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Thai Noodle Salad with the BEST EVER Peanut Sauce, loaded up with healthy veggies! This vegan salad is great for potlucks and Sunday meal prep and lasts up to 5 days in the fridge.
Looking for more? Check out 25 Fresh & Easy Thai Recipes or our 40 Must-Try Vegan Salads!
Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable. ~Mary Oliver~
The other day I got a hankering for an old standby we used to have on the Mizuna menu, the vegetarian restaurant my friend Tonia and I started together way back when. Thai Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce. Here it’s made with rice noodles and a boatload of crunchy veggies- cabbage, carrots, bell pepper and radish, then tossed in the most flavorful, balanced Peanut Sauce ever!
This vegan Thai Noodle Salad is great made-ahead salad, and keeps well for 3-4 days in the fridge -perfect for midweek meals and lunches, or potlucks and gatherings. Top this with flavorful Sesame Ginger Tofu or baked chicken for added protein if you prefer. So delicious!
Thai Noodle Salad | 60-sec video
Yes, I may be biased – I’ve had many versions of Thai peanut sauce, here and throughout Thailand, but this Thai Peanut Sauce is still hands-down my all-time very favorite! Not too sweet, and perfectly balanced.
Expert Tip
The secret ingredient in this recipe is fresh orange juice, giving it a delicious brightness. I highly recommend making a double batch of the Thai Peanut Sauce to use with spring rolls or buddha bowls. If you are like me you will be eating it by the spoonful. It’s that good! (Also know that this works with almond butter too!)
How to make Thai Noodle Salad!
- Cook the noodles. It starts with 6 ounces of dry noodles. So here again, the salad is actually, by volume more veggies than noodles- my kind of salad! Use linguine, soba noodles, Pad Thai-style rice noodles, brown rice noodles or seriously any pasta you have in your pantry. I personally love rice noodles here.
- Prep the veggies and herbs. You’ll need 4 cups of shredded veggies- red cabbage, carrots, bell pepper, radishes, plus green onions, jalapeño, and cilantro (or basil) and place in a large bowl.
- Make the Peanut Sauce.
- Combine the noodles, veggies, herbs and peanut sauce in the mixing bowl.
- Garnish with toasted, crushed peanuts if you like! Or try this Peanut Chili Crunch!
- Add protein if you like: shredded or baked chicken, baked tofu, crispy tofu, or shrimp.
What veggies to use?
- red cabbage
- bell pepper
- carrots
- radishes
- cucumber
- jicama
- use any veggie that will stay crunchy in the salad for several days.
The light and creamy peanut sauce is a nice contrast.
Make this as spicy as you want. I love adding fresh, finely chopped jalapeño to the salad for a little added heat.
Toss it up and serve it in a serving bowl.
Garnish with the roasted crushed peanuts and chopped scallion at the end ( so they stay fresh and crunchy).
Peanut Allergy?
Substitute almond butter and toasted, slivered almonds!
Healthy, delicious and filling- I love having this Thai Noodle Salad on hand for a quick healthy snack too!
Here is the Thai Noodle Salad topped with the Baked Sesame Ginger Tofu.
Hope you enjoy this vegan Thai Noodle Salad with Peanut Dressing. Make a batch on Sunday and have it throughout the week- you’ll love yourself for it- I promise!
More recipes you may like:
- 40 MAKE-AHEAD VEGAN SALADS!
- Easy Crunchy Asian Slaw
- Thai Crunch Salad with Peanut Ginger Dressing
- Soba Noodle Salad
- Asian Cucumber Salad
Hope you enjoy this one – please rate and share your comments below! Pinning and sharing is always appreciated too!
xoxo
Vegan Thai Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Vegan, Salad
- Method: Tossed
- Cuisine: Thai
- Diet: Vegan
Description
A simple delicious recipe for Thai Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce, loaded up with healthy veggies. Vegan and Gluten free, this make-ahead salad is perfect for midweek lunches or large gatherings. Add Sesame Ginger Tofu for added protein!
Ingredients
- 6 ounces dry noodles (brown rice noodles, pad thai style rice noodles, soba noodles, linguini)
- 4 cups mix of red cabbage, carrots and radish, shredded or grated
- 1 red bell pepper, finely sliced
- 3 scallions, sliced
- 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped (or sub basil and mint)
- 1 tablespoon (or less, or more) jalapeño, finely chopped
- 1/4–1/2 cup roasted, crushed peanuts ( optional garnish)
Thai Peanut Sauce ( You may not need all- so save extras for another use.)
- 5 thin slices ginger- cut across the grain, about the size of a quarter.
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup peanut butter ( or sub almond butter!)
