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
More from Feasting At Home
Thai Noodle Salad | 60-sec video
Thai Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6-8
- 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. *See notes for rice noodles. Cook pasta according to directions on the package. Drain and chill under cold running water, drain.
- Peanut Sauce. While noodles are cooking, add all the peanut sauce ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. (You can do this up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate.)
- Prep your veggies. Slice, grate, and chop.
- Combine. 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 it well, generously. (Save any 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
Rice Noodles: If cooking pad thai style rice noodles, 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 cup
- Calories: 214
- Sugar: 10 g
- Sodium: 280.5 mg
- Fat: 9.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 29.9 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 2.9 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Hi Sylvia
This was absolutely fantastic.Cant tell you how many times Ive made it.Also used edamame and broccoli..Omg!! Fabulous!! Thank you ????❤
This recipe is amazing! I had to alter the ginger garlic soy sauce amount bc I like things over the top lol. Can we talk about how easy this was to throw together?! Talk about a happy pregnant tired mommy! My tummy is so satisfied right now heh mmm mmmm mmmmmm
This is a great base recipe to play with. We had some stuff to use up so I threw in some tofu, carrot, broccoli, edamame, capsicum, shallots, coriander and sesame seeds with soba noodles. The sauce is next level tasty. I added less garlic and sesame oil (I had run out but doubling the recipe 6 tablespoons seemed insane) and it still tasted incredible. Thanks for this versatile recipe and sauce!
Ssssooooo yummy!
I’m almost sorry I came across this because it sounds so wonderful. I can’t have the grians or sugars. I’m not even sure where to begin to try to modify it. Maybe shiritake noodles and stevia sweetener.
This is basically my favorite recipe ever! It always turns out amazing. I like adding some shelled edamame and a shredded chicken breast to up the protein content (the edamame also adds a pop of pretty green). I also like to add some Penzey’s Bangkok blend seasoning. This is the prettiest, most colorful, and most delicious salad I’ve ever tried, and it is perfect for meal-prep lunches all week.
Awwwwww Jen! I loved getting this today! Thanks for sharing!
Another winner by Sylvia! As always, easy to put together and very, very tasty! I believe it’s he best peanut sauce I’ve ever made! I pretty much stuck to the recipe and it was fabulous! Perfect for lunches.
This was excellent! I agree that this is the best peanut dressing ever. Perfect flavor!
Yes! Glad you liked it and thanks for sharing and rating!~ xo
Absolutely loved it!!Thanks for sharing ?
Oh my goodness! This is so delicious! I used this for meal prep lunches for my husband and me. It made 7 lunches. Next time, I’ll use more veggies to stretch it out. The peanut dressing was so delicious!! I love that this recipe is totally vegan. I try to keep our consumption to meat to a minimum. I’m going to make this again next week. Thank you!
Delectable?
It has become one of my favourites. Thank you for the recipe?
Absolutely delicious and a great way to get veggies into a meal. Especially perfect on a hot summer day when eating anything hot isnt an option!
Do you have the nutrition facts?
They are below the recipe
I tried this because I love a very similar, and very expensive, salad sold at Gelson’s. This turned out GREAT and it was so easy! I took it to a summer party and people raved about it. I just used the slaw mix you buy in the produce section, rinsed and dumped it in. Thanks for sharing.
Love the quick use of shredded slaw! Awesome!
HOLY MOLY is this recipe DELISH…like MAJORLY delish…I made it for dinner last night and it was so good Im making it again tonight and my sister in law is making it for dinner tonight also…..Thank you so much for creating this!!!!!! Its also going to be my new go to salad to bring to parties!!!!!!!!!! : ) : )
Loved it! Definitely a keeper.
Yay!!! Glad you enjoyed it!
Loved it even though was never a big fan of veg or salad
That is a true compliment then~ thanks!
Do you use natural peanut butter for this recipe? Thanks!
I do, but I think any peanut butter will work.
Thanks for sharing this yummy and healthy recipes ideas. Its a very nice post .I love to try different yummy recipes …Thanks again
Oh my goodness this is delicious.
This is delicious, and the peanut sauce is truly excellent. I’m cooking for teenage boys so I doubled the sauce and used 1 lb. of linguine. I also served this with grilled chicken. Everyone loved it.
Yum. Crunchy peanutbuttery delious salad Added chicken from the night before
I would make this again!!!!
Made this last night … OMG DELISH!!! Even the hubby loved it! Added some rotisserie chicken breast.
My wife made this last night, on a hot, no-wind-circulation kind of heat wave here in Southern California. I came home from my wedding and was met with an incredible meal. It was perfect. She added some chilled grilled chicken. My personal preference would be to amp up the jalapeno and the salt, but just slightly. Still, it was PERFECT.
This was just delicious! probably the best peanut sauce I have ever had – seriously.