salad
- Chopped Napa Cabbage or Shredded Coleslaw Mix: Forms the base of the salad, providing crunch and freshness. (I like to toss in a little shredded red cabbage for color.)
- Shredded Carrots: Add sweetness and color, enhancing the visual appeal of the salad. Buying the bagged shredded carrots at the supermarket saves time!
- Red Bell Pepper: Contributes vibrant color and a crisp texture.
- English Cucumber: Also known as hothouse cucumbers, offer a refreshing and crunchy element to the salad.
- Cooked and Shelled Edamame: Provides plant-based protein, a subtle nutty flavor, and adds substance to the salad.
- Scallions: Impart a mild onion flavor and a pop of green color, enhancing the overall freshness.
- Fresh Cilantro: Adds a fragrant and herbaceous note, elevating the flavor profile of the salad.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Begin by making the dressing. Simply combine all of the ingredients except for the cilantro in a blender and process until completely smooth. It’s best to roughly chop the garlic and ginger beforehand, as most blenders aren’t able to process large pieces.
Add the cilantro and process for a few seconds until the cilantro is finely chopped. (If you add it in the beginning, it will completely blend into the dressing and give it a greenish hue.)
It will look like this.
Next, make the salad. I typically use a blend of Napa cabbage, cucumbers, red bell peppers, shredded carrots, shredded purple cabbage and edamame, but you can use any crunchy vegetables that you like.
If you use cucumbers, be sure to remove the seeds, as they can make the salad watery.
Combine all of the vegetables in a bowl along with the chopped spring onions and cilantro, and toss to combine.
If you’re serving the salad right away, drizzle the peanut dressing overtop and toss; otherwise serve the dressing on the side so the salad doesn’t get soggy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Definitely! The dressing keeps nicely refrigerated in an airtight container for up to a week.
While you can make the dressing and prepare the veggies ahead (the veggies can be prepped up to 2 days in advance), wait until you’re ready to serve the salad to toss everything together.
Sure, you can use almond butter in place of peanut butter.
You can replace the cilantro with flat-leaf parsley. The salad and dressing will still be delicious!
You May Also Like
Thai Crunch Salad with Peanut Dressing
Inspired by California Pizza Kitchen’s recipe, this Thai crunch salad with peanut dressing always satisfies.
Ingredients
For the Peanut Dressing
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, from one lime
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2½ tablespoons sugar
- 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1-inch square piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped (see note)
- 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 (I like to toss in a little shredded red cabbage for color)
- 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, 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.
- Note: Check out easy guidance on how to peel, grate, and chop fresh ginger here.
Nutrition Information
Powered by 
- Per serving (4 servings)
- Serving size: Approximately 2 cups
- Calories: 282
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 28 g
- Sugar: 17 g
- Fiber: 6 g
- Protein: 7g
- Sodium: 505 mg
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
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.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
I just had to come back and review this salad. It was outstanding! My husband said it was by far the best salad I’ve ever made and asked me where I found the recipe for the peanut dressing because it was perfect. He continually praised it throughout the entire dinner and wanted some for his lunch the next day. I absolutely agree of course and couldn’t have been more pleased. I will definitely be serving this often this summer! Fantastic recipe!
Hi Jenn,
Since I married into a Thai family, I absolutely love all Thai food and Thai inspired recipes, so I absolutely can’t wait to make this. Two questions…can I substitute the rice vinegar for something else and would it be ok to use green onions instead of scallions? I normally have both of those ingredients but I don’t this time and really want to try this recipe soon! As always, keep up the great work! Love this blog!
Hi Katie, So glad you’re enjoying my site! You can sub the rice vinegar with more lime juice. And yes on the green onions — they are basically the same as scallions. Enjoy!
Oh, my goodness. This Thai Crunch Salad is awesome and the dressing is “to die for” good. It is filling, but so light. I made everything exactly as written, but did add another crunchy topping ( sautéed butter, slivered almonds, crushed plain ramen noodles and sesame seeds till light golden and then let cool till crispy/crunchy ). This is so pretty and colorful! The little half-moon cucumbers add visual interest. Just a fantastic recipe!
Hello,
My friend made this salad and I loved it so much I decided to make it for a summer dinner party for 14. I quadrupled the recipe-but when I got to the lime juice I realized that I had only bought one lime! So I cut the lime into small pieces and put them into the blender thinking that would give me the extra lime flavor I needed. Wrong!!!! I am not a great cook and rarely stray from basics or many pre-made dressings. But I loved this and totally ruined it-the dressing was sooo bitter. One of my friends helped me by suggesting I added more honey to cut the bitterness. It helped so that I could serve it, but I was so disappointed in myself! I will try it again when I feel more confident and maybe for a smaller group. Thanks for listening.
Hi Susan, Oh no! I’m sure it was still good and that stuff happens to all of us! If you’re ever short on limes, you can always substitute rice vinegar. Definitely try it again 🙂
Another 5 Stars! I made this today and love it. I switched to almond butter years ago and I subbed a little kale (always trying to find ways to use it) for the endamame and all came together in a delicious, nutty, crunchy way. This was my first experience using fresh ginger and it has me thinking about ginger cookies? Please Chef Jenn 🙂
I tried the thai penut dressing.
The best ever!
I’ve made quite a few peanut sauces and this is by far THE BEST! It makes me happy because it’s also super easy to make, and I have most of the ingredients on hand. The salad was NOM and my friends were impressed with how good it looked and tasted. ‘s a keeper!
I’m going to go ahead and give it 5 stars (something I never do, so congrats) because I juse know this is going to be delicious. It has everything I love!
I’m planning on making this tomorrow night and will be running to the store this afternoon, but my question is: do you think I could use fresh or frozen English peas instead of the edamame?
It is more than just a little doubtful I’ll find edamame in my area. This is cajun country and everything here is either southern or cajun food. There is no in-between.
This just sounds so delicious! I’ll pick up some broccoli slaw to use that Publix sells. I just love that stuff and it’s got a little bit of everything in it.
Hi, Yes that’s fine or you can just increase one of the other ingredients — will still be delish 🙂
This recipe is a keeper! The sauce is soooo good. When I sat down to eat last night, it felt like being at an amazing restaurant. (Not an experience this mom of 3 young tots has very often these days!) The next time we make this, we’ll double the sauce so we can stretch the salad out for 3-4 nights. Thanks for a most yummy recipe, Jenn! You are the best!
The dressing for this salad is addictive. We always add chicken to salad for a hearty meal. We’ve tried many of your salads and have never been dissappoined.