Kick up your salad game with this Thai Salad with Carrot and Cucumber Noodles! Tossed in a homemade sweet and sour dressing, this tasty spiralized Thai salad is loaded with flavor!
Good. Let’s just call it good. As in, “ohmygosh I can’t stop stuffing this in my face!” good. It’s also, “screw the chopsticks and just hand me a fork already!” good. Might I also add that I’m eating this at 9 am for breakfast currently? It’s lunch-o-clock somewhere.
Actually, screw good. This stuff is amazing! I officially love it more with every bite. Yes I’m typing up this blog post while recipe testing it for the first time. Considering I’m not changing a darn thing about this recipe, I decided to multi-task. And now I’m rambling. Great job Jenn! Blah blah blah please forgive my crazy and make this dish. Yes I demand that of you often, and I stand by it too.
Eat. Your. Veggies. Especially super yummy pretty awesome delicious holy-cow-the-adjectives ones like these. The end.
I’ll tell you a story next time. A real one, proper grammar and all.
Just not today.
Today, we spiralize!
Thai Salad with Carrot and Cucumber Noodles
Thai Salad with Carrot and Cucumber Noodles
Ingredients
- 3 TBSP fresh lemon juice
- 3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
- 2 TBSP white vinegar
- 1/4 tsp salt plus extra, to taste as needed
- 1/8 tsp dill fresh or dried
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp fresh minced garlic
- 2 cups chickpeas (canned or cooked from dried)
- 1/4-1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro plus extra to garnish
- 1 large english cucumber (spiralized)
- 1/2 english cucumber, chopped
- 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 1/4 cup finely minced onion
- 2-3 extra large carrots
- 2 TBSP honey
- 2 TBSP rice vinegar
- 1/2-1 TBSP sesame seeds
- 1/2-1 TBSP chia seeds
Instructions
- Combine lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, garlic powder, dill, salt, and minced garlic and whisk to emulsify.
- In a medium bowl add chickpeas, minced onion, chopped bell pepper, chopped cucumber, and cilantro.
- Pour in dressing and mix thoroughly. The longer you allow them to marinate the more intense the flavor will be!
- Next, using a spiralizer or tool of choice (see post for options) curl one english cucumber and 2-3 large carrots (the biggest, thickest carrots you can find) into raw spiral noodles.
- Whisk together 2 tablespoons of honey with 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar and pour over salad.
- Top with extra chopped cilantro and a hearty sprinkle of sesame and chia seeds. If you're adding chopped nuts, toss those babies on top too and have at it!
Notes
Nutrition
how to make carrot and cucumber noodles:
Tool-wise you’ll need a spiralizer, mandolin or veggie peeler. Anything that will noodle-ize shall work! I’ve been using ::this one:: from Paderno for the past 4+ years and it’s held up through several moves and hundreds of carrot, cucumber, zucchini, sweet potato and beet noodles, plus it makes some pretty rockin’ curly fries! Love it!
Chopped peanuts or cashews would be a stellar addition to this dish; somehow my pantry was void of both. #FoodBloggerFail
special diets and swaps
- vegansaurus chefs: Skip the honey and make a simple syrup using sugar instead.
- t-rex chefs: Go veggie or go home! (then eat bacon tomorrow) Though to be fair you could totally pair this sassy spiral salad with your favorite protein. It would work great with grilled chicken or shrimp.
- paleo: Try maple syrup in place of honey and skip the chickpeas.
notes: the chickpea and veggie mixture can be made ahead of time and refrigerated overnight if desired. Bring to room temperature before serving for the absolute best flavor and results.
I would also suggest spiralizing the carrots and cuke fresh (within a few hours of serving) so they don’t lose nutrients or become soggy.
Use the vinegar, lemon juice, and honey to adjust the level of sweet or tartness that makes your heart pitter-patter, it’s easily customized and even more easily devoured!
looking for more ideas for your spiralizer?
- Greek Spiralized Cucumber Salad
- Spicy Sriracha Lime Chicken Zoodle Soup
- Shrimp and Zucchini Noodles in a Parmesan Pesto Cream Sauce
- Sweet and Sour Cucumber Noodles
The dressing is also beyond amazing over cucumber noodles!
so . . . how was it?!
It reminds me of the cucumber salad from my favorite Thai restaurant in Virginia which is nothing short of heavenly. This makes a great lunch for two or can be served up as a side dish to feed four. Pair it with crispy coconut shrimp, pan seared salmon, or grilled chicken kebabs! Headed to a party? This makes a perfect potluck contribution. It looks impressive, can sit out for a few hours, and tastes great!
