Chopped Thai Salad With Spicy Ginger Peanut Sauce
This Chopped Thai Salad is choc-full of raw, crunchy vegetables and saturated with homemade peanut dressing you’ll want to drink right from the jar. It’s a versatile raw vegan salad that’s ready in minutes and makes for a quick, easy lunch, light dinner or healthy side.
Say goodbye to boring salads with this raw vegan Chopped Thai Salad. It’s a Thai chopped salad packed with a medley of vibrant vegetables, crunchy cashews and a burst of Asian flavors. This salad is made in the typical fashion featuring crisp cabbage, shredded carrots, bell peppers, edamame, green onions and cilantro, all finely chopped for that perfect bite. The spicy peanut sauce adds a rich, tangy, and mildly spicy kick that ties all the ingredients together. If you love peanut sauce, try my Vegetable Spring Rolls.
🥕Ingredients (With Substitutions)
- Purple Cabbage – also called red cabbage. I shred my cabbage with a mandolin but you can chop thin slices with a knife if you don’t have one. You can also use green cabbage or mix the two together.
- Red Bell Pepper – finely chopped red bell peppers work best. You can use whatever color bell pepper you have on hand. Or use yellow and green for a brighter pop of color. If you love red bell pepper, try my Roasted Bell Pepper Salad.
- Carrots – I like to cut my carrots julienne style for this recipe, however, you can chop, shred or grate your carrots in whatever way you like or you can use pre-shredded carrots from the store.
- Edamame – I prefer buying my edamame frozen in the little packages as above and sticking them in the microwave to cook before using; fresh or frozen work just fine.
- Green Onions – finely chop your green onions or use chopped red onion instead.
- Cilantro – chopped cilantro adds a spicy kick to the salad. You can also use parsley.
- Cashews – I use fresh raw cashews for health reasons but you can use roasted salted cashews or Trader Joe’s Chili Lime Cashews.
- Lime Juice – use the juice of one lime or substitute with lemon.
- Sesame Seeds – I prefer organic toasted sesame seeds, but any kind will work.
- Spicy Peanut Sauce Dressing (not pictured) – you can buy from the grocery store or on Amazon with the link provided, or make your own by gathering the following dressing ingredients: creamy peanut butter, rice vinegar, pure maple syrup, soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, lime juice and a few drizzles of red chili oil. Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl with one tablespoon of hot water at a time until you reach the right consistency.
Exact ingredients measurements can be found in the recipe card below!
🔪How To Make a Chopped Thai Salad
Step 1: Finely chop all vegetables and cilantro and add to a large bowl along with edamame, cashews, lime juice, sesame seeds and chopped mint.
Step 2: Mix all ingredients together with a serving spoon and fork. Once thoroughly combined, drizzle with delicious peanut dressing and top with more cilantro, mint leaves, cashews and sesame seeds. You can also toss the dressing with the salad if you’re going to eat it right away. Enjoy!
🥭Amazing Salad-Making Tips
- Add your favorite proteins – to make this salad recipe even more nutritious, add a can of protein-packed chickpeas, white or black beans, rinsed and drained, to the rest of the ingredients. If you love chickpeas, try my Indian Pumpkin Butter Chickpeas in the Instant Pot.
- Store without dressing – leftovers are best stored without dressing, however, the salad will stay crunchy either way for at least 2 days.
- Get creative with cashews – if you love crispy cashews, try Trader Joe’s Thai Lime Chili Cashews instead of raw.
- Vary your vegetables – this Chopped Thai Salad is probably the most versatile on the planet. Use whatever is in your fridge, such as broccoli, jalapeño, tomatoes; the sky’s the limit. This goes for toppings, too. For a veggie-packed summer salad, try my Pearl Barley Salad.
- The perfect meal prep – this salad is perfect for meal prepping. Just chop your vegetables and add them with the other ingredients in meal prep containers or stack ingredients in layers in a mason jar to make a mason jar salad you can bring along to work.
