CRUNCHY THAI QUINOA SALAD
Crunchy Thai Quinoa Salad features a colorful mix of veggies tossed with healthy quinoa and delicious, creamy almond dressing for a quick and easy vegan lunch, dinner or meal prep!
Calling all quinoa lover’s, I have another delicious quinoa salad for you!
You may already be familiar with this Garden Quinoa Salad, Kale Quinoa Salad, Greek Quinoa Salad, Apple Harvest Quinoa Salad, or easy Lemon Quinoa & Chickpea Salad!
This crunchy Thai Quinoa Salad is full of color, texture and flavor, and is another great addition to the growing collection of heart healthy, quinoa salads on TSV!
What’s to love? It’s:
- quick, easy and ready in about 30 minutes.
- loaded with healthy fiber and protein.
- great for weekly meal prep.
- grain free, gluten free, and oil-free.
- simple and delicious!
So without further ado, let’s get to it!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Quinoa is cooked and tossed with a variety of colorful veggies then drizzled with a creamy nut butter dressing creating an irresistible salad that is sure to be a new favorite to your quinoa routine.
Here is everything you will need:
- Quinoa – use white or tri-color
- Red bell pepper
- Cucumber – use regular, English or 2 – 3 Persian cucumbers
- Carrots – use shredded for ease
- Red cabbage
- Green onions
- Cilantro
- Lime
- Nut butter – peanut, cashew, almond, or sunflower butters all work great
- Ginger
- Tamari – sub with soy sauce, namu shoyu, or coconut aminos
- Pure maple syrup – can sub with coconut nectar or date syrup
How To Make Thai Quinoa Salad
Making this quinoa salad is super easy, requiring only a few steps. For the full printable recipe, see the bottom of this post.
- Make the almond-lime dressing. Whisk together the peanut butter, lime, ginger, tamari and maple syrup in a small bowl.
- Cook the quinoa. Cook on the stovetop or use this Instant Pot Quinoa recipe.
- Prep the vegetables.
- Assemble salad. Add the chopped vegetables to the bowl with the quinoa (shown above), give a good toss to combine.
- Top with dressing. Drizzle with the dressing (shown below), or what until your individual portion is served.
And now you are ready to enjoy!
Top Tips
- Nut allergies? For those who have nut allergies, when making the dressing use sunflower butter.
- Add more protein. For more fiber and protein, add 1 1/2 cups of edamame or chickpeas.
How To Store Leftovers + Meal Prep
- Refrigerator: Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days in a covered container.
- Meal prep: This quinoa salad is great for weekly meal prep! For easy, toss the salad with the dressing before storing. You may even like to double the dressing to have some on the side for drizzling overtop when serving.
More Healthy Salad Recipes
- Farmer’s Market Salad
- Raw Vegan Taco Salad
- Quinoa Salad with Orange, Cranberry + Mint
- Thai Crunch Salad
- Easy Lemon Asparagus Pasta Salad
- Crunchy Romaine Salad + Almond-Lime Dressing
If you try this quinoa salad recipe or have a question let me know! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.
PrintCRUNCHY THAI QUINOA SALAD
Crunchy Thai Quinoa Salad features a rainbow mix of crisp and crunchy veggies tossed with a creamy almond dressing for a healthy vegan lunch, dinner or meal prep!
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4 - 6 1x
- Category: Entree, Salad
- Method: simmer, mix
- Cuisine: Thai
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried quinoa
- 1 3/4 cups of water
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 large red bell pepper, cored and diced
- 1 cucumber, diced
- 1 cup carrots, diced
- 1/4 red cabbage, shredded
- 2 – 3 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup cilantro (lightly packed), chopped
- handful of peanuts or cashews, optional
- 4 tablespoons nut butter (peanut, almond, cashew, or sunbutter)
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon tamari, nama shoyu, soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1 inch knob of ginger, minced or grated
- 1 – 2 limes, divided
- mineral salt, to taste
Instructions
Quinoa: In a medium pot, add quinoa, water, and garlic powder, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove cover, fluff with a fork and let rest for 10 minutes. Alternatively, if you have a pressure cooker, this Instant Pot Quinoa Recipe is super easy!
Dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the nut butter, pure maple syrup, tamai, ginger, juice of 1 lime. Add a little water, 1 tablespoon at a time, as needed to thin. Taste for flavor, season with salt to taste.
Assemble salad: In a large mixing bowl, add the cooked quinoa, bell pepper, cucumber, carrots, cabbage, scallions, and cilantro. Drizzle with the nut butter dressing and toss to combine. Alternatively, toss the quinoa and veggies, and add dressing once plated.
Serve: Spoon into individual bowls, top with optional crunchy nuts and squeeze of lime.
Serves 4 – 6
Store: Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 – 5 days.
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Awesome recipe! Will definitely make it again! :)
★★★★★
Do you think this would work with a different grain like couscous or pearl barley?
Yes, you can try using different grains with this recipe! The ingredients and dressing will go well with both the grains mentioned. Enjoy!
Very tasty! Made this for my daughter’s bridal shower and people were asking for the recipe :) Fresh and easy
★★★★★
This was SO delicious and pretty easy to make. I added some tofu and sriracha as well.
★★★★★
So delicious and fresh!
★★★★★
I can’t see when you add the garlic powder. To the dressing?
The garlic powder is added to the quinoa when cooking, but it can also be added after if you forget. You’ll use fresh minced garlic for the dressing, but if you don’t have fresh, then the powder is great too. I hope that helps, Deena!
This looks really tasty! I am going to have to try this out to change up my salad routine.
Delicious! I loved this healthy but filling salad. I will definitely make it again.
★★★★★
Soo good!! I air fried some tofu with it and it’s so fresh and delicious!
★★★★★
So flavourful! I love the added crunch too! Any ideas as to what I can serve it with?