This Thai quinoa salad combines protein-rich grains with healthy nutrients from fresh veggies, for a lime-infused flavor bomb with crunch in each bite.
This Quinoa Salad Doubles as a Protein-Rich Side or Veg-Packed Entree
Quinoa is one of my favorite protein sources, probably because it’s so unassuming. Like a seventh grade girl, it takes on the flavors it’s paired with.
For this quinoa salad, that means the salty flavors of a limey Thai dressing with plenty of veggie crunch. It’s the perfect side dish or main meal if you’re feeling the hug of your waistline just a little too much.
At the heart of this power salad are the grains of quinoa that cling to a bevy of fresh veggies. Edamame is included, along with peanuts for added protein. Red bell peppers add even more antioxidants and vitamin C with cucumbers and shredded purple cabbage coming in with the crunch.
The dressing is simple, tart and sweet and very similar to the one I serve with spring rolls. It’s made with a blend of fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, sesame oil, and red pepper flakes. Add more red chili flakes to amp up the heat, or less if you’re feeding the kids.
Enjoy!
Heidi’s Tips for Recipe Success
Rinse your quinoa before cooking it. Quinoa is coated in a substance called saponin, and if you don’t rinse it off your salad will wind up tasting quite bitter.
Mix and match ingredients. Feel free to add extra veggies to this salad or omit any you don’t have on hand. This is a flexible recipe, so tweak it as needed.
Store the dressing separately if meal prepping. If you’d like to meal prep this salad for your lunches this week, I recommend storing the dressing separately and tossing it with your salad just before you’re ready to eat it. Once the dressing gets tossed with the veggies, the salad will stay good for only a day or two. However, because the ingredients are all sturdy, I’ve meal prepped it, refrigerated it, and eaten it throughout the whole week.
What’s in This Recipe?
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Quinoa — Use any color you like, or buy an “Instant” variety to save time.
- Vegetables — This quinoa edamame salad is the perfect way to eat the rainbow! I used a mixture of sliced, shredded, and diced bell pepper, carrot, cucumber, and green onion.
- Edamame — Typically found in the freezer aisle. This is the plant-based protein source that really amps up this salad and helps keep you full.
- Herbs — Fresh cilantro and basil are my herbs of choice for this power salad. (If you can find Thai basil, it makes a great addition.)
- Peanuts — Can be swapped with slivered almonds or sesame seeds, if desired.
- Thai-style dressing — The dressing is a salty-sweet-tangy combo of lime juice, fish sauce, soy sauce, ginger, oil, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of sugar.
Heidi’s Tip: If possible, get your hands on a high quality fish sauce like this one for a more authentic flavor. If you’re really against using it or don’t have any on hand, you can likely get away with using Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce in a pinch. (Note that I’ve only ever made this recipe using fish sauce, so this is just my best guess).
How to Make Thai Quinoa Salad in 3 Steps
- Make the dressing. Whisk together the tangy vinaigrette and toss with the veggies and quinoa to combine. Garnish with fresh basil, cilantro, and peanuts and dive in.
- Prep the quinoa according to package instructions. My favorite trick for making quinoa is to cook it like pasta (i.e. in a lot of water) and then drain it and return it to the pot to steam. This creates super fluffy quinoa that doesn’t get water logged.
- Prep the veggies. This is the most time consuming part of the entire recipe! Add the veggies to a big bowl, then once cooked, add the quinoa to the bowl as well.
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below, leave a comment to tell us what you think, and tag me on Instagram @foodiecrush.
Thai Quinoa Salad Recipe
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 red bell pepper , chopped
- 1 carrot , peeled and shredded
- 1 cucumber , chopped
- 1 cup frozen edamame , thawed
- 6 green onions , chopped
- 1-2 cups shredded red cabbage
- ½ cup chopped peanuts
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- ¼ cup chopped basil
Dressing
- 4 teaspoons fish sauce
- 3 limes , juiced
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- pinch of red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Rinse the quinoa under cold water and cook in a medium saucepan according to package directions. Remove from pan and let cool.
- Add the quinoa and vegetables to a large bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the fish sauce, limes, sugar, vegetable oil, sesame oil, ginger, and red pepper flakes until the sugar has dissolved. Taste for sweetness and for heat, and add more seasoning to taste. Pour the dressing over the quinoa and vegetables and stir to combine.
- Sprinkle the cilantro, basil and peanuts over the salad and stir lightly. Serve or refrigerate for up to one day.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe Variations
- Add shredded Instant Pot chicken breasts, baked chicken, or leftover roast chicken.
- Add grilled salmon or chili crisp salmon.
- Add crispy tofu for a vegetarian protein source.
- Swap the Thai-flavored dressing for my Asian master marinade and sauce.
More Quinoa Salad Recipes With Tons of Flavor
- Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
- Healthy Quinoa Salad
- Greek Quinoa Salad
- Quinoa and Kale Salad with Shrimp
- Quinoa Protein Power Salad
- Chipotle Avocado Quinoa Salad
- Southwest Quinoa Salad
More Easy Thai Recipes You’ll Love
- Thai Coconut Chicken and Rice
- Shrimp in Thai Coconut Sauce
- Slow Cooker Thai Chicken Soup
- Thai Beef Salad (Yum Nua)
- Pad Thai
- Thai Green Chicken Curry
- Thai Chicken Wraps
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alastair
Looking awesome….
Complete recipe with full of protein and simple dressing. I am completely fed up with those unhealthy food like pizzas and burger etc.
Thank you for this recipe…. Thank you very much
Mariana
Oh I also didn’t add any nuts because I didn’t have any. I’m sure it’d be even yummier with the nuts added!
