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This salad is packed full of flavor —like punch-you-in-the-face deliciousness. So, so good. Make this! You won’t regret it!
Jennifer
Watch How To Make This Thai Salad
This Thai Salad Is Everything
I have lots of favorite salads, which maybe dilutes the label of “favorite”, but this is an easy addition to my personal Favorite Salad Hall of Fame.
A quick recap of things I love about the Chopped Thai Salad:
- the most zingy Thai sesame garlic dressing (soy honey lime garlic sesame oil lemongrass)
- no chicken or meat (sometimes I just get annoyed of cooking it, ya know? I think I’m one of those half-way vegetarians) – if you DO want some protein, you could add in some shredded rotisserie chicken or serve it alongside a meal like this Thai chicken!
- lots of veggies (kale carrots peppers cilantro edmame scallions cashews yummm)
- lots of nutrition and filling food power (see veggie list and feel amazing)
The flavors in the salad are like a little friendly fresh-summer-explosion in your mouth. Just phenomally delicious. It gives me happy food chills just thinking about it. And I have this core salad belief that texture is ev-er-y-thing. Even the most awkward and intimidating vegetables can become craveabley yummy when sliced or crushed or grated the right way.
What’s In This Salad
This salad is just an absolute explosion of flavor. You’ve got veggies for crunch, fresh herbs for some zip, buttery edamame, a homemade sesame dressing with a punch, and spicy cashews to bring it all together.
Here’s what you need to grab from the store:
- Some pantry basics for the sesame dressing (vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, honey, etc.)
- Edamame
- Vegetables (kale, carrots, peppers)
- Herbs (cilantro and green onion)
- Cashews (chili lime from Trader Joe’s specifically!)
About those cashews… I found the half-eaten bag in that little side door compartment in my car after our road trip to Chicago and Indy last weekend (First Place for best road trip snack), and being a lover of spicy cashews and a hater of excess trash, I resurrected what was left of them into this chopped Thai salad. That might be a little gross orrr it might be ultra resourceful and s-m-a-r-t.
How To Make This Salad
When you start making this salad you will notice that the cutting takes, um, a while. You will be annoyed with me and I will be okay with that. Perks of hiding behind a screen. But in the end, I pinkie promise that you will be rewarded for your time spent chopping and slicing and shredding and peeling in the best possible food way.
Here’s how to make this salad a reality:
- Chop Your Veggies: Put on a show to get a podcast going and start CHOPPING! Chop your kale, peppers, carrots and get them together in a large bowl.
- Cook the Edamame: Boil it for just a few minutes, and then place it in a food processor to chop it up. This texture is everything.
- Make The Dressing: Blend together all the dressing ingredients to make the most delightful homemade sesame dressing.
- Toss It Together: Place the edamame, cashews, cilantro, and green onion in the bowl with the chopped veggies and pour the dressing on top. Toss it all together and eat!
Goodness this is so good.
Swaps and Substitutions
You can really make this one your own – the basic formula is just this: veggies, protein, dressing, nuts, and herbs. Here are some ideas!
- Veggies: I also love this salad with cucumbers and cabbage, and snap peas would work too.
- Protein: Chicken or sliced steak would be an excellent addition!
- Dressing: I do love a thai salad with peanut dressing.
- Fruit: I’ve added mango and/or papaya to this salad, and they add a delicious burst of brightness and sweetness!
- Nuts: Use roasted peanuts or almonds instead of cashews.
- Herbs: Mint and basil are also delicious here!
Frequently Asked Questions About This Salad
Yes! Chicken would be an excellent addition (pulled rotisserie chicken, grilled chicken, air fryer chicken) or some grilled steak would also be a 10/10.
Roasted peanuts or almonds would work great in this too!
A peanut dressing would be an option here. Check out this other delicious thai salad too!
I love how versatile this one is. Some extras that I love: cucumbers, cabbage, broccoli, snap peas.
