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Home » Recipes » Salads

Thai Peanut Quinoa Salad

Published: May 6, 2020 · Modified: Aug 11, 2020 by Lexi

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This Thai Peanut Quinoa Salad with a rainbow of crunchy vegetables is a delicious vegan and gluten free lunch or dinner! It's packed with flavor, a creamy peanut sauce, fresh veggies and plenty of filling plant-based protein.

overhead view of thai quinoa salad with crunchy vegetables and peanut sauce

I LOVE a good lettuce-less salad. This Thai Peanut Quinoa Salad is the perfect example. All of the flavor, none of the leafy greens. Not that I have anything against leafy greens (I love them!), but the same old salad day after day gets pretty boring.

I'm way more likely to eat more vegetables if I have an arsenal of creative, tasty, flavorful salad recipes at the ready. When in doubt, I go for this Greek Chickpea Salad. It never gets old (I eat it 2+ times a week)!

When I'm feeling a bit fancier (i.e. more prepared), I'll go for something like this vegan Thai Quinoa Salad or this Moroccan Carrot Lentil Salad. The key to a dinner salad is a filling grain or protein, a REALLY good dressing and some crunch factor.

side view of thai peanut quinoa salad

This salad really has it all. Plus, it's vegan and gluten free! It can also be nut free if you swap the peanut butter with sunflower seed butter or tahini. Perfect for meal prep, too – it's just as good cold the next day!

Thai Peanut Quinoa Salad Ingredients

overhead view of colorful vegetable ingredients for thai quinoa peanut salad

This recipe starts with a fluffy cooked quinoa base. To make perfectly cooked quinoa, first rinse the quinoa well. For this recipe, you'll only need 1 cup of dry quinoa (which makes about 3 cups cooked).

Add the rinsed quinoa to a pan with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until all of the water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork. You can also cook in vegetable broth for more flavor.

This Thai quinoa salad relies on a rainbow of crunchy vegetables, including:

  • Carrots: slice into thin strips or peel them. If you have a food processor with an attachment that shreds carrots, now's a good time to use it.
  • Red cabbage: to make cabbage more palatable, we quickly marinate it in some lime juice, sugar and salt. It's an optional step, but really improves the flavor. (Learn how to quick pickle any vegetable here!)
  • Yellow bell pepper: you can also sub with red or orange bell pepper.
  • Scallions: slice thinly. Always have more for topping!

The final component (apart from a garnishes like cashews, sesame seeds and limes) is...

The perfect creamy peanut dressing

close up overhead view of creamy peanut sauce in bowl

In a bowl, whisk together peanut butter, tamari or soy sauce, lime juice, toasted sesame oil, sriracha, coconut sugar, ground ginger (can also sub with fresh, grated ginger) and (optional) sesame seeds.

Thin it out with water until it forms a creamy, delicious sauce. This stuff is seriously good. Try it with these Grilled Tofu Kebabs or in your next stir fry!

Ingredient substitutions and additions

overhead view of ingredients for vegan thai quinoa salad with rainbow vegetables
  • Allergic to peanuts (or don't have any)? Sub peanut butter with tahini or sunbutter. If you're not allergic to nuts, you can also sub with cashew or almond butter.
  • Same goes for the cashews – sub with sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, etc.
  • Add in cooked edamame for more plant-based protein. We buy frozen and defrost quickly before adding.
  • No cabbage? Swap with more carrots, bell peppers and/or thinly sliced radishes.
  • Other optional additions: snap peas, cucumber, thai basil, sprouts, napa cabbage, etc.
side view of vegan thai quinoa peanut salad in a white bowl

More favorite salad recipes you'll love:

  • Taco Salad with Lentil Walnut "Meat"
  • White Bean Edamame Salad
  • Grilled Corn, Black Bean and Avocado Salad
  • Mediterranean Cauliflower Kale Salad
  • Roasted Vegetable Salad with Wild Rice
  • Cobb Salad with Vegan Eggplant Bacon
overhead view of vegan thai quinoa salad

If you make this Vegan Thai Peanut Quinoa Salad recipe, we’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below! We also love to see your creations on Instagram – tag us at @crowded_kitchen so we can see what you’ve been cooking.

