All you need is ten minutes to throw together this gorgeous Thai Salad recipe. It's simple to make, but its flavor profile is fresh and vibrant.
Jump to Recipe
I've never been much of a fan of lettuce salads. But chopped vegetable salads? I'm all in. This recipe is one of those.
To be fair, it's not a true, authentic Thai salad. Maybe Thai-inspired or perhaps Thai-adjacent are better descriptors. It's loosely inspired by Green Papaya Salad (Som Tum) with its fresh flavors and its light sweet-sour dressing.
It has great texture from the inclusion of tomatoes, cucumbers and peanuts. The flavor is vibrant and fresh with hard-to-resist notes that are sweet, salty, piquant, and tangy all at once.
Recipe at a Glance
This Thai salad is fresh, vibrant, and delicious. It's a favorite for lunchtime - especially when partnered with grilled chicken.
It only takes about 10 minutes to throw the ingredients together.
It stores like a champ, and you can keep it in the fridge for a few days before it wilts.
What's in it?
Fresh vegetables include carrots, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers. They provide the foundation for the salad, lending elements of sweetness, acidity, and texture.
Fresh cilantro is my favorite herb to include for its fresh, fragrant flavor. It also gives the salad a gorgeous pop of color.
Roasted peanuts add a pop of crunch and a salty, toasty flavor to the salad, which helps to balance the sweet-and-sour dressing.
Thai chilis bring heat. You can find them in most well-stocked grocery stores. If you're sensitive to hot peppers, you can use milder chilies such as serrano or jalapeño.
Fresh lime brings acidity and the pleasant flavor of citrus.
Fish sauce is an essential ingredient in Thai cooking. Its distinct salty, savory flavor brings complexity to the salad.
Coconut palm sugar is a popular Thai ingredient. It is a minimally processed sugar with a sweet and slightly fruity flavor. You can find it sold in pressed cakes in many specialty markets. Coconut sugar is a good substitute.
Love this salad idea? Check out our Asian Cucumber Salad and this easy Cherry Tomato Salad, too.
Recipe Tips
If your cucumbers are bitter, peel them and remove the seeds.
Adjust the heat to your liking. I find a single Thai chili works fine to give this salad a delicious heat without being overpowering. You may find you like more than one or that you need a chili with a milder heat profile.
Let the salad sit for a few minutes before you serve it. That allows the salt and sugar in the dressing to penetrate the vegetables, which translates to better texture and bigger flavor.
Variations + Substitutions
If you don't care for cilantro, try substituting Thai basil. While it doesn't have the same flavor profile as cilantro, it tastes just as delicious in this recipe.
Toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) are a fine swap for the peanuts. Cashews also taste good in this salad, but they tend to soften easily, so the salad won't store as long.
Coconut sugar is a suitable substitute for coconut palm sugar. You can also use just about any other minimally processed sweetener, such as honey, rapadura, or muscovado.
Brushjl says
Delicious salad. Great flavors and I loved the crunch.
Heather Frinks says
This salad is delicious and refreshing! I used tomatoes from the farmers market which made it even more delicious. This will be a go-to summer recipe.