Quinoa tossed with a medley of fresh, crunchy veggies and drizzled with a delicious peanut sauce. Everyone always loves this fun and delicious and easy Thai quinoa salad. 
If you love Thai food, make sure to check out my popular Pad Thai and Thai Basil Beef or Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps!
 Quinoa tossed with a medley of fresh, crunchy veggies and drizzled with a delicious peanut sauce. Everyone always loves this fun and delicious and easy quinoa salad. | tastesbetterfromscratch.com
This Thai Quinoa Salad has been a favorite of mine for years! I first shared this recipe in January 2014, and, even though it already has great reader reviews, I thought it was in desperate need of being pulled out of the archives for those of you who haven’t tried it yet!
A bowl filled with edamame, cabbage, bell pepper, red onion, carrots, and quinoa.
Not only is this Thai quinoa salad recipe healthy, fresh and tasty, but all of the different colorful veggies make it beautiful, too. Red bell pepper, purple cabbage, onion, carrots, edamame, cilantro and green onion–wow that’s a lot of veggies!
An overhead view of Thai quinoa salad in a glass bowl.

A great tip to make this 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.

Consider trying these popular salad recipes:

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Recipe

Quinoa tossed with a medley of fresh, crunchy veggies and drizzled with a delicious peanut sauce. Everyone always loves this fun and delicious and easy quinoa salad. | tastesbetterfromscratch.com
4.6 from 15 votes

Thai Quinoa Salad

Quinoa tossed with a medley of fresh, crunchy veggies and drizzled with a delicious peanut sauce. Everyone always loves this fun and delicious and easy quinoa salad.
Print Pin Rate
Author Lauren Allen
Course Main Course, Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine Thai
Servings 6
Calories 279
Prep 15 mins
Cook 20 mins
Total 35 mins
Add to Meal Plan

Ingredients
  

  • ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
  • 1 heaping cup red cabbage , shredded
  • 1 red bell pepper , diced
  • 1/4 cup red onion , chopped
  • 1 cup carrot , shredded
  • 1 cup edamame , shelled
  • ½ cup fresh cilantro , chopped
  • 2 green onions , chopped
  • ½ cup cashew halves

For the dressing:

  • ¼ cup peanut butter , crunchy or smooth
  • 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
  • 3 Tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon honey
  • 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.

For the dressing:

  • 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.
  • In a large bowl combine the red pepper, onion, cabbage, carrots, edamame, and cilantro. 
  • Fold in the quinoa. Add as much of the remaining dressing as you'd like (to taste). Add cashews and garnish with green onions. Enjoy.

Nutrition

Calories: 279kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 11gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 594mgPotassium: 520mgFiber: 5gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 4315IUVitamin C: 29.9mgCalcium: 47mgIron: 2.9mg

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Nutrition Facts
Thai Quinoa Salad
Amount per Serving
Calories
279
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
14
g
22
%
Saturated Fat
 
2
g
10
%
Sodium
 
594
mg
25
%
Potassium
 
520
mg
15
%
Carbohydrates
 
28
g
9
%
Fiber
 
5
g
20
%
Sugar
 
7
g
8
%
Protein
 
11
g
22
%
Vitamin A
 
4315
IU
86
%
Vitamin C
 
29.9
mg
36
%
Calcium
 
47
mg
5
%
Iron
 
2.9
mg
16
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Have you tried this recipe?!

RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.

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About The Author

Lauren Allen

Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of four and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos.

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Comments

  2. 5 stars
    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!

    Reply

    1. 5 stars
      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!

      Reply

  8. This looks delicious. Can it be used for meal prep for the week if I hold off on adding the dressing and cashews until mealtime?

    Reply

  11. I made a few changes because I bought red quinoa so to ajust the colors I used green cabbage, sweet frozen thawed corn instead of the red pepper, macadamia nuts instead of cashew because thats what I had. Everything else was the same .. i did add more salt and some lime juice. Hubby loved it and so did I. Delish !

    Reply

  12. I made this for a family gathering this weekend (trying to bring something healthy to the table). It was the second time I made it and I really enjoy it. I did just want to remind myself the next time I make it that I want to reserve the cashews until I am almost ready to serve. I made it the day before and the cashews got softer than I like (otherwise I thought it was fine to make it ahead).

    Reply

  13. I made this tonight & it is delicious! The only thing I added was the zest & juice from 1 lime. Thanks for a great recipe! I will be making this again & again!

    Reply

  18. I just made this and it is absolutely fabulous 🙂 Perfect amount of kick from the Sriracha and just great flavors. Thank you!!

    Reply

  20. This was delicious and highly adaptable to what you have on hand. I used mung bean sprouts instead of edamame, green cabbage, apple cider vinegar and all sesame oil…and added sliced radishes to the mix. This is a keeper that I will certainly make again. I wonder, would it keep in the fridge for a few days?

    Reply

    1. Thanks Regina, I’m so glad you liked them! And your adaptions sound wonderful! Thanks for your nice comment 🙂

      Reply

  21. I made this tonight- it’s FABULOUS. I didn’t have carrots or edamame so I added chickpeas. I will definitely make this again! Thank you so much. I shared on my Fb page with a link back to your blog! 🙂

    Reply

  22. I made this tonight- it’s FABULOUS! I didn’t have carrots or edamame so I added chickpeas. I will definitely make this again!! Thank you so much. I shared on my Fb page w/a link back here. 🙂

    Reply

  24. I cannot wait to try this recipe! It looks absolutely delicious….especially the dressing. YUM! I’m going to share this on my blog with a link back. Thanks so much for sharing!! Great Blog!!

    Reply