Quinoa Veggie Salad with Peanut Dressing

This quinoa veggie salad with peanut dressing is anything but boring! Bursting with flavor, texture, and a satisfying mix of protein, carbs, and produce, this salad is perfect for lunch, a fresh summer dinner, or your next potluck!

Loaded with shredded cabbage, carrots, bell peppers, snap peas, scallions, and plenty of cilantro, this salad delivers major crunch in each bite. The quinoa and veggies are all drizzled with a homemade Thai-inspired peanut dressing that is so delicious you’ll want to put it on everything.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Ingredients

• Peanut dressing – Peanut butter*, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, lime, honey, chili crisp oil, garlic. *A drippy peanut butter like Crazy Richard’s works really well. If you are using thicker peanut butter, you may need to add a bit more water (or lime juice or rice vinegar) to thin out the dressing.
• Quinoa – Cook your own quinoa or for an easy shortcut, use microwavable quinoa, just let cool slightly.
• Cabbage – I’ve used red (or purple) cabbage for this salad, but green cabbage would also work well. Or you could use a combination of both!
• Bell peppers – Use a sweet bell pepper like a red, orange, or yellow bell pepper for the best flavor. Mini peppers also work really well as you can thinly slice the mini peppers easily.
• Carrots – I prefer matchstick or shredded carrots so that you can fit carrots on each bite.
• Snap peas – Use snap peas for the best crunch! Snow peas are flatter and thinner and would also work, just won’t add the same level of crunch.
• Cilantro – This adds incredible bright flavor, don’t skimp on it!
• Green onions – The green onions add a delicious flavor, in an understated way. I prefer them over a red or white onion.
• Peanuts – Crush peanuts for an optional garnish if desired.
• Chicken – If you’re serving this as a main meal, I love topping it with grilled chicken thighs. You could also use rotisserie chicken for a shortcut.

How to Make Crunchy Vegetable Quinoa Salad

This is an overview, the detailed instructions can be found below in the recipe card.

1. Prep ingredients. Cook quinoa according to package instructions. Grill chicken if using. Chop, dice, and slice all of your veggies.

2. Make dressing. In a blender, combine peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, lime, water, honey, chili crisp oil, and garlic. Blend until smooth.
3. Assemble salad. In a large bowl, add cooked quinoa, cabbage, bell peppers, shredded carrots, and snap peas. Drizzle with some of the dressing and toss together. Top with additional dressing, chicken if using, cilantro, and chopped peanuts.

Storage

Store salad in an airtight container for 1-2 days.

How to prep ahead

To prep this salad ahead, you can prep these components and then assemble right before serving.

• Blend dressing and store in the refrigerator 1-2 days in advance. Let the dressing come to room temperature before serving.
• Grill chicken 1-2 days in advance. Slice right before serving.
• Cook quinoa 1-2 days in advance and store in refrigerator. Let quinoa come to room temperature before serving.

More Salad Recipes

If you love this Thai-inspired quinoa salad, you’ll want to give these other summer salads a try.

• Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
• Mediterranean Tortellini Pasta Salad
• Black Bean Quinoa Salad
• Grilled Chicken Southwest Salad

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Food styling and photography by Loren Runion.

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