🍜What To Serve With This Thai Chopped Salad
If you love Thai food, this Chopped Thai Salad makes a perfect side dish for any one of the following Thai-inspired recipes:
- Thai Basil Tofu
- Garlic Chili Oil Noodles
- Thai Drunken Noodles
- Forbidden Rice Stir-Fry
- Chickpea Coconut Curry
🌡️What to Do With Leftover Salad
For best results, eat salad immediately after preparation. Store leftover salad, with or without dressing, in an airtight container for up to 5 days. This is a salad that stays crunchy, even overnight but does not freeze well.
Thai peanut dressing can be stored separately, in an air tight container for up to 4 weeks.
🥗More Salad Recipes
Have you tried this? Why not leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback. You can also follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and sign up for my newsletter!
Easy Chopped Thai Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 4 cups cabbage
- 1 large bell pepper finely chopped
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1/4 cup cilantro finely chopped
- 1/2 cup cashews
- 1/2 cup carrots julienned or shredded
- 3/4 cup edamame cooked
- 1/2 cup green onions finely chopped
For the Dressing
- 4 tbsp peanut butter creamy
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tsp ginger finely minced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp red chili oil adjust per your taste
Instructions
For the Dressing
- To a small bowl add peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce, maple syrup, lime juice, ginger and garlic. Using a fork or small whisk, stir in filtered water, a tablespoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.
For the Salad
- Finely chop all vegetables and cilantro and add to a large bowl along with edamame, cashews, lime juice, sesame seeds and chopped mint.
- Mix all ingredients together with a serving spoon and fork. Once thoroughly combined, drizzle with delicious peanut dressing and top with more cilantro, mint leaves, cashews and sesame seeds. You can also toss the dressing with the salad if you're going to eat it right away. Enjoy!
Notes
- Add your favorite proteins – to make this salad recipe even more nutritious, add a can of protein-packed chickpeas, rinsed and drained, to the rest of the ingredients.
- Store without dressing – leftovers are best stored without dressing, however, the salad will stay crunchy either way for at least 2 days.
- Get creative with cashews – if you love crispy cashews, try Trader Joe’s Thai Lime Chili Cashews instead of raw.
- Vary your vegetables – this Chopped Thai Salad is probably the most versatile on the planet. Use whatever is in your fridge, such as broccoli, jalapeño, tomatoes; the sky’s the limit. This goes for toppings, too.
- The perfect meal prep – this salad is perfect for meal prepping. Just chop your vegetables and add them with the other ingredients in either meal prep containers or in layers in a mason jar to make a mason jar salad you can bring along to work.
Oh my goodness! This salad is amazing! I love Thai food. Full of fresh and crunchy goodness. I’ll be making this again and again for a quick and flavorful lunch. Terrific recipe!
Thanks so much, Juyali.
I love t the flavors and textures in this sale. It’s great for dinner al fresco.
So agree, thank you Helen.
This salad is perfect for my meal prep for work lunches and also makes a great side dish to so many main meals. Fresh, delicious and the dressing is superb.
Thank you Alexandra.
A chopped Thai salad is delicious and has the perfect crunch. I loved it.
I love the crunch too and I just ate leftovers after 3 days that were still crunchy. Thank you Swathi.
delicious salad!! It’s a full meal in a bowl.
Indeed it is. Thank u Helen.
We took this to a pot luck – and nothing was left! The flavors are so good and the dish is versatile. A great meal on a hot day!
Oooh, it’s perfect for a pot luck. Thanks for the idea, Helen.
Such a stunning, colourful bowl! Who wouldn’t want to eat their veggies, if they get it served this way.
I’m absolutely hooked to the creamy peanut dressing, which has just the right balance of flavors. This will be on repeat over the summer.
I even got my granddaughter to eat some last night. Thanks Sonja.
Absolutely delicious. I think I most enjoyed the flavor profiles in the dressing. So good!!
I love the dressing too! Thank you Anonymous.
This salad was so good. So many amazing flavors and textures. And the dressing—I want to put it on everything!
I know Ashley, I know. Thanks much.
This was the perfect dish for my husband who totally loves everything spicy! Thanks!
Good to hear. Thank you Nora.
I loved everything about this salad!! The flavors, the texture, and how easy it was to make!!!
I know, only 15 minutes. Thanks Liz.