Sure can! This keeps really well for meal prep, or to just prep in advance before dinner. Just keep the veggies separate from the salad and you’re good to go.
Chopped Thai Salad with Sesame Garlic Dressing
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
This Chopped Thai Salad with Sesame Garlic Dressing is THE BEST! A rainbow of power veggies with a yummy homemade dressing.
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled
- 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons white distilled vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon lemongrass paste (ginger would also work)
- a squeeze of lime juice
For the salad:
- 16 ounces frozen shelled edamame
- 5–6 cups baby kale
- 3 large carrots
- 2 bell peppers (1 red, 1 yellow)
- 1 cup cilantro leaves
- 1/4 cup green onions
- 3/4 cup cashews (if you can find them, Trader Joe’s Thai Lime and Chili Cashews are the bomb)
Instructions
- Puree all the dressing ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Taste and adjust to fit your preferences. Transfer to a dressing jar and rinse the food processor out for use later.
- Cook the edamame by boiling it for 3-5 minutes in a pot of boiling water. Drain and allow it to cool. Meanwhile, slice up the kale, carrots, peppers, cilantro leaves, and green onions into thin strips or shreds.
- Place the cooked edamame in the food processor and pulse 5 times to get a minced texture. Transfer to a bowl and repeat the same process for the cashews. Toss the kale, carrots, peppers, cilantro, green onions, edamame, and cashews together until well combined. Drizzle with the dressing, toss gently a few times, and serve immediately.
Notes
The salad will stay fresh longer if you store the dressing separately from the salad ingredients, tossing them together just before serving. Agave nectar or sugar would work in place of the honey for vegans. Those 3 cloves of garlic pack a spicy garlicky punch, so if you don’t love garlic, use less.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Thai
Keywords: chopped thai salad, sesame dressing, thai salad
Three More Colorful Salads
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our best healthy summer salads page. Check it out!
Ah – hello! This Thai sesame/garlic salad looks so tempting and fresh – yum! Love the look of those cashews, and the extra time chopping/slicing makes the salad look so much more pretty/tasty too. Looks delicious Lindsay. This kom-kom knife is really handy too (http://goo.gl/fTUWhM). Best wishes! 😀
Beat salad I have ever made.
I never comment on food recipes. But oh my! This was amazing. Thanks so much. My go to recipe for dinner parties!☺👌🏽
Glad to hear it, Natalie!
This looks amazing! I actually think chopping is therapeutic in a spaced out kind of way. Of course chopping ones finger would take the zen mood back aways.
hahaha! If I wasn’t such a sloppy chopper then maybe it would be zen. I need some knife classes or something.
I so agree with you on the classes. I just happened to notice that my local Chef’s Kitchen store will be holding a summer knife class. Check out in you area, maybe we will both get lucky
Congratulations, Lindsay! By the way, this salad looks amazing. Definitely gotta try it soon. I hope you enjoyed your weekend. 🙂
It’s awesome.
I’m forever obsessed with Thai food and have recently been in love with chopped salads, too, so this is RIGHT up my alley. So beautiful, too!
Congratulations on the new life move… hope you love it!! 🙂
Thanks so much! I have a feeling that I will… as long as I can squeeze in a few visits back to school from time to time!
Suddenly craving this salad for lunch… oh my goodness! Looks delicious and sounds pretty simple to make! = )
Congrats, Lindsay. I hope you enjoy being a food blogger full time more and more. You deserve all the best 😉
This looks Ah-mazing. Love all the colour and flavours of this salad. Perfect for summer!
UM wow!! My mouth is seriously watering just reading this recipe. Must try it ASAP!
This is beyond Good —- it’s GREAT!!! Used collard greens as I didn’t have Kale, was de-LISH !
I pinned this last night and HAD to make it tonight!Wow!! Over the top !
Thank you so much! I really appreciate that Rosie!
