Thai Salad with Peanut Dressing

thai salad topped with peanut dressing in a white bowl with a fork.

Thai Salad with Peanut Dressing

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Thai

Keyword: thai salad, thai salad dressing

Prep Time: 10

Total Time: 10

Servings:

Calories: 247kcal

Author: Megan Gilmore

This Thai Salad with Peanut Dressing may be the very best salad I've ever made. It's the recipe I'm confident bringing to dinner parties and potlucks, because it always gets RAVE reviews. The creamy, tangy, slightly sweet, and spicy dressing makes this dish downright irresistible... and will have everyone practically licking their bowls clean.

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Ingredients

Thai Peanut Dressing

¼ cup peanut butter (68 grams)
1 tablespoon rice vinegar (12 grams)
2 tablespoons olive oil (27 grams)
2 tablespoons lime juice (31 grams)
1 tablespoon tamari (18 grams; or soy sauce)
3 tablespoons honey (57 grams)
2 garlic cloves (8 grams)
1-inch fresh ginger (5 grams)
¼ teaspoon salt (2 grams)
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 to 2 tablespoons water , as needed

Thai Salad

1 romaine heart , chopped
2 cups red or green cabbage , shredded
1 large carrot , shredded
3 green onions , chopped
1 red bell pepper , chopped and seeds removed
½ cup fresh cilantro , chopped
¾ cup chopped peanuts or cashews (optional; for topping)

Instructions

To prepare the dressing, add the peanut butter, vinegar, oil, lime juice, tamari, honey, garlic, ginger, salt, red pepper flakes, and 1 tablespoon of water to a 14-ounce jar and whisk well to combine. If you'd like a runnier consistency, add another tablespoon of water and mix again. Note: I use a microplane to finely mince the garlic and ginger into the mix, so there won't be any large chunks in the final dressing.
Add the shredded romaine, cabbage, carrots, green onion, bell pepper, and cilantro to a large bowl. When you're ready to serve the salad, drizzle half the dressing over the veggies and toss well.
Taste the salad, and add more dressing as needed. (You might not use it all; I like to serve the extra on the side.) Add the chopped nuts, if you'd like extra crunch, then serve right away. Leftover dressing will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Video

Notes

Nutrition information is for 1 of 4 servings, using the entire batch of dressing. This information is automatically calculated from an online ingredient database, so it's an estimate, not a guarantee.

Make-Ahead Tips: Prepare the dressing up to 5 days in advance and store it in the fridge. The dressing will thicken when chilled, but will become runny if you let it come to room temperature again. The veggies can all be chopped up to 24 hours in advance, and then you can assemble this shortly before serving, to retain the maximum crunch. (Dressed salad will still taste good the next day, but it looks soggy and unappealing, so I don't recommend storing it dressed, especially if you plan on serving guests.)

Make it Vegan: Use maple syrup instead of honey.

Make it Nut-free: Use sunflower seed butter or tahini instead of peanut butter.

Nutrition