Crunchy Thai Peanut & Quinoa Salad
This Thai-flavored salad recipe is made with carrots, cabbage, snow peas, and quinoa, tossed in peanut sauce. Vegan, gluten free, and packs well for lunch.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 14, 2024
I tend to keep to myself, especially in yoga class. It’s not a very social form of exercise, you know? Last year, when I walked into my usual Tuesday evening yoga class and my instructor shouted, “COOKIE AND KATE,” I froze. Kim, a regular in the class, had learned about my blog through her co-worker, and she said, “I know her! I go to yoga with her!”
Then Kim told Kristina, the teacher, and then everyone found out. Including Amie, one of my favorite instructors, who is great friends with Kate Kasbee of Well Vegan. Kate lives in Chicago and was working on a cookbook called Frugal Vegan at the time.
Through the Amie-Kate connection, I got a sneak peek at Frugal Vegan and wrote a blurb for the back cover. “Frugal Vegan offers an incredible array of fresh and simple vegan recipes. Every single one of them manages to be easy to make, affordable and accessible, too.”
Kate came to town for Amie’s birthday party, so I met her for drinks, and a giant green bug landed in her herbed green cocktail. Are you still following? I can’t make this stuff up.
Kate and I bonded over the trials and tribulations of cookbook-making, our love for our funny-looking pups (meet Rex), and the green bug experience. We practiced our half-moon poses at Amie’s backyard birthday party the next day. Maybe I shouldn’t be so shy about my work, since it opens so many fun doors.
Today, I’m sharing a delicious recipe from Frugal Vegan, featuring cabbage, carrots, green onion, snow or snap peas, and cilantro—all fresh, affordable, and loaded with nutrients and fiber. Toss all of that in an addictive homemade peanut sauce for a crisp, colorful, Thai-inspired salad. Enjoy it as a light summer dinner, and pack up the leftovers for tomorrow lunch.
The book’s recipe calls for millet instead of quinoa. I picked up all of the other ingredients at the store, while assuming that I had millet in my pantry at home. I did not, so I used quinoa instead. Millet is less expensive but quinoa has more protein, so take your pick accordingly. It’ll turn out great either way. Enjoy, and be sure to check out Kate and Katie’s book, Frugal Vegan!
Watch How to Make Thai Peanut & Quinoa Salad
Please let us know how the recipe turns out for you in the comments!
Craving more peanut goodness? You’ll love these recipes:
- Peanut Slaw with Soba Noodles
- Thai Mango Salad with Peanut Dressing
- Peanut Dipping Sauce
- Thai Mango Cabbage Wraps with Crispy Tofu and Peanut Sauce
- Thai Panang Curry
Crunchy Thai Peanut & Quinoa Salad
This Thai-flavored salad recipe is made with carrots, cabbage, snow peas, and quinoa, tossed in delicious peanut sauce. This healthy salad is vegan, gluten free, and packs well for lunch. Recipe yields 4 salads.
Ingredients
Salad
- ¾ cup uncooked quinoa or millet
- 1 ½ cups water
- 2 cups shredded purple cabbage
- 1 cup grated carrot
- 1 cup thinly sliced snow peas or sugar snap peas
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- ¼ cup thinly sliced green onion
- ¼ cup chopped roasted and salted peanuts, for garnish
Peanut sauce
- ¼ cup smooth peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari or soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (I love ginger so I used 2 teaspoons)
- ½ lime, juiced (about 1 ½ tablespoons)
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Cook the quinoa: First, rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh colander under running water. In a medium-sized pot, combine the rinsed quinoa and 1 ½ cups water. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and gently simmer the quinoa until it has absorbed all of the water, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the quinoa from heat, cover the pot and let it rest for 5 minutes. Uncover the pot and fluff the quinoa with a fork. Set it aside to cool. (Here’s how to cook millet.)
- Meanwhile, make the peanut sauce: Whisk together the peanut butter and tamari until smooth (if this is difficult, microwave the mixture for up to 30 seconds to loosen it up). Add the remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth. If the mixture seems too thick to toss into the salad, whisk in a bit of water to loosen it up (I didn’t need to do this).
- In a large serving bowl, combine the cooked quinoa, shredded cabbage, carrot, snow peas, cilantro and green onion. Toss to combine, then pour in the peanut sauce. Toss again until everything it lightly coated in sauce. Taste, and if it doesn’t taste quite amazing yet, add a pinch of salt and toss again. Divide into individual bowls and garnish with peanuts.
- This salad keeps well, covered and refrigerated, for about 4 days. If you don’t want your chopped peanuts to get soggy, store them separately from the rest and garnish just before serving.
Notes
Recipe minimally adapted from Frugal Vegan by Katie Koteen and Kate Kasbee.
Make it vegan: Use maple syrup (or agave nectar) instead of honey.
Make it gluten free: Be sure to use certified gluten-free tamari, not soy sauce.
