Crunchy Thai Salad

This Crunchy Thai Salad holds up to its name; it’s full of crunchy goodies and tossed with the most amazing dressing…you’ll keep coming back for more.

Thai Salad 4

Crunchy Thai Salad

I’m keeping it crisp and brief today. After all, it’s almost the weekend, the weather is glorious, and I’m thinking you’d rather be eating this Crispy Thai Salad than reading the screen. amiright?

Plus, our baby bulldog pup is eating up my pretty hostas this very moment and we can’t have that.

So. Top 5 reasons your peeps will gobble up of this Crispy Thai Salad…

Thai Salad 1

Why they (and you) will love this thai salad

Here goes:

It’s a seriously crispy, crunchy, textured plate of yum.
It’s absolutely refreshing, with mint and lime.
It’s clean, healthy, and great for the waistline.
It’s a rainbow of colors. As pretty as it is delish.
The dressing. The dressing. The dressing.

Thai Salad 2

Sweet, Tangy, With bit of kick

The dressing of this Crispy Thai Salad is ridiculously delicious.

The marriage of sweet, tangy, spicy, and salty flavors come together to create a mouthwatering taste sensation. Zero oil, yet 100% flavorful.

You’ll want extra dressing to keep for all the salads.

Thai Salad 3

That wasn’t as brief as I was shooting for, but I’m done now.

Feel free to go crunch away.

Crunchy Thai Salad

This Crunchy Thai Salad holds up to its name; it’s full of crunchy goodies and tossed with the most amazing dressing…you’ll keep coming back for more.

Prep Time: 20 min
Total Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 4

Ingredients

Scale

For the Salad:

1 large roma tomato, seeded and chopped
1 large apple, thinly sliced or julienned
1 large cucumber; peeled, seeded, and julienned
1 cup carrots, peeled and julienned
1 ripe mango, julieneed
1 cup bean sprouts
1/2 cup red cabbage, shredded
1/2 cup fresh mint, loosely packed
1/2 cup fresh basil, loosely packed
1 cup honey roasted peanuts or cashews

For the Dressing:

3 whole limes, juiced
1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro
4 TB tightly packed brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1 TB freshly chopped ginger
1 TB Sriracha
1 TB Asian fish sauce

Instructions

Make the Dressing ahead of time: Add all dressing ingredients into a blender (or immersion hand blender) and blend until mixture is mostly liquid (small chunks are fine.) Cover and chill until ready to use.
In a large bowl, toss together all salad ingredients except for the nuts. Gently toss in desired amount of prepared dressing. Divide into individual plates and sprinkle nuts over the top. Enjoy immediately.

Notes

Please don’t skip the fish sauce, as it lends an amazing “umami” flavor to the dressing – it’s not “fishy” tasting at all. Rather, it elevates the rest of the ingredients.

Dressing can be made 1-2 days ahead; I like making extra to use for future salads. It’s naturally oil-free and fat free.

If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and give it a rating 🙂