Quinoa Crunch Salad with Peanut Dressing Recipe - Pinch of Yum
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Quinoa Crunch Salad with Peanut Dressing

30 reviews / 4.9 average

Quinoa Crunch Salad! Crunchy rainbow veggies, juicy fresh mango, fluffy quinoa, chili lime cashews, and a creamy peanut dressing.

This recipe is sponsored by ALDI

Quinoa Crunch Salad?

With loads of crunchy fresh veggies like carrots, bell peppers, cabbage, and edamame?

Plus juicy fresh mango?

And fluffy quinoa tossed with a few handfuls of chili lime cashews?

Covered in a just-the-right-amount-of-spicy peanut dressing?

Um, let me think. HARD YES.

Ingredients for Quinoa Crunch Salad.

I’m a big fan of crunch salads – see also this Thai Noodle Salad which is so punchy and delicious that it still visits me in my dreams sometimes, and the Crunchy Shrimp Salad which is basically an excuse to eat those home-fried wonton strips on top, and then this Cashew Crunch Salad which was the cold, sweet-and-savory magic I needed to get through my summer pregnancy – complete with retro chow mein noodles and everything.

This crunch salad is no exception to the Lindsay-Loves-Crunch-Salads Rule. It is a rainbow to behold.

Bonus is the fact that many of our essential ingredients were purchased – for a steal – at the grocery store adored by everyone and their mom: ALDI.

Ingredients for Quinoa Crunch Salad in a mixing bowl.

My personal favorite thing about ALDI is that I can AFFORDABLY stock up on the healthy eating basics, including organics because life is awesome. Like, we’re talking multi-huge-bags of quinoa, dried mangoes, canned beans, and chili lime cashews that are sitting in my pantry aka basement.

My second favorite thing about ALDI is that I can now use Instacart to deliver it right to my house. This is a relatively new thing in my life (ALDI + Instacart), and you guys, I legitimately never go to the store anymore. There’s a tiny baby in my house. There’s a 30% chance that I’m dressed in real clothes. It’s fifty million degrees below zero.

We’ll take the delivered-right-to-your-door thing. ♡

And you can too! Right here, right now. If you’re a first-time ALDI Instacart shopper, you can grab $10 off your first three ALDI orders of $35 or more with the code ALDIPOY. Pretty great, right?

Quinoa Crunch Salad in a bowl.

I know technically we’re not to Friday’s meal prep recipe yet, but may I suggest this recipe, in little (er, HUGE) pre-portioned containers, waiting for you for lunch this week?

Quinoa Crunch Salad in bowls.

Fresh veggies, powerhouse quinoa, peanut dressing and bites of crunchy and sweet… you were made for this moment.

Check Out Our Video For How To Make Quinoa Crunch Salad:

Print
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A colorful mix of veggies and quinoa in a bowl with peanut dressing and cashews.

Quinoa Crunch Salad with Peanut Dressing


  • Author: Lindsay
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 6 huge servings 1x

Description

Quinoa Crunch Salad! Crunchy rainbow veggies, juicy fresh mango, fluffy quinoa, chili lime cashews, and some creamy peanut dressing.


Ingredients

Scale

Quinoa Salad:

  • 23 cups shelled edamame
  • 2 cups Simply Nature Organic Quinoa
  • 1 cucumber, diced
  • 12 bell peppers, diced
  • 2 ripe mangoes, diced
  • 3 carrots, shredded
  • half a head of purple cabbage, shredded
  • sliced almonds, peanuts, cashews, etc. (I used the addicting Southern Grove Chili Lime Cashews from ALDI)

Peanut Dressing:

  • 1/2 cup Simply Nature Creamy Peanut Butter
  • 1/3 cup soy sauce
  • 1/3 cup vinegar (white distilled or rice vinegar)
  • 1/4 cup sesame oil
  • 12 tablespoons chili paste like sambal oelek
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 knob of fresh ginger, peeled

Instructions

  1. Cooked stuff: Cook the quinoa and edamame according to package directions.
  2. Veggies: Chop everything up. It will take a little while. Put on some good music and light a candle and a glass of wine wouldn’t hurt.
  3. Dressing: Give it all a whirl in the food processor or blender. 
  4. Serve: Assemble individual salads, or toss it all together.

Notes

If You Want To Be Extra: This is really good with a handful of dried fruit thrown in the mix. Dried mango, golden raisins, dried cherries… all good choices.

Storage: I stored all the veggies together in one container, but I kept the quinoa and the dressing separate. It should last you for the week!