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Thai Peanut Quinoa Salad


★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

  • Author: Lexi
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x
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Description

This Thai Peanut Quinoa Salad with a rainbow of crunchy vegetables is a delicious vegan and gluten free lunch or dinner! It's packed with flavor, a creamy peanut sauce, fresh veggies and plenty of filling plant-based protein.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup dry quinoa*
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 cup carrots, shredded, peeled into strips or sliced thinly
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thinly
  • 3 scallions, sliced thinly
  • A quarter of a head of red cabbage, sliced thinly*
  • For garnish: ¼-1/3 cup roughly chopped cashews and/or 1-2 tablespoon sesame seeds

Peanut Sauce:

  • ⅓ cup creamy peanut butter
  • ¼ cup water
  • 3 tbsp tamari or soy sauce (we used low sodium)
  • 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1 tbsp toasted (or regular) sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp sriracha 
  • 1 tbsp coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
  • ½ tsp ground ginger (can sub with 1 tsp freshly grated ginger)
  • Optional: 1 ½ tablespoon white sesame seeds

Instructions

  1. Cook quinoa according to package directions in vegetable broth or water.  If you use water, you may possibly need to adjust the seasoning a bit at the end.
  2. Meanwhile, prepare vegetables. Add to a large bowl and toss with cooked quinoa. 
  3. To make peanut sauce, whisk all ingredients together until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust as desired. Pour over quinoa/vegetable mixture and toss well to coat. 
  4. Top with cashews, sesame seeds, more scallions and lime slices (optional). Enjoy warm or cold! 

Notes

*For more flavor, we quick pickle the red cabbage before adding to this recipe. This is an optional step. To do so, first slice the cabbage into thin strips. Add to a heat-safe bowl and pour 2 cups of boiling water over top. Let sit for three minutes, then drain. Return to bowl and add juice from 1 ½ large limes, 1 ½ teaspoon sugar and ½ teaspoon of salt. Stir well and let sit for one hour before using.

*Allergic to peanuts? Sub with tahini or sunbutter.

  • Prep Time: 25 minutes
  • Cook Time: 5 minutes
  • Category: Salads
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: Thai

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 435
  • Sugar: 11.2 g
  • Sodium: 793.9 mg
  • Fat: 22.2 g
  • Saturated Fat: 3.8 g
  • Trans Fat: 0 g
  • Carbohydrates: 48.5 g
  • Fiber: 6.8 g
  • Protein: 14.5 g
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg

Keywords: thai quinoa salad

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @crowded_kitchen on Instagram and hashtag it #crowdedkitchen

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Reader Interactions

Comments

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    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

  1. Raych

    March 21, 2022 at 11:44 pm

    I've been meal prepping using mason jars, how long does this meal usually last?

    Reply
    • Lexi

      March 22, 2022 at 10:14 am

      About 4-5 days in the fridge!

      Reply
  2. Cathy

    May 26, 2020 at 9:31 am

    This sounds delicious!
    Do you have a breakdown of nutrition content? So helpful for those (myself 😉) adhering to particular dietary guidelines ....

    Reply
  3. Tanja

    May 09, 2020 at 10:06 am

    This salad is definitely a new favourite in our house. So simple to make and so tasty. The quick pickling of the red cabbage is genius 👍
    My 12 year old daughter even said that it was as good as those salads you buy in fancy cafes 😊

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Lexi

      May 11, 2020 at 8:55 am

      So happy to hear that, Tanja! Thank you so much for your comment 🙂

      Reply

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Hi, we're Lexi and Beth, a mother-daughter team from Michigan. The recipes you'll find here are a reflection of how we bring our family together around the dinner table despite various dietary differences.

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