If you get a chance to try this tasty Thai salad, let me know! You can leave me a comment here (LOVE checking those daily!) or tag @PEASandCRAYONS on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creations! I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
This was super delicious. I had no dill so put in a little fresh basil instead. Also added some chicken and lightly steamed green beans. Definitely going to be making it again! Thanks for the recipe.
Great yummy delicious recipes
Thanks for sharing.
This bowl is gorgeous! where is it from?
Thanks Kristen! It’s a TJ Maxx find but I’ve seen it a few different times over the years so I think it’s something that can totally be tracked down! I’m not home at the moment but I can check the brand on the bottom if you’d like!
That would be so awesome if you could do that when you get a chance!
I loved this one! It is soooo good. Thank you so much.
So happy to hear it Sylvia – thank you!
This dressing is fantastic and so well balanced in taste! I used fresh lemon and lime juice, it’s so wonderful and fresh with the cilantro. I will be making this over and over again. Thank you so much!
Thank you! Thank you! 🙂 So glad it earned repeat status!
This salad was phenomenal! I used edamame instead of the chickpeas because I thought it would have a better flavor profile to complement the main dish I was making. I love how fresh it tastes, as well as all of the different textures (chopped cucumber, carrot ribbons, spiralized cucumber). This is definitely going in our family rotation!
OMG Edamame YES! Love it Cindy and I’m so so happy you’re enjoying the salad! Thank you 🙂
love love LOVE this salad! always have to make at least a triple batch!
Ahhhh yay!!! Thank you Sheila! 🙂
Great awesome dish been making this for past year, wife love it when I make for her
Absolutely yummy! Made a special trip to Bed Bath and Beyond to get a spiralizer – totally worth it. This salad is amazing! All the flavors and textures were just perfect! It’s light and satisfying! I’m going to bring it to a potluck next week. I just transitioned to vegetarian 2 months ago and can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Ahhhh yay! Thank you Sheila! So glad you got to try this salad and I love your dedication! I’ll keep the veggie and spiralized recipes coming! 🙂 xoxo
Made this for tea and it was really tasty. Just one question was I meant to through everything in together or was I supposed to drain off the marinade before adding dressing?
I like tossing it all together! I save/use it all 🙂
Looks amazing! One question – how many calories per serving?
Thanks Staci! It’s healthy for sure but I have zero clue about the calorie breakdown. Everyone I’ve talked to swears by myfitnesspal.com for calculating recipe nutrient density, so that may be the perfect place to plug it in! <3
Thanks Jenn! Really appreciate you taking the time to respond. I will do just that! Now – off to the store to get everything I need!!
Of course, it’s my favorite part of this little blog of mine! 🙂 I hope you love the salad as much as I do!
Which size noodle do you make. My Paderno has an angel hair, medium and larger blade.
Hi Sherry! You can totally choose your blade based on preference! I love the angel hair the best (that’s what I used for this recipe) and recently I finally made cucumber noodles with the large flat blade and loved them! 🙂
Omg this was amazing and I brought it to work and everyone loved it!!!!
This was delicious, I made it this week for dinner and had the leftovers the next day. The carrot was still crunchy. Thank you for the recipe!
Thanks Nicole! So glad you loved it! Totally one of my favorite summer recipes! <3
Just tried this and love it. I customized it a little bit. I used edamame instead of chickpeas. (I love chickpeas, but I really enjoy edamame in any kind of Asian salad.) For the chopped onion, I used green onion because I like the texture of raw green onion better than any other kind of raw onion and I feel the taste melds well in an Asian salad. Some of my family is not crazy about green peppers, so instead, I used 3/4 of a chopped Granny Smith apple to be sure we still got that sweet crunch. Also, I toasted some chopped peanuts and added them to the salad. Since only one member of our family is vegan, I made some larb (found another Pinterest recipe) to serve alongside the salad for the omnivores, and it was a lovely combination! I was sure to set out the sriracha and soy sauce, because a little squirt of each added that little kick. Thanks for the YUMMY!
This was quite lovely! It tastes just so, so, GOOD. However, I have to say the liquid mix gets a bit overbearing and pools up at the bottom of the bowl, making it a bit drenched. Other than that I’m in love!
I’m so glad you love it! Feel free to only use half the dressing and save the rest for a salad the following day, or you could absolutely halve the dressing recipe if preferred! I tend to be in the habit of making a lot of dressing to pour over everything 🙂
i LOVE cucumbers. eat like 2 a day! or more over the summer when we grow them 🙂 i also love rice vinegar and asian salads so i think ( I KNOW ) i will be making this soon! even my dad should like it 🙂 you are brilliant haha
awww thanks lady! Hope you ADORE it as much as I do! <3
We have a potluck after every Native American sweat lodge ceremony (eating is the second part of the ceremony!) and are TRYING to shift from traditional comfort food dishes to a healthier style of eating. Mastered a series of great quinoa salads, but I am taking this to Big Pine this weekend for a neighboring sweat and I think it will be Fantastic! On behalf of our little tribe, Thank You for this recipe. 🙂
Thank you Sharon!!! I’m honored you chose this dish and hope you love it as much as I do! <3 Have a fantastic weekend!