Recommended equipment: I used this mandoline to shred the cabbage (it’s dangerous; watch your fingers at all times!) and this julienne peeler to shred the carrots. (Those are affiliate links.)
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I LOVE this salad. Such a great recipe. Sometimes I add some chopped kale Or edamame. Travels so well for work too. Thank you!!
Loved this. Made it for friends, who loved it too. I added red peppers and edamame instead of the peas. Makes a great lunch bowl!
Can you substitute ramen noodles for the quinoa? Thanks.
I made this on Sunday and brought it to work for lunch on Monday and Wednesday. It was as delicious on Wednesday as it was on Monday. This is a fantastic recipe. I will make it again for sure. Thanks Kate!
Hooray! You’re welcome, Danielle.
This was fantastic and turned out very well even though I had to substitute vegetables. I used a bag of broccoli slaw and added kale and red bell peppers. I didn’t toss the dressing, instead we each added the combination of veggies and quinoa that we wanted in our bowls and poured dressing on top. So good!
Thank you for sharing, C!
I try not to be wasteful so I used less all my pantry and fridge leftovers, Green onions (spring notions in Australia) were half of what was recommended. My sesame oil at home was not toasted and I used mayvers dark roasted peanut butter for extra savoury, all in my pantry already. I thought I had quinoa – fail but I added some extra cabbage and kale and it’s still 10/5 stars.
everything went in the food processor On slice but the carrots.
Thank you for sharing, Lorelee!
So good! I am surprised how a simple to make recipe can have so much flavor! The peanut sauce is delicious! Will definitely make again!
Holy deliciousness!! This is soo incredibly good & easy to make, & soo healthy… right up my ally!!
Yum! I had a Thai peanut quinoa salad at a cafe for lunch and loved it, so I came home and had a Google for a recipe. A few came up but this was the one that I thought was the closest. It didn’t disappoint, and my quinoa hating children all like it too.
Thank you for sharing, Emma!
This salad is colorful, flavorful, crunchy and hearty with bright flavors and nice umami. Made it with soy butter and chopped soy nuts (peanut and tree nut allergies) and it was love at first bite! Will definitely make this part of regular salad rotation.
This salad is colorful, flavorful, crunchy and hearty with bright flavors and nice umami. Made it with soy butter and chopped soy nuts (peanut and tree nut allergies) and it was love at first bite! Will definitely make this part of regular salad rotation.
Thank you for sharing! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
Natural PB okay? Trying this tomorrow!
HI Antonica! Yes, natural is preferred for me. Let me know what you think!
Thx! Just made it and took a sample bite – yum!
Absolutely delicious!
I made this tonight and it is amazing!! I added a few tablespoons of vegan mayo to the dressing and it was perfect. I am so happy to have found this recipe. It will be a new staple in my family.
I meal prepped this – should I put the dressing on now, even for the ones I won’t eat for a few days, or keep it separate? And if so, should I store the dressing in the fridge or cupboard? Thanks!
Hi! For this salad, since the ingredients are so hardy, I think you could stir in the dressing now. If it were made of delicate greens, I would definitely suggest storing the dressing separately (in the fridge).
I’m going to make this for a stir fry dinner with friends, and I’m thinking about offering the choice of the peanut dressing or Kate’s carrot ginger dressing. Anyone tried this salad with the carrot ginger dressing?
Sounds like a delicious idea, Patty!
Update: I made two salads – one with the peanut dressing and one with the carrot ginger dressing, and both were fantastic! I think I actually preferred the carrot ginger because it had a nice bright flavor, but the peanut is delicious too, just a little heavier. We also added a clove of garlic to the peanut dressing. Kate’s recipes are always a win!
Delicious! I “cheated” with a store-bought bag of broccoli slaw as the base, turning this into a 10-minute meal. I also added crispy tofu. We will be adding this into our rotation of recipes!
Deeeeeeeeelicious!!! My market didn’t have any peas (snow or snap), so I grabbed green beans and french cut them and blanched them super fast. I also added some finely chopped red pepper as I had one half begging to be used, lol. Another home-run of a recipe!!! Thank you!
Delicious. I wanted something different with quinoa and saw this recipe. In self-isolation so I didn’t have snow peas. I used thawed frozen peas instead. My veggies quantities were a little (not a lot) different but the recipe is very flexible. Made the dressing according to the recipe. It’s a very good, healthy meal that I can keep in the fridge, so convenient too. And easy to make. And the quinoa cooking method worked well too. Thank you.
I love your substitution! That works great here. Thank you for sharing, Carol.
I made this for one of our many homebound dinners. I made the sauce exactly except used powdered ginger. Having no fresh ginger on hand is a crime. We had lots of veggies in the fridge so I expanded and pretty much through the kitchen sink at it with a solid base of cabbage and broccoli. The quinoa turned out great using the recipe. I had no peanuts, so I used sliced almonds. I know that is a lot of substitutions, but this recipe holds up to what you have available. It was really fresh and tasty. I will definitely save for another day!