Mariana
Mmmm Just made this dish tonight, with a few modifications. I’m not into hot food, so I only used a teaspoon of ginger, and I used crushed chilli pepper instead of pepper flakes. It turned out the perfect combination of sweet and spice (for my taste buds, anyway). I can see this one becoming a regular for lunch :)
My kids and I had fun shelling the edamame beans together (I bought a huge bag at Costco for about $13.00). And it turns out my 3-year-old is a huge fan; she ate a bunch of them before they made it into the salad :)
Val from PA
Just made this yesterday and it is amazing! I was mistaken and didn’t have any quinoa on hand like I thought, so I used rice instead and it turned out great! Thanks for the recipe!
Aero
I was looking for something to make after the gym with what I had on hand. I had toasted almond slivers not peanuts. Fresh green beans (slightly steamed) not edamame. No basil. Used chicken stock instead of water. Oh my! What a phenomenal dish! Will make again and again. Oh and I omitted cuc because I have had A LOT of cucumber lately.
Elizabeth
This is amazing stuff! I made a few substitutions. Soy sauce instead of fish sauce, garbanzos instead of edamame, and maple syrup instead of sugar. Also added some fresh green beans cut into 1-inch pieces. I can’t wait until lunch time tomorrow to eat leftovers! I will definitely make this for family and friends in the future.
Julie
Thanks, I was looking for a substitution for the fish sauce. We tried it before but everyone thought it was too strong of a flavor.
Andrea
I love this salad and have just made it for about the 6th time. I have a Thai basil plant that is still going strong, and I don’t know what else to do with it. The rest of the ingredients (except for the cabbage) I usually have on hand. I saw that several people have asked about the fish sauce. Honestly, I have never used it and I think the dressing tastes great. I have an open jar of red chili paste from another recipe, so I added some of that tonight. I can’t wait until lunch tomorrow!!
Hannah Prinz
What an amazing recipe! Thank you so much for posting this. I love the freshness of this salad and all of the health benefits! I did swap the basil for fresh mint leaves- that was my only change from the original recipe! I paired it with a salmon filet for a great light summer dinner. Husband loved it as much as me!
Thanks again!
I’m so glad you both enjoyed Hannah. Thanks coming back to leave a comment saying so!
Brandi Collier
I “meal preped” a variation of this salad for my lunch for the week. I the quinoa, veggies and a lime wedge in a to go bowl. Instead of the dressing I went the lazy girl route and use Harris Teeter Peanut sauce. Just tossed my first bowl with the peanut sauce and lime juice. It was amazing. I would have mad the sauce but realized I needed fish sauce when I got home from the store. I def will make the dressing the next time. This salad is yummy goodness and I have already shares with my sister and my friends.
Anna C
So delicious! I’ve made Thai dishes in the past, so it used a lot of things I had lingering in my cupboards. Full of fresh deliciousness! I gave a serving to a friend for lunch, as she’s toying with veganism (she forgave me for the fish sauce).
Lora
Great
Shannon
I made this tonight and it was fantastic. So fresh and healthy. I needed this so badly.
C
Wonderful salad! I dropped back on the sugar a tad and added some grated lemongrass, ground coriander, and homemade Thai red pepper paste to the dressing. Lovely recipe, thank you!
mel
beyond unbelievable
Sue @ Frugal Gifts 2 Give
I love quinoa and I love this salad! As a matter of fact, I’ve made it for family functions and everybody just raves about it! Thank you!! Also, I love your photo’s! You’ll have to give me a few tips. . .I need them desperately!
Carla
Today, I’m making this for the third time to take to a potluck.
I’ve even printed out the recipe, because I know everyone will want a copy!
my husband who swears he HATES quinoa thinks this is delicious.
as for me…I eat it for breakfast it’s so good!
thanks for a fantastic recipe.
Elizabeth
We are trying to incorporate more vegetarian meals into our weekly routine so this fit the bill. Overall it was good, but the dressing was very strong. I used toasted sesame oil rather than plain sesame oil, so maybe that was the problem? Will try to tweak the dressing based on some of the comments here because my family loved all the veggies.
I agree Elizabeth, sesame oil can take over. Are you refrigerating your sesame oil? It tends to get stronger the longer it’s open and if it’s in the pantry or cupboard, it can go bad quicker than most oils and give off a stronger taste.
Tiffany
I made this tonight for dinner; really loved it! My only hesitation was the dressing; it tasted a little bitter (or sour?) to me. About how much lime juice should there be? Any other ideas why it might have tasted this way?
Jen
Really delicious and fresh. Added mango for a little sweetness. Lots of chopping but worth it.
Susan
I also would like to know if it’s ok to omit the fish sauce. Hope it won’t change the outcome drastically.
Gina
Same question as above. My partner is allergic to fish. What sauce can I substitute for the fish sauce?
Serenity
Can I omit the fish sauce? Any ideas on something else I can use?
Hi there, you can try Worcestershire or more soy sauce.
Amy Tassin
I just made this tonight for my family and it was a huge hit. I used 2 Tbs of fish sauce and 2 Tbs of low sodium soy sauce.
Ray
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger is listed in the Ingredients, but not mentioned in the Directions. I assume it is to be added to the sauce. Someone might want to correct the error.
My Quinoa and vegetables are all mix and I’m starting to mix the dressing now. Can hardly wait for dinner.
Rony Jahid
All hail the Queen of Beautiful Salads!!! This looks breathtaking regardless i’m kicking the bucket over that browned goat cheddar plate of mixed greens from a week ago. Such a large number of to make!!
Karen A Cayce
Made this tonight- it is a wonderful blend of texture and flavors! I doubled it and will take half to a potluck tomorrow. I agree- quinoa just is the base for whatever flavors you favor it with!