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    Home » Recipes » All Recipes

    Vegan Thai Quinoa Salad

    Published: Mar 25, 2022 by Kathleen Hansen · This post may contain affiliate links · 1 Comment

    Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

    This Vegan Thai Quinoa Salad is filled with tons of crunch, texture, and tossed together with a delicious homemade Sesame Dressing. It's an easy plant based recipe that is super colorful!

    thai quinoa salad in bowl

    Why I love it:

    • Colorful: All of the veggies give this salad all of the colors of the rainbow.
    • Texture: Crisp veggies, crunchy cashews, and tender edamame give the salad lots of different textures.
    • Plant-Based: This plant-based quinoa salad lets you load up on veggies while still filling up.
    • Customizable: Don't like a certain ingredient... leave it out! Super fan of another ingredient... Add more!
    quinoa, carrots, cabbage, peppers, cashew, green onions in a bowl
    tossed quinoa veggie salad with cashews

    Ingredients for this Thai Quinoa Salad:

    • Cooked Quinoa
    • Edamame - Use shelled edamame. You can find this in the freezer aisle.
    • Shredded Red Cabbage - you can buy it pre-shredded, or use a sharp knife to very thinly slice.
    • Shredded Carrots
    • Bell Pepper - thinly sliced
    • Fresh Cilantro
    • Green Onions
    • Cashews
    • Homemade Sesame Dressing - olive oil, garlic powder, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey or maple syrup, chili garlic sauce, sesame oil, ground ginger, lime juice
    sesame dressing in mason jar

    How to Make a Homemade Sesame Dressing

    My favorite way to make salad dressings/vinaigrettes is to shake them up in a mason jar. This makes it so easy to combine the ingredients together and it makes storage easy.

    Serving Suggestions:

    • I have a Thai Kale Salad on the blog and the Roasted Shrimp its paired with would be AWESOME on the side of this Quinoa Salad. You can find the recipe here.
    • Grilled Chicken
    • Baked Tofu to keep it vegan. Gimme Some Oven has a great recipe!
    plant based quinoa salad with green onions

    What can I add to quinoa for flavor?

    If you want to boost the flavor of cooked quinoa, here are a few things you can add:

    • Cook in broth instead of water
    • Add Spices When Cooking - Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, and dried spices are great to add to the dry quinoa and liquid when cooking.

    Does quinoa need to be rinsed?

    Quinoa does need to be rinsed before cooking. Or you can buy quinoa at the store that is labeled as 'pre-rinsed' on the bag. If the quinoa isn't pre-rinsed, you need to rinse it to remove the saponins which can give the quinoa a bitter taste.

    quinoa salad ingredients in glass bowl

    Leftovers and Storage

    Leftover quinoa salad can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. If the salad has been tossed with the dressing, it will stay fresh for up to 3 days, but will lose some of its crunch. If you wait to dress the salad, then it will last a little bit longer.

    Those ads on the page? A portion of all ad revenue is being donated to Warrior Dog Rescue. A MN-based dog rescue that I foster and volunteer with.

    Print

    Recipe

    Thai Quinoa Salad

    quinoa, carrots, cabbage, peppers, cashew, green onions in a bowl
    Print Recipe

    5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

    5 from 1 review

    This Vegan Thai Quinoa Salad is filled with tons of crunch, texture, and tossed together with a delicious homemade Sesame Dressing. It's an easy plant based recipe that is super colorful!

    • Prep Time: 10 minutes
    • Cook Time: 20 minutes
    • Total Time: 30 minutes
    • Yield: 6 servings
    • Category: Meatless Monday, Sides
    • Method: Stove
    • Cuisine: Asian
    • Diet: Vegan

    Ingredients

    Quinoa Salad

    • 1 cup dry quinoa
    • 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced then the slices cut into thirds
    • 1 cup shredded carrots
    • 2 cups shredded red cabbage
    • 1 cup cooked shelled edamame
    • ½ cup thinly sliced green onions, about 3 green onions
    • ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
    • ½ cup cashews, roughly chopped
    • Salt, to taste

    Sesame Dressing

    • ¼ cup olive oil
    • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
    • 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
    • 1 tablespoon water
    • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
    • 1 tablespoon honey, or maple syrup
    • 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
    • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
    • ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
    • ½ lime, juiced. About 1 tablespoon

    Instructions

    1. Cook Quinoa - Cook the quinoa according to package directions.
    2. Prep Ingredients - Chop up the ingredients as listed.
    3. Sesame Dressing - To make the dressing, add all ingredients to a mason jar, seal the lid, and shake well to blend. Or you can whisk up in a bowl.
    4. Toss Salad - Toss all ingredients in a large bowl with the dressing. Taste, and add salt if needed (I used about a pinch).
    5. Serve or Store - Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator.

    Nutrition

    • Serving Size: ⅙ of recipe
    • Calories: 334
    • Sugar: 7.5 g
    • Sodium: 207.6 mg
    • Fat: 19.4 g
    • Carbohydrates: 33.3 g
    • Fiber: 5.3 g
    • Protein: 10.1 g
    • Cholesterol: 0 mg

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      Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

    1. Katie says

      March 19, 2023 at 9:52 am

      I love all of the texture in this salad!

      Reply

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    Hi! I'm Kathleen and welcome! My favorite place to be has always been in the kitchen and I love creating recipes that are easy and approachable. Simple ingredients and easy-to-follow instructions!

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