Thank you for sharing, Lesly! I’m happy to hear it.
It was delicious! I added Lactino Kale, a little basil and mint in addition to the recipe. I also substituted Sunflower Butter, used GF Tamari and said no peanuts to make it Nut Free, GF, and V.
Flavorbomb in the mouth!
Thanks for sharing your recipe with us. :)
Love it! I used edamame instead of peas, made a little extra peanut sauce than the recipe calls for, and added in a batch of your crispy baked tofu. So crunchy, fresh, delicious, and healthy!
I’ve made this salad three times now, and it’s quickly becoming a favorite go-to. It’s absolutely delicious, and everyone I’ve served it to has been so impressed!
That’s great, Rowan! Thanks for sharing.
Super delicious. I reference your site often for my vegan boyfriend. I personally eat everything but am more veggie centric and have loved everything I’ve made from your site. Thank you.
So so good!! This will become a frequently made recipe for me!!!
Love this recipe! I doubled the sauce and used half of it to marinate and cook with chicken breast for a complete meal! So good!
I’ve been eating quinoa for years , usually I use it as a side dish and make it with chicken or vegetable stock and add steamed veg such as cubed squash brussels sprouts and green beans . A sprinkling of worestershire sauce and Parmesan cheese finishes . BUT, your salads look
so Healthy ,Amazing and delicious I
am inspired to try them including the
sun Dried tomato and especially the
Flavourful Thai quinoa salad . Thank
you …Lynette
Yum yum yum, I love this recipe. Every mouthful feels like it’s doing you good!
Made this tonight SO GOOD THE BESTTTTT
I loved this! I think I’ll add more ginger next time. I did the 1 tsp. Thanks!
You’re welcome, Andrea!
Hi! Can you please add the serving (in grams or ounces), so that we can calculate the nutritional information properly? Thank-you!
Hi Melanie! I’m sorry, I don’t go into that level of specification for serving sizes. If you click on “nutrition information” below the post, you will see estimates for one of four servings (so one-fourth of the total recipe).
This is absolutely delicious- the sauce especially is incredible. Loved it
Great recipe – makes a ton!
This is a firm favourite in our house! Perfect for me with a low Fodmap diet, and delicious. Thanks Kate!
One of my favorite salads to make! So many great flavors going on here. I add tofu and sometimes switch the peas with edamame. I also add extra chili powder for a nice kick. So so good!
Fantastic salad! The cabbage and quinoa goes so well with that peanut sauce. Thanks a lot.
Trying this all the way in India :-)
In the nutritional info, are the figures for the full recipe or one serving (1/4 of full recipe)? Thanks!
Hi! It’s per serving for the recipe. More on my nutritional information, if you are interested.
This recipe is so unique and so fun/easy to make! We loved the crunch of all the veggies and the peanuts, and the salad managed to be both healthy and filling. I added some spicy shrimp to it and it paired well with the salad. Thank you for this!
You’re welcome! Thank you for your review.
I love this salad SOOO much. I even had to skip cilantro this time and it was still delicious.
Another delicious dish. So fresh and tasty! Thank you for sharing.
Hey Kate thanks for your amazing recipes, I always use your recipes and they never fail and are always so delicious! Do you think I could use green cabbage here instead of purple? Thanks so much!
Hi! Sure, you can use green. I love the color red provides.
Thanks so much!It turned out amazing, and I also added a yellow pepper and broccoli because that’s what I had on hand and am not that into raw peas. Thanks so much :)
I just made this today and yum, yum, yum! I doubled the ginger, used half the lime as I am not a fan of strong lime flavor and did, indeed, add a tiny bit of water. So good! And as a bonus, it was a great way to use the fresh snow peas in my garden. Thank you!
This is delicious! It came together quickly and tasted really fresh.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Courtney!
Absolutely delicious! Thank you for this recipe.
Amazing. Yum. Delish.
Delicious! Loved the sauce. Chopping all the ingredients was lengthy…but a healthy and easy meal!
Oh my gosh! The combination of flavors and textures is just outstanding! A new favorite, and a keeper for sure!
I made this over the weekend. It’s fantastic! Thank you so much for posting this. I’ve also got a sure-fire way of making quinoa now thanks to you. I’m trying the one with chickpeas and cucumbers next. Excellent, fresh, and filling.
This recipe is absolutely delicious. I made it for my friends and it was an instant crowd favorite. I also bought the cookbook as it looks like a really good one and I’m excited to try more recipes. Thanks for sharing!
I just made this salad for a dinner and it was really good. I liked the crunchiness and the sause. I must admit i was sceptical about the sause when I read the ingredients of it, but I quite liked it. I will be doing it again. Thanks! Milana