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 summer dinner for one! I had a leftover salmon fillet that I placed on top of my serving and drizzled with the peanut dressing it was flip pin’ delicious! I blended my peanut sauce in a mason jar that fits perfectly on my blender which made it super easy to store the extra sauce. First time making any type of Thai inspired dish! I look forward to eating the leftovers!
Congrats, glad you liked this!
This combination of flavors and textures was delicious, especially for a hot summer day. Next time I will double the peanut sauce!
This might be my new favorite salad! It was really delicious. I used soba noodles and made the crispy tofu (but kicked the sauce up in spice level). Emmy husband and I both loved it and look forward to leftovers tomorrow.
Super yummy! The whole family liked it. (We used udon noodles; my daughter’s favorite.)
Yay!!!
This is fantastic! The best peanut butter sauce I’ve tried and it works so well with the crunchy veg. Already excited for the leftovers!
Awesome 🙌 Great to hear and glad you enjoyed this!
Loved this peanut sauce recipe!
thanks so much!
Made this for supper yesterday with the sesame ginger baked tofu. Delicious crunchy vegetables and slippery noodles all coated in the sweet and savoury peanut sauce – Wednesday suppers don’t come much better than this. 😀
Yay! 🙌 Thanks so much Kelly!
Nice and good…especially the peanut sauce love it..🥰
Omgosh. DELISH! I doubled the peanut sauce recipe & am SO glad I did! I also kept the veggies, noodles, & sauce separate until I was ready to eat so that the veggies stayed crisp! I also used the peanut sauce to marinade tofu, which I baked & also used in this salad. Thank you! It’s is wonderful!!
Thanks so much!
Wow-The salad and especially peanut sauce were truly delicious! I’ve tried other peanut noodle recipes and this was hands down the best. It really was the hit of the party. Everyone was raving about it. I’m new to your site and everything looks fresh and amazing- can’t wait to try more. Thanks!
Thanks so much Jen! Appreciate this!
The sauce is AMAZING! It will definitely be my go-to peanut butter sauce now. Thank you
Yay Tania Glad you liked it!🙌
It’s the day after making this salad and I cannot wait to eat it again tonight for dinner (if I were in the same house as the leftovers, they would be gone already). The only change I made was to use Thai-hot peanut butter and add two thai chiles to the blender. This salad is one reason we stock up on dry noodles. Love.
Wow! Thanks so much for this recipe – it was delicious. I’ve been on a meal prep slump especially during this quarantine but this dish was a game changer. Will definitely try with the tofu next time!
Wow, this was delicious, and that sauce was killer! I made this as just a salad, no noodles or added protein. And I had no red bell pepper or cilantro, but swapped out basil. I completely omitted the honey/sugar, 1/2 of the lime juice, and the salt. I would have added all, but it totally didn’t need it. I only had coconut liquid aminos, but that worked fine. And I left the spicy items (cayenne, sriracha, jalapeño) on the side for folks to add if they wished. Can’t wait to enjoy the leftovers tomorrow. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
Thanks and happy you enjoyed it!
This recipe is a life changer – I made it today for the first time and used it as a sauce for stir fry with tofu (tofu was air fried) and it was the perfect mixture of taste – sweet, with a little kick. I can’t believe I lived my life without this sauce this whole time! I made a second batch as extra to use as dressing on salads during the week.
haha! I’m so glad you liked it!
Hi there! This is so Dangerous. I can drink the peanut sauce alone and almost didn’t make it as a dressing to my salad. Thank you for sharing ❤️ your recipe is always wholesome, tasty and good.
By the way, how do you measure peanut butter in a cup? Is there a trick to it? The consistency makes it hard for me to measure it in a cup so i use tablespoon instead. For the noodles, I used edamame noodles – I was hesitant but when I put the salad together, it all seems to work. Thanks again. Be safe and take care.
LOL 😂 I feel the same about that sauce. Great to know about the edamame noodles, will have to try those. I just kind of eyeball the peanut butter. 🙂
Hi!
I have done this at least three times now, such a winner.
Ran out of oranges, any substitute?
Also, how would this work with monkfruit instead of honey/agave?
Thank you!
Oranges really make it! I’ve tried it without and felt something was “missing”. Not sure about monk fruit, but like the idea. Or even tossing in a few dates, to taste?
Hi there, we tweaked it a little but súch a great recipe! It’s one we will repeat often!
Great to hear!!!
Thanks for this recipe! Delicious combination of flavors!
This is so good especially with the hint of mint!
It’s pretty good…added a little more orange juice to the dressing, and added salt at the table. I like it, but needs something, but not what, maybe some lime wedges to squeeze on top. But I plan to play with it….if I hit on something….I’ll email you 😊
Delicious! Reminds me of the Nutty Noodles that Stir Crazy use to have in their menu. Everyone in my family loved it!
Sylvia,
These noodles were amazing! I can’t wait to eat the leftovers tonight and to try some more of your recipes. I am very happy to have found your blog.
This recipe was delicious! Thank you!
Have you ever tried freezing leftover peanut sauce?
If you don’t think that would work, do you think it would be ok to save in the fridge for a week?
I do think you could freeze it just fine!
Mare this today. It is really good. I added a splash of rice vinegar (couldn’t help myself) and used yellow bell pepper because that’s what I had. The cilantro is what sets it off.