Crunchy Cold Thai Noodle Salad with The Best Peanut Sauce

Crispy Thai Cold noodle salad infused with spicy peanut sauce, fresh veggies, cilantro, and crunchy peanuts.

Did you ever have a dish or a style of food that you just fell head over in love with? I mean you all know that pizza is my all-time favorite food but when it comes to anything with spicy peanut sauce, I’m in LOVE!

I think it all started with my love of peanut butter. Peanut butter was one of those things that I would eat when I refused to eat what Mom made. I was seriously super finicky as a child.

PB&J, peanut butter on bread, or even on saltines, and I was in heaven. It was only natural that when I had my first taste of a Thai dish with peanut sauce I fell hard in love.

Deliciously Simple

What I love about this dish is its simplicity. If you’re like me, you already have a jar of Spicy Peanut Sauce prepared but if not, that’s ok! It takes mere minutes to whisk up!

After that, it’s just basic ingredients from the pantry and the fridge.

Grab Your Ingredients

The best thing about this recipe is you can use what veggies you have on hand. Fresh is best though. And if you don’t have specific Thai Noodles or even Asian noodles, you can easily use spaghetti or even linguine noodles.

Pantry Ingredients

• Lo Mein, Thai, Soba, Spaghetti or Linguine Noodles
• Jar of Roasted Peanuts
• Toasted Sesame Seeds

From The Fridge

• Red, Orange, and Yellow Bell Pepper
• Cilantro
• Watermelon Radish (or regular radish)
• Persian Cucumbers
• Matchstick Carrots

Additional Items

• Spicy Peanut Sauce

Whether you use it for noodle dishes, salads, a dipping sauce, or spring rolls, this is THE BEST Spicy Peanut Sauce! A delicious blend of peanut butter and Asian flavors that is finger-licking good.

Let’s Make Cold Thai Noodle Salad

This dish could not be any easier to make.

While you’re cooking your noodles you can julienne cut up the veggies. I cheated (as I hate Julienne cutting carrots) and used packaged matchstick carrots.

Chef’s Tip For The Noodles

• When the noodles are done, drain the water and immediately run cold water over the noodles for 5 minutes. You need to chill them down fast.
• Also, while you’re running cold water on the noodles, you need to move the noodles around with either clean fingers or tongs. This helps to keep the noodles separated while they are being rinsed. This is important

1. To a very big bowl, add the cold noodles followed by the veggies.
2. Using tongs or large salad fork/spoon, mix the noodles with the veggies
3. Next, add about 3/4 of a cup of the peanut sauce and mix with tongs. The noodles and veggies will only be lightly coated. You don’t want to saturate the noodles/veggies but simply coat them.

4. Add on the cilantro, chopped peanuts, and sesame seeds. Toss to combine.
5. If the mixture looks a tad dry you can add a little more sauce. Just make sure to reserve some for serving.

Eat Now or Chill for Married Flavors

With this salad, you have 2 choices:

• Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes; or
• Serve immediately

If I can hold off, I prefer to let this chill for about 30 minutes to let the flavors marry together. The longer the better if you ask me to be honest.

Serving Crunchy Cold Asian Noodle Salad

Right before serving this, I will toss one last time and add a few more tablespoons of the spicy peanut sauce. Again, it’s not “saucy” like pasta but rather just coated and smooth.

On the side, I’ll also serve a side of spicy peanut sauce as some folks like to dip into the sauce whereas others want it saucy like regular pasta.

Now I’m sure you’re wondering why I use a fork instead of chopsticks. Simply put, even as a Chef, I cannot master using them. I’ve tried a million times and nope… my fingers just do not work that way.

You, however, are more than welcome to use chopsticks. And hey if you have any tips on mastering them, let me know!

Storing Leftover Cold Thai Noodle Salad

You have a few options really though it can’t be frozen.

1. Portion out into weekly meal prep containers.
2. Store in a large, covered dish and take out a plate when you want some.

Heating This Salad

If you’re like me and you are curious if this is good, heated the answer is YES! Well, more like it’s warm rather than ‘hot’.

I still rinsed my noodles for 5 minutes and made the salad per the recipe but when I went to have it for leftovers, I put it in the microwave for about 35-40 seconds.

What this did was warm up the noodles ever so slightly and the sauce as well.

Not sure if this is “against the rules” but it was pretty freaking delicious warmed.

Crunchy Thai Cold Peanut Salad Additions

I’m not going to go into the veggie additions as honestly there are millions of ways you could go with this. Instead, let’s talk about ways to make this heartier.

• Cooked Shrimp – if eating it cold, add cold shrimp. If eating it warmed, add sauteed shrimp (I’d go with sriracha spiced shrimp)
• Cooked Chicken – I would add ginger/honey/peanut/asian spiced cubed chicken. That’s a great addition of protein
• Steak – Grill up a ribeye or sirloin marinated in vegetable oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and dark brown sugar. When done slice thinly and top the salad with this
• Cooked Quinoa – this adds a bit more texture and body to the dish

What would you add?

Keto-Friendly/Gluten-Free Thai Salad Substitutions

• For the Peanut Sauce, see the recipe post as I give you instructions there.
• Noodles – I would go with Gluten Free Noodles or Shiritake noodles

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