Going to try this tonight for dinner; however, I do not own a spiral thingy:-/ Should I julienne or just leave as chunks? Maybe shred the carrots? Any advice?
Grab your veggie peeler and shave away! The veggies will soak up more yummy dressing if you peel them into ribbons with just a basic veggie peeler <3 If you don't have that then maybe julienne and let the veggies soak up the dressing for a while before serving? I hope you love it as much as I do!
Yum!!! Took a chance and made this for a friend’s bday gathering last minute and everyone loved it! I left out the chickpeas, dill, and chia since I wasn’t feeling those in a Thai salad, subbed some of olive oil with sesame oil, lime juice instead of lemon, and subbed green onions for the minced ones. Next time I make it, I will try lightly salting the prepared cucumber and leaving to drain in a collander since the cukes put off a ton of liquid and made the salad soggier than I’d like after about 30 minutes, but otherwise a keeper that I’ll make it again soon! I feel like if you kept it as is, but replaced the cilantro with flat leaf parsley, omitted the sesame seeds, and added some feta and chopped tomatoes or sundried tomatoes, you’d have an awesome Greek inspired salad. Yum!
Extremely delicious salad, congrats! And the way you cut the vegetables – heaven!
Ohmygosh THANK YOU! Seriously it brightened my day to read your sweet comment! Thank you x10001
I was looking for a black bean soup recipe on Pininterest and found yours and your blog, and I can’t say enough that I LOVEEEE it. I’ve been checking out your recipes for the past two days and absolutely love your food philosophy as well as your stunning photos (probably one of the best food photographies I’ve ever seen). I hope you will keep posting more veggie recipes and I wish your your lovely family the best!
Thanks! I am loving your blog; so it’s my pleasure to be your recipe editor 🙂 Can’t wait to make this.
Ohmygosh Joy you’re a lifesaver! My friends have made this off the site already and didn’t catch my error either! Can we blame my raging mommy brain? Fixing it now! Toss them in along with the cukes and peppers! Thanks for spotting my goof!
Xo
Jenn
I hope I’m not overlooking it, but it don’t see where the chickpeas get thrown in? Thanks!
It was modeled off the sweet and sour cucumber salad my favorite Thai restaurant serves and I don’t think they used any of those for that particular salad. In other dishes those ingredients would for sure be utilized, but this was just a simple salad they served up amuse bouche style so since they kept it simple, I did the same!
no chili’s, no ginger, no lemongrass, no fish sauce, no turmeric, no galanga, no lime.. so what exactly makes this “Thai Style”?
Thanks Shashi!
I have gotten SO MUCH use out of mine the past three years, I’d say they’re worth buying and usually are under 30$ for a decent one!
Actually, maybe it’s this sauce. Will try and see.
OMG! that’s not TOO far from me and I have been there! Small world 🙂 Do you know what I need to also make? The amazing sauce that goes on the seafood salad that Thai places serve. Yum Talay.
Yes! I have the Paderno World Cuisine Spiral Slicer and adore it! It has fabulous reviews on amazon too!
is there a spiralizer you recommend? i’m in the market!
Gah I want a spiralizer now! Second day in a row I’ve seen an amazing recipe with one!!
Looks amazing an fun, great excuse to get my spiralizer out. Thanks!
I was waiting for this after I saw your last post – it sounds as scrumdiliumptious as it looks!
OMG this looks so delicious!!
This looks so awesome! I definitely need a spiralizer!
This looks so so good! I think I have all of the ingredients to make this one too!
I’ve got a fancy spiralizer and need to make more use of it too!
Happy Monday lady.
Morning love! It’s the only Thai restaurant in downtown Manassas — I forget the name but it’s the best! And a shallot might work! I haven’t used one raw in a recipe so you might want to do a taste test and if not, just skip the onion altogether? Let me know! Xoxox
YUM!!!!!!! I love these salads at Thai restaurants…add in some shrimp and BOOM. This is epic.
I swear the longer they sit, the better they taste. Extra chopped nuts never hurt either.
Hi Jenn! First I must know which restaurant in VA you’re talking about, just in case it’s close to where I live, but I doubt it 🙂
Second, this looks so delicious, and I have most of the ingredients on hand. And since you’re a chef and I’m … not … let me ask you a n00b question. Can I use a shallot instead of onion? My local produce delivery this week came with shallots. 🙂
Thanks!