Eat the rainbow with this lovely, Thai-style Rainbow Crunch Salad tossed in deliciously spicy peanut dressing! This wholesome cabbage salad is a straightforward salad recipe to serve at summer time cookouts, or as a hearty lunch concept!
For those who love this taste profile, attempt my Thai Quinoa Crunch Salad too! The crunchy quinoa is LIFE CHANGING!
Crunchy Cabbage Salad With Spicy Peanut Dressing
I’ll inform you proper now, put together to be obsessive about the flavors of this scrumptious Thai-style cabbage salad! It’s a literal rainbow of deliciousness and coloration. That is my favourite recipe for cabbage salad made with a rainbow of crisp veggies, all tossed in a creamy peanut dressing. For simple weekday lunches to summer time cookouts and Asian-inspired dinners – there aren’t many events the place this vibrant crunchy salad isn’t simply the most effective. AND I make this salad in the beginning of the week and eat it for lunch for the following few days! The hearty cabbage doesn’t wilt within the dressing and stays crunchy for days!
What You’ll Want
Right here’s an outline of what you’ll want for this crunchy salad in addition to the creamy Thai-style dressing! Confer with the recipe card for the complete quantities.
For the Salad
- Cabbage: A mixture of inexperienced and purple cabbage contribute to the “rainbow” on this rainbow crunch salad.
- Carrots: Bringing a splash of orange to the combo.
- Inexperienced Onion: You possibly can additionally substitute one other sort of onion with delicate taste, like chives.
- Cucumber: I chop up seedless cucumbers for my recipe.
- Purple Bell Pepper: Peppers add a pop of crimson to the rainbow and likewise lend a candy crispiness.
- Cilantro
- Peanuts: I like the toasted crunch of dry roasted peanuts. Salted or unsalted!
For the Peanut Dressing
- Soy Sauce: I like the salty/umami taste that comes with soy sauce. You too can use tamari.
- Peanut Butter: For greatest outcomes, use creamy peanut butter and never the crunchy form.
- Sriracha: Or one other sizzling chili sauce.
- Rice Vinegar: For that genuine Asian-style style. For those who don’t have rice vinegar, substitute with white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
- Lime Juice: For the most effective taste, use contemporary squeezed lime.
- Sesame Oil: There actually aren’t any substitutes for the distinctive earthy, nutty taste of sesame oil in Asian-inspired recipes! You will discover sesame oil alongside the opposite cooking oils in most grocery shops.
- Honey: Honey works nice as a pure sweetener on this recipe (it additionally pairs tremendous effectively with the opposite flavors!). In a punch, you should utilize sugar as a substitute.
- Ginger: Freshly minced is greatest.
- Garlic Powder: You too can use contemporary garlic if you happen to choose.
The way to Make Rainbow Crunch Salad
There’s solely 4 easy steps to creating the right crunchy cabbage salad with peanut dressing. Right here they’re:
Make the Salad: Mix all of your salad substances in a big bowl.
Make the Dressing: Whisk collectively the substances for the dressing till you’ve got a easy, thick consistency.
Toss: Pour the dressing over the salad, and provides the whole lot a very good toss to coat.
Garnish and Take pleasure in: Sprinkle over extra contemporary chopped cilantro and crumbled peanuts. Give the salad an additional squeeze of sriracha if you happen to need, after which serve!
Can I Prep It Forward of Time?
Completely! This crunchy rainbow salad is one in all my favorites to make forward. The cabbage and veggies keep crispy even after they’re coated within the peanut dressing, and the dressing itself is thick sufficient to carry up within the fridge. I like to make a giant batch to have available for simple lunches all through the week.
Ideas for Success
Listed here are some pointers for making this scrumptious Thai-style rainbow salad from scratch:
- Use Pre-Shredded Substances: I’m all for the comfort of pre-shredded cabbage and carrots on this recipe! Some shops even carry coleslaw combine or Asian slaw combine that comes able to go together with the entire above.
- Use Creamy Peanut Butter: I like to recommend sticking together with your common shelf-stable, creamy peanut butter for this recipe (like Jif or Skippy). Pure peanut butters are inclined to separate and will make the dressing oily.
Variation Concepts
You possibly can adapt the substances on this rainbow cabbage salad to fit your preferences:
- Add Totally different Veggies: Convey much more colours to your rainbow salad by including further greens and greens from the fridge. Attempt broccoli, tomatoes, avocado, snow peas, shaved asparagus, kale, yellow peppers, beets, and radishes.
- Add Protein: High your salad with grilled hen, sliced steak, shrimp, or crispy tofu. Or attempt mixing in some Asian Fireplace Meat for an additional spicy kick.
- Totally different Dressing: Make this salad with a creamy coleslaw dressing, Do-it-yourself Ranch Dressing or a zesty French dressing as a substitute.
- Totally different Herbs: Cilantro isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. For those who choose, swap it out with basil or parsley.
Plus, combine it up with much more simple salad add-Ins:
- Fried noodles
- Cashew nuts, chopped pecans, slivered almonds
- Sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds
- Edamame or chickpeas
- Craisins or raisins
- Chopped mango
- Sesame seeds
Serving Ideas
This crunchy salad makes a scrumptious, filling meal by itself, or you’ll be able to serve it in tons of simple methods:
Retailer any leftover salad in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3 days. I make this salad in the beginning of the week and eat it for lunch for the following few days! The hearty cabbage doesn’t wilt within the dressing and stays crunchy for days!
Can I Freeze Rainbow Salad?
This cabbage salad is hearty sufficient to freeze. Retailer the salad frozen in an hermetic, freezer-safe container or bag for as much as 2 months. Thaw within the fridge earlier than serving, and spoon off any extra liquid. You too can add in some further contemporary dressing to revive the feel as wanted.
Extra Asian-Impressed Sides to Attempt
Description
Eat the rainbow with this lovely, Thai-style Rainbow Crunch Cabbage Salad tossed in deliciously spicy peanut dressing! A simple aspect dish to serve alongside your favourite Asian-inspired dishes.
Salad:
- 6 cups inexperienced cabbage, chopped
- 3 cups purple cabbage, chopped
- 2 cup grated carrots
- 2/3 cup chopped inexperienced onion
- 3 cups chopped seedless cucumbers
- 2 cup chopped crimson bell pepper
- 1 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/2 cup chopped dry roasted peanuts
Peanut Dressing:
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons sriracha
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon contemporary minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Salad: Add all salad substances into a big bowl.
- Dressing: In a medium bowl whisk collectively all of the dressing substances. The dressing can be thick.
- Meeting: Add the dressing to the chopped salad and stir to coat.
- Garnish: Add extra cilantro, chopped peanuts, or sriracha to serve.
Notes
- Non-obligatory Add-Ins: grilled hen, sliced steak, shrimp, crispy tofu.
- This salad is nice to make forward. I make it in the beginning of the week and eat it for lunch all through the week. The hearty cabbage and greens keep crisp even after being combined with the dressing, and because the dressing is thick, the salad doesn’t get watery.
- Retailer hermetic within the fridge for as much as 3 days.
Key phrases: asian cabbage salad, cabbage salad, simple salad recipes
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