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This Rainbow Thai Salad is full of colorful vegetables, herbs, sweet mango, crunchy nuts, and a delicious sweet and spicy peanut dressing.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Rice vinegar: If you don’t have this and don’t want to buy it, use any other vinegar that you like.
- Honey: Maple syrup or agave may be substituted for the honey. It will change the flavor (but not in a bad way).
- Ginger: Do not substitute ground ginger, but ginger paste in a tube or jar works well (and ginger can be frozen indefinitely).
- Kale: Or substitute your favorite greens such as spring mix, butter lettuce, or romaine.
- Napa cabbage: Milder in flavor than regular green cabbage and oblong-shaped rather than round. The leaves may be lighter in color, veering towards yellow. Or substitute savoy cabbage or regular green cabbage.
- Cilantro: If you don’t like the taste of cilantro, leave it out or substitute fresh basil or parsley.
- Cashews: To toast the cashews (optional but recommended), heat cashews in a dry skillet over medium heat until browned and fragrant stirring frequently, about 3 to 5 minutes. Or substitute almonds or peanuts.
Step-by-step instructions
- To make the dressing, in a small bowl whisk together peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce, honey, lime juice, ginger, sesame oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper (I like 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper). If the dressing is too thick, thin with water 1 teaspoon at a time.
- In a large bowl, add kale, cabbage, bell pepper, carrot, mango, cilantro, mint, and onions. Drizzle with the dressing, toss to combine, and garnish with cashews.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes 8 cups salad and 1 cup dressing, enough for 4 servings salad (2 cups salad + ¼ cup dressing per person; you can use less dressing).
- Storage: Store leftovers covered (and undressed) for up to 2 days.
- Make ahead: The peanut can be made up to 3 days in advance. Store covered in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before using. The vegetables can be prepped the day before and stored separately in the refrigerator.
- More mix-ins: Get creative with mandarin oranges, fresh raspberries, sliced jalapeños or serrano chiles, or diced avocado. For a heartier salad, top with cooked chicken or salmon.
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Rainbow Thai Salad with Mango
Ingredients
For the peanut dressing:
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar (see note 1)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey (see note 2)
- 2 tablespoons lime juice (from 1 lime)
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger minced (see note 3)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the salad:
- 2 cups kale chopped (see note 4)
- 1 1/2 cups napa cabbage thinly sliced (see note 5)
- 1 1/2 cups red cabbage thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup carrot shredded
- 1 mango thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped (see note 6)
- 8 fresh mint leaves thinly sliced
- 1 green onion thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup cashews toasted if desired and roughly chopped (see note 7)
Instructions
- To make the dressing, in a small bowl whisk together peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce, honey, lime juice, ginger, sesame oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste (I like 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper). If the dressing is too thick, thin with water 1 teaspoon at a time.
- In a large bowl, add kale, cabbage, bell pepper, carrot, mango, cilantro, mint, and onions. Drizzle with the dressing, toss to combine, and garnish with cashews.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Rice vinegar: If you don’t have this and don’t want to buy it, use any other vinegar that you like.
- Honey: Maple syrup or agave may be substituted for the honey. It will change the flavor (but not in a bad way).
- Ginger: Do not substitute ground ginger, but ginger paste in a tube or jar works well (and ginger can be frozen indefinitely).
- Kale: Or substitute your favorite greens such as spring mix, butter lettuce, or romaine.
- Napa cabbage: Milder in flavor than regular green cabbage and oblong-shaped rather than round. The leaves may be lighter in color, veering towards yellow. Or substitute savoy cabbage or regular green cabbage.
- Cilantro: If you don’t like the taste of cilantro, leave it out or substitute fresh basil or parsley.
- Cashews: To toast the cashews (optional but recommended), heat cashews in a dry skillet over medium heat until browned and fragrant stirring frequently, about 3 to 5 minutes. Or substitute almonds or peanuts.
- Yield: This recipe makes 8 cups salad and 1 cup dressing, enough for 4 servings salad (2 cups salad + ¼ cup dressing per person; you can use less dressing).
- Storage: Store leftovers covered (and undressed) for up to 2 days.
- Make ahead: The peanut can be made up to 3 days in advance. Store covered in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before using. The vegetables can be prepped the day before and stored separately in the refrigerator.
- More mix-ins: Get creative with mandarin oranges, fresh raspberries, sliced jalapeños or serrano chiles, or diced avocado. For a heartier salad, top with cooked chicken or salmon.
Nutrition
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Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
This is amazing. I added shrimp for more protein.
Hi Cyd, sounds delicious! – Meggan
This salad was amazing! I used regular curly kale that I got in my CSA box so I massaged it with a bit of the dressing before mixing everything else together to make sure it was tender enough to eat. The flavors were absolutely perfect! Thanks for the great recipe!
Thanks Kathryn, sounds delicious! – Meggan
Delicious ❣️❣️❣️
It was an interesting recipe. I loved those mango chunks with salad leaves. I loved the peanut butter sauce. But I need help. I have used mix salad leaves since only that was available. Some leaves were not going so well with the sauce. Is it important to use specific leaves?
Hi Meenu, it is possible that some leaves wouldn’t taste good with the dressing, but that would be personal preference. I think mild leaves like romaine, green or red leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, or iceberg would all be good choices. Lettuces like arugula, spinach, kale, and frisee are probably to strong or bitter flavored, maybe you had some of those mixed in. Sorry about that! I’ll update this post with more information on specific lettuce leaves and what tastes best. Thanks! -Meggan
I love this salad! I’ve been making it regularly over the last year and enjoy it every time! Flavors are fresh and bountiful.
Delicious !
Thank you so much Candy! :D
Really like to coconut aminos suggestion to make it gluten free! Yum!