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Who doesn’t like their salad with a little extra crunch? This Asian crunch salad has so many colours and textures, eating it is an experience! You’ll love the simple peanut dressing that goes along with it.
Is it just me, or does spring time make you want to eat more salads and lighter things? I definitely associate winter with cozy warm dishes but spring brings all things light and fresh! Since it’s officially spring now, I’m moving right along to a new salad recipe on the blog.
A kale salad is delicious, a spinach salad is satisfying, but my favourite type of salad to eat is one with lots of CRUNCH and all sorts of goodies inside. I also love a good peanuty dressing on my salads! It goes so well with grilled chicken or shrimp on the side. This new Asian crunch salad checks all of those boxes. You’ll love it!
What is a “crunch” salad?
If you’re asking the question you might not have had a bite of a truly crunchy salad before! A crunch salad typically contains things like cabbage (the CRUNCHIEST), nuts, and fresh chopped vegetables such as peppers, carrots and edamame.
You can also make a pretty great crunch salad with crunchy iceberg lettuce or kale too! Basically, use anything that’s got some crunch to it when you bite down!
What ingredients do you need for this Asian crunch salad?
In this salad, I’ve used the following:
- shredded green cabbage
- shredded purple cabbage
- diced red pepper
- julienned carrots
- cooked edamame
- diced green onions
- roasted peanuts
- chow mein noodles
- salted pistachios
- cilantro
If there’s any particular ingredient that you don’t care for, you can leave it out or substitute with something you would prefer more. Change out the peanuts for almonds, the edamame for celery, or anything else you desire!
Since the cabbage accounts for so much of the salad, if you’re not a fan of cabbage I would recommend substituting it for romaine or crunchy iceberg lettuce.
How do you make the Asian dressing?
For the dressing you’ll want to use either an immersion blender, small blender or other easy way to mix up the ingredients:
- natural peanut butter
- rice vinegar
- soy sauce
- fresh grated ginger
- toasted sesame oil
- minced garlic
- water, as needed
Mix up all of the ingredients, starting with just 1/4 cup of water. If things are not blending smoothly add an additional few tablespoons of water, and a bit more as needed. You’ll want the dressing to be easily mixable with the dressing, so it should be fairly smooth and runny!
Is this Asian crunch salad considered a healthy salad?
Since all of the ingredients are real, fresh and full of vibrant, natural colours, I would say YES! The dressing is also made with great ingredients, including the natural peanut butter.
You really can’t go wrong with a salad made up of fresh vegetables!
What do you serve this crunch salad with?
This salad is absolutely delicious on its own, but you could also make this a filling, slam dunk meal with grilled chicken, grilled shrimp or even steak on the side. I bet this would be great with my lemon pepper chicken thighs or simply crispy baked chicken wings!
If you’re in the mood for salads, here’s a few of my other favourites from the blog:
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Asian Crunch Salad
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 3–4 servings 1x
Description
Who doesn’t like their salad with a little extra crunch? This Asian crunch salad has so many colours and textures, eating it is an experience! You’ll love the simple peanut dressing that goes along with it.
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded green cabbage
- 1 cup shredded purple cabbage
- 1/2 red pepper, diced
- 2 large carrots, julienned
- 1 cup cooked edamame
- 1/4 cup diced green onions
- 1 cup roasted, salted peanuts
- 1/2 cup roasted pistachios
- 1 cup chow mein noodles
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely diced
Peanut Dressing
- 1/3 cup natural, creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp fresh, grated ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1/4 cup water, plus more as needed
Instructions
- In a large salad bowl, combine together both cabbages, the red pepper, julienned carrots, edamame, green onions, peanuts, pistachios, chow main noodles and cilantro.
- Using an immersion blender or other blender, mix together all of the salad dressing ingredients. If the dressing is not smooth enough, add more water slowly, a few tablespoons at a time, blending it each time until the dressing is smooth and runny enough to mix into the salad.
- Mix the salad together with the dressing and serve immediately.
Salad will keep in the fridge, in an airtight container, for 1-2 days. The ingredients may soften, particularly the chow main noodles, but it will still be crunchy and delicious!
Notes
Substitute any ingredients for any other vegetables, keeping the quantities the same.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Category: salads
- Method: no cook
- Cuisine: Asian
