Everyone always loves this Thai Quinoa Salad recipe that perfectly balances fresh, crunchy vegetables and quinoa, drizzled with a delicious peanut sauce.
Do you love Thai food as much as I do? Try this Spring Roll Bowl, Fresh Spring Rolls, or Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao)!
Why I love this recipe:
- Healthy – This Thai Quinoa Salad is just as delicious as it is healthy! I like to make a big batch for meal prep lunches during the week.
- Fresh – All of the vegetables make the salad not only beautiful but so fresh and delicious. The combination of red bell pepper, purple cabbage, onion, carrots, edamame, cilantro, and green onion bring so many delicious flavors together.
- Flavorful – The homemade peanut sauce blends all the flavors together and really makes this the best quinoa salad!
How to make Thai Quinoa Salad:
Cook Quinoa: Prepare quinoa according to package directions. You should have a little over 2 cups of cooked quinoa.
Make Sauce: Add peanut butter and honey to a microwave safe bowl and heat in microwave for 10-20. Stir until smooth.Â
Add in ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, olive oil and sriracha and stir until smooth and creamy. If necessary, thin the dressing by adding a little more olive oil or some water. Taste and add more hot sauce, if desired.
Pour Sauce on Quinoa: Drizzle half of the Quinoa salad dressing over the cooked and cooled quinoa. Toss to combine.
Chop Vegetables: In a large bowl combine the red pepper, onion, cabbage, carrots, edamame, and cilantro.
Combine: Fold the quinoa into the vegetables. Add as much of the remaining dressing as you’d like (to taste).
Serve: Add cashews and garnish with green onions right before serving this healthy quinoa salad. Enjoy!
Tips for Success:
A great tip to make this Asian quinoa salad recipe even easier is to chop all of the veggies the day before. Also, cook the quinoa the night before so it can cool in the fridge. You can also make the peanut dressing several days in advance, if you want. Store it in an airtight container, in the fridge.
Add the dressing to the salad gradually, to taste. You may not want to use it all. Also, I wouldn’t add the dressing until right before you’re going to serve the salad. And my last tip: save the cashews until the end, right when you’re ready to serve, so that they stay crunchy.
Make Ahead Instructions:
To Make Ahead: The veggies, quinoa, and peanut sauce can all be made in advance to make this quinoa salad even more effortless! Store everything separately in airtight containers in the fridge.
Recipe Variations:
- Chicken Quinoa Salad: To make it even more filling, feel free to throw in some chopped grilled chicken or air fryer tofu.
More Favorite Salads:
- Pomegranate and Pear Salad
- Lentil Salad
- Brussels Sprout Salad
- Three Bean Salad
- Southwest Quinoa Salad
- Cucumber Onion Salad
- Burrata Salad
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Recipe
Thai Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- ¾ cup quinoa , uncooked
- 1 heaping cup red cabbage , shredded
- 1 red bell pepper , diced
- 1/4 cup red onion , chopped
- 1 cup carrots , shredded
- 1 cup edamame , shelled
- ½ cup fresh cilantro , chopped
- 2 green onions , chopped
- ½ cup cashews , halves
For the dressing:
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter , crunchy or smooth
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 3 Tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 Tablespoon honey (or sub maple syrup)
- 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sriracha hot sauce
- water to thin if necessary
Instructions
- Cook quinoa according to package directions. You should have a little over 2 cups of quinoa.
- Make sauce: Add peanut butter and honey to a microwave safe bowl and heat in microwave for 10-20. Stir until smooth. Add in ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, olive oil and sriracha and stir until smooth and creamy. If necessary, thin the dressing by adding a little more olive oil or some water. Taste and add more hot sauce, if desired. Drizzle half of the dressing over the cooked and cooled quinoa. Toss to combine.
- Combine veggies: In a large bowl combine the red pepper, onion, cabbage, carrots, edamame, and cilantro.Â
- Add quinoa and as much of the remaining dressing as you'd like, to taste. Add cashews and garnish with green onions. Enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition
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I originally shared this recipe January 2017. Updated January 2023.
Really yummy bowl, perfect for a light bright meal.
I added 1 cup of diced cooked rotisserie chicken and mixed it with the cooked quinoa and dressing. I felt like the dish was tasty without it, but definitely preferred it with the chicken. I probably wont use the red onion next time.
Really good. I tweaked the sauce to taste and added chicken. Even my 1 and 3 year old liked it. Great recipe.
This was delicious. Made a little extra sauce, which was perfect. Will definitely be making it again.
Hi! Can you recommend one of your chicken recipes that would compliment this well?
Here’s a link to all my chicken recipes. It honestly could go great along side just about anything. Here’s other Thai recipes as well if that helps 🙂
I was looking for a Thai peanut dressing and found this one! Wow! It’s an absolute new favorite dressing in our house! I used crunchy peanut butter and for the sriracha sauce I replaced it with a homemade hot sauce I make. It tastes great! I’m sure it would still taste great with sriracha sauce. What’s also nice about it is you can make it whatever consistency you want thick or thin. I’m sorry I can’t give a comment on the rest of the salad yet, but since the sauce is amazing I’m sure the rest is!
This is really good!
My new favorite recipe! I topped it with grilled shrimp.
All of my friends now have this recipe. Thank you!
My new favorite recipe! I topped it with grilled shrimp. Prep was time consuming but worth it. All of my friends now have this recipe.
Thank you!
My daughter can’t have honey. Can you recommend a substitute?
You could leave it out or use any other sweetner 🙂
I am also allergic to honey so whenever a recipe calls for it I substitute the good natural maple syrup. Works pretty well for me for most things.
Brown sugar would work well.
Delicious, and quick to make.