Dressing: If you find yourself with extra dressing (I never do, but I’m a dressing hog), you can also freeze it for another time!

Amounts: If you want to be very methodical about it and make sure you get your 6 servings balanced out, you’ll use about 3/4 cup quinoa, 1/4 cup dressing and 1+ cup veggies per salad.

Nutrition Info: Most of the calories come from the quinoa and dressing. To make this a lower-calorie salad, use less dressing or higher veggies than quinoa.

  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Category: Salad
  • Method: Chop
  • Cuisine: Asian-Inspired

Keywords: quinoa crunch salad, quinoa salad, peanut dressing

Thank you to ALDI for sponsoring this post!

Free guide and meal plans for sugar free January.

One More Thing!

This recipe is part of our collection of best healthy vegetarian recipes. Check it out!

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75 Comments

  1. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Hi! This looks delicious but I am wondering, what kind of vinegar should be used?

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      I was wondering the same thing! However, usually when they want a particular vinegar it’s specified so I just went ahead with white vinegar. Can I just say this dressing is to die for!! My new favourite salad! ❤️

  2. Pinch of Yum Logo

    quinoa is a good food to ingest because it’s great for men looking to naturally raise testosterone levels. Peanuts are also great to because they contain natural oil and healthy fat. But I never thought of quinoa crunch salad with peanut dressing. That’s quite creative for people on a strict diet looking to lose weight and stay on track by doing the transformation work. I made double back to this post later down the road or a few years from now after I lose a few more pounds just to see if I can put this meal together myself. Thank you for this thought-provoking and creative healthy dish, Lindsay. 🙂

  3. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I just gotta say I really love you and your recipes! I love the way you write! I love every recipe I have ever made from your posts! Thank you for being a bright spot!

  4. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Looks great…except for the mango…going to go with pineapple instead…don’t understand how people can eat a fruit that tastes like the smell of Pine Sol.

  5. Pinch of Yum Logo

    You’re hilarious!! And your food is amazing, too. I kind of want to be friends IRL. Creepy much…? Lol

  6. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Hi! I Tried this “quinoa crunch salad with peanut dressing” and its quite good. thanks for the recipe and please email me some more delicious recipes.

  7. Pinch of Yum Logo

    This looks amazing! If you Had to, I don’t want to, but if you had to use something more accessible than mango, what would it be? I live in a rural area and can’t always find mango.

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      I forgot to use the mango entirely, and it was still so good! Just topped with bell peppers, cabbage, cucumbers, cashews, red onion and the dressing. Didn’t miss the mango, though I’m sure it would be delicious too.

  8. Pinch of Yum Logo

    My Aldi used to have edamame in the freezer section but they don’t anymore. Can’t seem to find edamame anywhere, any suggestions?

  9. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Looks really good. Do you think the peanut dressing would work for a stir fry?

  10. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Hi I’m new to your site and have just made and eaten your Quinoa crunch salad which looked and tasted wonderful.. and now just put the spiced apple cake in the oven and can’t wait to try that. Being in the UK I have had to find out what some of your other ingredients are called here but having become vegetarian 2 years ago after developing an aversion to meat I have found it hard to find inspiration but now your site has changed all that, thank you so much.

  11. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Hey Lindsay! I’m also curious about the type of vinegar used and if your “knob” of ginger was small or large. Those things are so wonky looking, any additional info on size would be great! Excited to make tonight!

  12. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I made this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic!! I left out the honey and it was plenty sweet without it. This is going into regular rotation.

  13. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Lindsay – My daughter is begging for me to make this salad but she is highly allergic to peanuts. Could you offer an alternative to the peanut dressing that we might try? I’ve recently gone Vegan (about ten weeks ago) for health reasons, and your recipes have been a huge help in my new lifestyle. Thank you so much!

  14. Pinch of Yum Logo

    It looks so colorful! I love this salad recipe! It has few ingredients which means that i won’t run around a lot. And It’s also easy to think that quinoa is a boring food to eat. I have been experimenting cooking quinoa in a rice cooker lately and this quinoa salad recipe makes it perfect for my quinoa leftover.

    Thanks again for a great recipe!

  15. Pinch of Yum Logo

    This was absolutely delicious. I made it almost exactly as written. My only change was using toasted, slivered almonds in place of cashews. YUM!

  16. Pinch of Yum Logo

    This was fantastic. Took it for lunch today and was super proud of myself for the healthy deliciousness that I had.

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      I,im from israel,love your recipes.
      We dint have mango all year long.
      Sonathing insted?
      Tnx