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
Sorry about that Denise- some rice noodles do better than others with the boiling method. I like soaking them too and often go that route.
We loved this recipe! We changed the peanut sause to almond sauce, it was delicious! We will definitely be making it all summer long:)
Sounds great, so happy you enjoyed!
I made this for dinner tonight. I followed the recipe, however I did not have any radishes, so I chopped a Persian cucumber.
This was fabulous! The diversity of colors, flavors and textures made this extra special. I will be making this again and again. Thank you for making healthy food beautiful and delicious.
I just recently found my way to your site and can’t wait to try more recipes!
So happy you found us Joan, and glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Love the veggies! This is so fresh and a welcomed change from my usual meals. I used broccoli slaw instead of cabbage. Love this!
Perfect Sharon! Glad you enjoyed it!
Have made this numerous times. Everyone in the family loves it.
Great to hear!
Hi Sylvia,
I am excited to try the Thai Noodle Salad with the Peanut Sauce as a main entree for a casual dinner with invited friends. Please suggest what I can add to fill out the meal and make it complete.
Hi Gloria, you could add a protein- grilled Sambal chicken, Baked tofu and maybe a vegetable side. Grilled bok choy?
Absolutely brilliant salad. Loved by vegans and non vegans alike (added prawns on the side). did double the sauce and then had to do the salad again a couple of days later. It will certainly become a staple dish at our place- a success. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks so much!
Love this recipe. Can I make the dressing in a big batch ahead of time and freeze in individual servings?
I have not tried freezing- but I don’t see why not?
This is a warm-weather favorite for my family. We just made our first batch of the year–it must finally be summer!
Yay Scarlet!
Sylvia, You’ve banged another one out of the park! This week, I made this as my meal prep, and my VP caught me licking my bowl. And I’m not ashamed! LOL!
Thank you for the delicious eats!
Awesome Michelle!
This is the first recipe I have tried from this site, and I’m really grateful to have it as it was just delicious! I had to sub almond butter for the peanut butter because of allergies and also could not include the soy sauce or the hot peppers, and despite those changes it was still wonderful. Bright, chewy and delicious. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with us, it’s very much appreciated!
Thanks so much, Jen, and welcome to the blog. Stay a while! xo
I had a savoy cabbage from my CSA that went into this salad last night, along with rice noodles, slivered peppers, garden carrots, baby cukes and lots of fresh mint and cilantro. And yes, the peanut sauce was delicious though the sesame oil was a little too dominant for my taste –will use a bit less next time. I also used tamari for soy and didn’t mind the darker color. This will certainly be on heavy summer rotation for us! thanks!
Thanks Bri!
I’m a huge peanut sauce fan and this recipe was delicious! I actually used it as a stir fry sauce and served it over fresh chow mein noodles and veggies. I added a touch more honey and water than the recipe calls for. It was perfect! I will definitely be repeating this!
I meant to clarify, I didn’t have orange juice on hand so I subbed water and it worked great.
Awesome Anne!
This was amazing. I’ve been looking for a good Thai peanut sauce for years and I’ve finally found it. Thank you! My whole family loved it.
Great to hear Melissa!
How long does the peanut sauce last . Thanks
4-5 days!
I am going to make this today, would Chow mein noodles work? Can’t wait to try it, looks amazing!!
Yes, I think they should be fine here Christina! Let us know how it turns out.
I followed the recipe exactly and it was out of this world! Thanks for the recipe!
Awesome Krystal! Glad you enjoyed this!
This looks great, but how on earth did you get your calories calculated? 6 oz rice noodles alone is 260 calories. +peanut butter and sesame oil and sweetener is way over 286!
Hi there, the calories are calculated per serving- so 1/6 of the recipe ( there are 6 servings here) or 1 1/4 cups. 🙂
Hello Sylvia. Still licking my lips after this divine salad. That peanut sauce is soooo delicious. I decided to toast sesame seeds instead of sesame oil to up the calcium with some extra to sprinkle into the salad as well. I also decided to add some raw red onion to the sauce as an experiment (and less the children can pick out). I can imagine making a BIG batch and packing it for my work lunches. Love all your recipes and amazing photography. We are wanting to go more plant based and love that you make it so easy to find wonderful recipes under collections.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Great recipe. Thank you for giving me inspiration for my company potluck.
Awesome Jen!
I made this salad and my family and i loved it! I used rice vermicelli noodles and they soaked up the dressing well. This recipe is a keeper! Next time I’ll try adding fish sauce to the dressing.
Thanks Jean!
Absolutely delicious. One of my favorites to make on a hot day. It is so good and the dressing is amazing!
So happy you enjoyed this!
Love this recipe. How long will the dressing keep for?
Up tp 4 days!
I just made it and it’s absolutely delicious! I don’t usually make vegan recipes, but this was amazing! I don’t think the salad will keep 4 days in the fridge; we’ll probably all gobble it up way before then. Excellent recipe; no changes need to be made to it.
Thanks Gabrielle!
Hey Sylvia- I am planning to make this tomorrow 🙂 Would regular basil be okay in this or does it need to be Thai basil? Thank you!
Hey Laura- regular basil is fine! Thai basil elevates. 🙂
Perfect, thank you! Just made the sauce and it is *chef’s kiss*