Thai Crunch Salad with Peanut Dressing
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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!
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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
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- 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.
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Salad and dressing were both excellent! I served it with shredded poached chicken and rice noodles to make it a main dinner salad.
This salad is so delicious! It makes your tastebuds come alive! My husband loves it too. If you ever want to impress someone make this salad.
I tried this salad for the first time last week and since then have made it 3 times. Me and my hubby have hooked on to it…and the dressing is out of this world.. I am going to share this recipe on my blog sometime soon with credits to you:) Thanks a ton for sharing such a great recipe:)
Cheers!!
This Thai salad is divine! All of the flavors work so well together. It has the perfect amount of heat from the red pepper flakes. Next time I will double the dressing, it is scrumptious!
One of the best salads I’ve eaten! I made this to accompany a Thai dinner I made and it was fabulous! I bought a red pepper but forgot to add it. It reminded me of the Thai lettuce wraps at Cheesecake Factory and would probably be great wrapped in a lettuce leaf as we’ll for a vegetarian lunch entree or appetizer.
Jennifer, I recognized your Thai salad photo this morning on the Mother Jones website. The article is titled: 9 Surprising Foods With More Sugar Than a Krispy Kreme Doughnut. Maybe they picked it up from your Huffpost article! Anyway, I’ll be making your version of this salad soon to chase away winter.
Love it! I can literally put it on everything. I do use it as my go to salad dressing. As a result, I have been eating WAY over the recommended number of veggies I should be eating per day. Who craves salads for breakfast? I DO! Only because of this dressing.
Made this for a Thai themed dinner party. Rave reviews. Just sent the recipe link to the attendees. I reduced the oil slightly, substituting 1 Tbsp. of the oil with 1 tsp. sesame oil, – great flavour addition. Also, used shredded zucchini instead of sliced cucumber. Used Nappa and red cabbage. I hand cut everything and tossed with dressing just before serving. Suggest this to avoid any chance of sogginess. I will make this again, and again…..great recipe! Thanks!
LOVED this salad and dressing just the way it is. I doubled the dressing recipe hoping to have extras for a few days, but my family all took some home with them they loved it so much. Next time I make it I will quadruple the dressing. How long would you suggest keeping it the fridge?
Glad the salad (and the dressing!) was a hit. The dressing will keep well for about a week in the fridge.
I left the cilantro out of the dressing, I think doing that it should keep for a couple of weeks? (Chances are it won’t last that long anyway! 🙂
Hi Gwyneviere, Because it’s got some other fresh ingredients, don’t think it will last a couple of weeks; more like a week to 10 days at the most.
I added about double the lime juice – so good I could drink it.
Although, I had such high hopes for this recipe, it was terrible! I made this for a dinner party at a friend’s house and by the time we served it, it was more like cabbage soup than salad. For some reason, the fresh cabbage that I shredded (both green and red) went all watery and it literally looked like soup. As a result, the dressing was watered-down and had no taste, so it was just a bunch of drained vegetables that we ended up eating. The dressing (when it was not on the salad) tasted pretty good, but not sure I would try this one again.
mrsbee-cabbage, when shredded in a food processor, releases juices. Hand slicing or slicing on a mandolin does not release juices. Also, dressing just before serving should give a stronger flavor (altho I like to give foods a little time to meld)