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. Watch the video!
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!
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).
FAQS
- Peanut Allergy? Substitute almond butter and toasted slivered almonds!
- Making it ahead? Feel free to keep the noodles and veggies, separate from the dressing, crushed peanuts and herbs until ready to serve!
- Storage: This salad will keep 4-5 days in the refrigerator.
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. My absolute favorite.
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 Asian Salads You’ll Love!
- 40 MAKE-AHEAD VEGAN SALADS!
- Vietnamese Noodle Salad
- Sesame Cabbage Noodle Salad
- Simply Suwanee’s Thai Glass Noodle Salad
- 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
Thai Noodle Salad | 60-sec video
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! Watch the video.
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
Delicious! Didn’t know I could make something that was even better than takeout!
Here we are again! Another birthday and this was once again requested, but this one is a very special milestone birthday. My daughter loves this recipe, it’s her favorite meal. Thank you for making her 18th birthday that much more special.
We so appreciate you sharing your gifts and talent with us. Please know that you share memory makers!
Glad she enjoyed!
Yummy!! This will be my summer picnic go-to for sure. I gently pulsed the cabbage in a food processor to hasten the shredding labor. I think the results were much better than store-bought shredded veggies. The colors, textures, and flavor are very satisfying. Thank you, Sylvia!
Thanks, glad you liked!
Great flavours!
This was excellent! Would be a great dish to serve for a dinner/lunch party. Simple but delicious!! Thanks for sharing.
This was very good but I used peanut sauce I bought at a Korean grocer (they make their own). I skipped the hot peppers and added hot sauce instead. Otherwise, this was an absolute mess to make. Might consider getting one of those salad bags with carrots and cabbage instead of shredding everything myself.
Wow. New staple!
I plan on making this for family get together for lunch butsomeone has allergy to oranges, should l just add more lime juice?
Yes you could ( but add to taste, and add a little more sweetness too if needed) or try Meyer Lemon. I will say, the orange juice is what makes the dressing so good.
I’ve made this a few times now, usually using whatever veg I have left over (fennel is particularly good!). It’s always delicious, and the dressing is heaven.
This is so good! I’m making it now. The sauce is not at all too sweet. I used organic peanut butter with no added sugar so the addition of the honey was good to balance the acid in the lime juice. I also used coconut aminos and it did need a pinch of salt for me. It is really easy to make to your taste. I also sautéed the peanuts, sesame and rice noodles to give them toasted flavor.
Perfect Alli!
Delicious! I added more noodles so my household could have extra for leftovers. It was a hit with all of us!
Hiya, this is a delicious recipe! Can the sauce be frozen or how long do you think it would store in the fridge? Thank you
I think the sauce would freeze fine. Or keep up to 5 days in the fridge.
i always makes a double batch of sauce and freeze in 1/4 cup containers. thaws quickly on the counter. just needs a good stir.
Made this today-fabulous!
I’d give it a ten! if I could. I work from home these days and seem to make a single dish for lunch and nosh on it all week. I made my salad primarily about the veggies (doubled the amount of ‘salad’ and added chopped broccoli too) used a single recipe of the noodles, added shredded chix, and doubled the dressing. I am not a cook by nature but have good knife skills – the prep is time consuming as is the dressing. However, don’t let that stop you from making this recipe – it is fabulous! Thanks Sylvia (and Tonia)!!
Update to my review – Sylvia, correct me if I’m wrong but I think the acid (orange/lime) in the dressing breaks down the chicken and changes the texture over time for a stored salad. Still faboo but I hadn’t considered that when I added shredded chix.
Delicious and surprisingly filling. I used maybe double the slaw and 7 oz of noodles and extra sauce. With the sesame ginger tofu, I think it would be 3 servings.
I loved this recipe it was easy to make. My boys & I made it together & we added chicken for protein and I could totally eat this once a week. So flavorful & delicious & healthy! Would love more receipes like this one!
OMG this is AMAZING! Absolutely delicious, will share with everyone I know as surely everyone needs this in their life! 🥰
Me and my partner really rate this!! Wonderful flavours! Cant get enough of it. Will be making it a permanent fixture in our diet. Thankyou! 😊
Excellent. Absolutely double the peanut sauce!!
Delicious! Added some chopped romaine and ground chicken. This is the first Thai peanut recipe my husband has actually liked! Will be making this often.
This was so so good, I dressed the salad with some of the sauce and left the rest in jug for our guest to add more if liked. It was a big hit and even better the non-vegans did even know it was from a vegan recipe!!
Absolutely a winner
Made on Xmas day was a great hit with young and old
My daughter made this for me when I went for tea It was absolutely beautiful flavour of the sauce We had it with some chicken cheers Chrissy
Absolutely incredibly delicious. A lot of work to make and worth every second. The peanut sauce is literally to die for.
THIS PEANUT SAUCE IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!
It was really good. I cut down on the amount of honey (about 3/4) and it was plenty sweet. Also used key lime, which added some heavenly flavor
I make this recipe at least once a week! It is soooooo amazingly tasty and healthy! Make the dressing ahead of time and double it. That way you can dunk fried tofu into it!