I’m just heading into work and decided to check out your post before leaving my place…your Thai salad pics made my tummy rumble *loud* 🙂
I have a Vietnamese salad that I like to make, it made me think I need to cook me up some like…NOW! And your Thai salad too.
You can never have to much salad. Never. Ever.
Haha! Love how you take responsibility for the dilution of the word “favorite”. When you make such darn good food, it’s hard to use any other word! This salad looks amazing, as usual! Sorry about your finger :0(
I feel like I just call everything my favorite. But really, this one IS my favorite. 🙂
I sure hope your finger is better after the “massacre” – glad you were not deterred and gave us this salad – it looks phenomenal – not to mention that sesame garlic dressing with honey AND lemon grass paste is just pour-straight-into-your-mouth good!
This looks so fresh and yummy! Congrats on the first day of your new job!!! Waking up early for something you love is the best!
This sounds fantastic – I need to give it a try.
This looks beautiful, Lindsay. I love how you always include homemade dressing recipes with your salads! Delicious!
happy first day 🙂 and im sold with this salad.
Oh.my.goodness. I am only working with 9 fingers, too! I was slicing celery … when I went to the ER, the nurses were pretty impressed with how clean of a cut it was, they asked what brand of knife I was using! 🙂
Happy first day to you!!! And this salad looks like a celebration in a bowl! What a perfect way to start off this chapter in your life! Pretty sure this will become a staple in my list of favorite salads!
Oh my gosh! That’s horrible! Hope your finger heals up fast!!
OOOOHHHH. Love the power veggies and Thai flavors. I had a mad mandolin slicing finger accident last week too. Hurt like mad and I wouldn’t look at it for two days because I was scared I would faint! I rinsed it, added neosporin and bandaged it without ever seeing it 🙂 Pinned!
I did the same thing! It is still hard for me to look at it… eesh.
This looks so amazing Lindsay!!
Definite lye ant to make this and have a picnic!!
https://www.youtube.com/addalittlefood
This looks ah-mazing! I can’t wait to try it, especially the dressing! I love Thai food and need to find more recipes to make it at home. 🙂
I am all about massive chopped salads. This is just how I like them. The problem is I hate chopping. I make myself do it because the end result is always so wonderful.
Ahhh! This includes all of my favorite things! I have those thai chili & lime cashews in my kitchen cupboard right now, actually. I’ll probably be throwing this salad together very soon.
I’m one of those halfway vegetarians too – part laziness, part thrifty. This is coming from a family where it’s not considered dinner if there’s no meat involved.
I’m trying to make more salads this summer, so this looks like a winner. If it ever starts feeling like summer around here.
Yes! Saving money with veggies. You get me.
This salad looks delicious! Congrats on our first day of full-time blogging! Sorry to hear about the finger. You have been a great inspiration and a huge help to me Lindsay!! Wow, just noticed I am the only dude to comment on this post… a little awkward. Keep up the great work..all the best!
Not awkward! There are a few guys who comment from time to time and I really appreciate having a variety of voices here!! Thanks Steve!
Wow, how gorgeous is this!! Pinned
Your first full day as a FT blogger, congrats! The finger…ouch!!! hope it’s healing well.
The Trader Joe’s Thai Lime and Chili Cashews – cannot even buy them b/c I have NO self control and will eat them until my mouth is on fire and I have a stomach ache LOL
bahahah! Averie! I am so with you – the fiery hotness somehow makes it even harder to stop.
Those Trader Joe cashews are one of my many serious serious addictions.
addiction is a good word for them.
I just cut off the tip of my thumb with my mandolin slicer! I was slicing radishes for lunch and the kids were distracting me – bad news. Best of luck in your healing. I don’t do salads too often because my husband doesn’t find them “satisfying,” but I think this one might do the job!
ugh, it’s horrible. I just hate that moment after you cut yourself. Hope you heal up soon!
thanks for the recipe.