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice ( roughly 1 large orange)
- 1/3 cup fresh lime juice ( roughly 2 limes)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce or GF Braggs Liquid Amino Acids (Note: Tamari will turn this unpleasantly dark)
- 1/3 cup honey, agave, or maple syrup
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
- 1 – 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper ( or a squirt of sriracha sauce)
- 1 teaspoon salt
Add this Baked Sesame Ginger Tofu (Optional)
Instructions
- Cook Noodles: Cook pasta according to directions on package. ( See notes for rice noodles) Drain and chill under cold running water.
- Blend the Peanut Sauce: while noodles are cookig, blend the peanut sauce ingredients together using a blender until smooth.
- Toss: Place shredded veggies, bell pepper, scallions, cilantro and jalapeño into a serving bowl. Toss. Add the cold noodles to the serving bowl and toss again. Pour some peanut sauce over top and toss well to combine- no need to use all, just use enough to coat well. ( Save the extra sauce for any leftover salad-as it can soak up the sauce overnight.)
- Taste: Adjust the salt (to your liking), add chili flakes if you want, or more lime, and serve, garnishing with roasted peanuts and cilantro and a lime wedge.
Notes
Noodles: If cooking pad thai style rice noodles, add the noodles to a pot of boiling water. Turn heat off, stir and let steep 2-3 minutes until tender, drain and run under cool water. Alternatively, pour boiling water over the noodles in a baking dish, let soak until softened, drain.
Salad will keep 4 days in the fridge.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 1/8 cups
- Calories: 286
- Sugar: 13.3 g
- Sodium: 374 mg
- Fat: 13 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 39.9 g
- Fiber: 2.6 g
- Protein: 3.8 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: thai noodle salad, thai noodle salad recipe, Vegan thai noodle salad, thai salad, best peanut sauce, peanut sauce recipe, vegan thai noodle salad recipe
Best peanut salad dressing! So much flavour and coats the noodles so well.
★★★★★
Awesome to hear, Cynthia! Thanks!
Tried this for a staff summer lunch party and it was fabulous.
★★★★★
Great to hear Claire!
My family’s favorite peanut-sesame noodle salad recipe! Halved the recipe for the sauce and it was still plenty generous for us. We subbed granulated garlic for the fresh (1/4 to 1/2 tsp granulated for each clove of fresh garlic), reduced honey to just 3T for the full recipe because hubby doesn’t like it overly sweet. The lime and orange juice essential as it brightens up the peanut butter and adds an additional layer of flavour complexity. Thank you Syliva! This recipe is a keeper!
★★★★★
Thanks so much Sandy!
I like the Thai salad
Too much liquid. I’d cut orange juice to 1/4 cup.
Hi Sandy, it is a looser sauce, intentionally, to better coat the noodles, but of course, do as you like! 🙂
Loved this recipe as I do all your recipes that I have tried. The flavors in the sauce were amazing. I was skeptical about adding so much peanut butter, but with the other ingredients, the peanut butter was not overwhelming. Fabulous salad!! Will definitely be making it again. Your recipes are always so healthy and delicious!! Thank you!!
So happy to hear this Sally!
I just made it. The sauce/dressing is fantastic. Salad not so good. I could not just drizzle it, I had to cover it with the sauce, otherwise it tasted raw veggies with no taste. And I don’t like soaked salads. Cucumber did absolutely nothing, I regretted that I used it. I think, that too much fresh basil is to blame (I spread it over veggies, so sauce didn’t suffer). Maybe a little too much of ginger too.
Best regards, Renata.
Yes, salad best coated in the sauce. Not drizzled over.
So good! Real nice balance of flavors in the peanut sauce.
★★★★★
Glad you liked it Bev!
So delicious and satisfying! Thanks for another great recipe- this one is definitely going to be a regular. Wonderful flavours, I really enjoyed all the different textures- this was like a party in my mouth! I love a meal that leaves me feeling completely satisfied but not weighed down and sleepy. I am storing all the components separately and looking forward to a few more delicious meals over the next couple of days. Thank you!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed Rachel! Great idea to store separately.
absolutely loved! thinking of new ways to use leftover sauce…I oddly had trouble distributing noodles and veggies. It was as if the wanted to separate.
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed MJ. I often will dress the noddles, place in serving bowl then top with the veggies and drizzle with a little more sauce. The veg does have a tendency to separate and sink.
This was excellent, and it went so well with the Baked Sesame Ginger Tofu. It’s great to have other uses for your most excellent peanut sauce. I used savoy cabbage instead of red cabbage and I added English cucumber. I used brown rice pad Thai noodles, which were a perfect fit. I so appreciate how healthy your recipes are!
★★★★★
Perfect Karen!
Everyone in my family loved this recipe even my teenagers .The peanut dressing is fantastic. Tasty and healthy! Thank you for your inspiring recipes.
★★★★★
Great to hear!