Quinoa Crunch Salad! Crunchy rainbow veggies, juicy fresh mango, fluffy quinoa, chili lime cashews, and a creamy peanut dressing.
Quinoa Crunch Salad with Peanut Dressing
Featured comment
This was fantastic. Took it for lunch today and was super proud of myself for the healthy deliciousness that I had.
Jennifer
This recipe is sponsored by ALDI
Quinoa Crunch Salad?
With loads of crunchy fresh veggies like carrots, bell peppers, cabbage, and edamame?
Plus juicy fresh mango?
And fluffy quinoa tossed with a few handfuls of chili lime cashews?
Covered in a just-the-right-amount-of-spicy peanut dressing?
Um, let me think. HARD YES.
I’m a big fan of crunch salads – see also this Thai Noodle Salad which is so punchy and delicious that it still visits me in my dreams sometimes, and the Crunchy Shrimp Salad which is basically an excuse to eat those home-fried wonton strips on top, and then this Cashew Crunch Salad which was the cold, sweet-and-savory magic I needed to get through my summer pregnancy – complete with retro chow mein noodles and everything.
This crunch salad is no exception to the Lindsay-Loves-Crunch-Salads Rule. It is a rainbow to behold.
Bonus is the fact that many of our essential ingredients were purchased – for a steal – at the grocery store adored by everyone and their mom: ALDI.
My personal favorite thing about ALDI is that I can AFFORDABLY stock up on the healthy eating basics, including organics because life is awesome. Like, we’re talking multi-huge-bags of quinoa, dried mangoes, canned beans, and chili lime cashews that are sitting in my pantry aka basement.
My second favorite thing about ALDI is that I can now use Instacart to deliver it right to my house. This is a relatively new thing in my life (ALDI + Instacart), and you guys, I legitimately never go to the store anymore. There’s a tiny baby in my house. There’s a 30% chance that I’m dressed in real clothes. It’s fifty million degrees below zero.
We’ll take the delivered-right-to-your-door thing. ♡
And you can too! Right here, right now. If you’re a first-time ALDI Instacart shopper, you can grab $10 off your first three ALDI orders of $35 or more with the code ALDIPOY. Pretty great, right?
I know technically we’re not to Friday’s meal prep recipe yet, but may I suggest this recipe, in little (er, HUGE) pre-portioned containers, waiting for you for lunch this week?
Fresh veggies, powerhouse quinoa, peanut dressing and bites of crunchy and sweet… you were made for this moment.
Check Out Our Video For How To Make Quinoa Crunch Salad:
Quinoa Crunch Salad with Peanut Dressing
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 huge servings 1x
Description
Quinoa Crunch Salad! Crunchy rainbow veggies, juicy fresh mango, fluffy quinoa, chili lime cashews, and some creamy peanut dressing.
Ingredients
Scale
Quinoa Salad:
- 2–3 cups shelled edamame
- 2 cups Simply Nature Organic Quinoa
- 1 cucumber, diced
- 1–2 bell peppers, diced
- 2 ripe mangoes, diced
- 3 carrots, shredded
- half a head of purple cabbage, shredded
- sliced almonds, peanuts, cashews, etc. (I used the addicting Southern Grove Chili Lime Cashews from ALDI)
Peanut Dressing:
- 1/2 cup Simply Nature Creamy Peanut Butter
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/3 cup vinegar (white distilled or rice vinegar)
- 1/4 cup sesame oil
- 1–2 tablespoons chili paste like sambal oelek
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 knob of fresh ginger, peeled
Instructions
- Cooked stuff: Cook the quinoa and edamame according to package directions.
- Veggies: Chop everything up. It will take a little while. Put on some good music and light a candle and a glass of wine wouldn’t hurt.
- Dressing: Give it all a whirl in the food processor or blender.
- Serve: Assemble individual salads, or toss it all together.
Notes
If You Want To Be Extra: This is really good with a handful of dried fruit thrown in the mix. Dried mango, golden raisins, dried cherries… all good choices.
Storage: I stored all the veggies together in one container, but I kept the quinoa and the dressing separate. It should last you for the week!
Dressing: If you find yourself with extra dressing (I never do, but I’m a dressing hog), you can also freeze it for another time!
Amounts: If you want to be very methodical about it and make sure you get your 6 servings balanced out, you’ll use about 3/4 cup quinoa, 1/4 cup dressing and 1+ cup veggies per salad.
Nutrition Info: Most of the calories come from the quinoa and dressing. To make this a lower-calorie salad, use less dressing or higher veggies than quinoa.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Salad
- Method: Chop
- Cuisine: Asian-Inspired
Keywords: quinoa crunch salad, quinoa salad, peanut dressing
Thank you to ALDI for sponsoring this post!
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our collection of best healthy vegetarian recipes. Check it out!
Filed Under: All Recipes Bell Pepper Carrot Dairy-Free Healthy Lunch Quinoa Recipes Salads Sugar Free January Sugar-Free Vegetarian Winter
January 14, 2019
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
Did you make a recipe? Tag @pinchofyum on Instagram so we can find you!
Hi! This looks delicious but I am wondering, what kind of vinegar should be used?
I was wondering the same thing! However, usually when they want a particular vinegar it’s specified so I just went ahead with white vinegar. Can I just say this dressing is to die for!! My new favourite salad! ❤️
It can be said to be a convenient sauce. It can be used for many different dishes.
I love quinoa! I make a quinoa salad with melon and feta, it’s so good!
Chloe X http://www.chloelxuise.com/
Yum!
Wish you had posted the calories and serving size.
This sounds so refreshing!!
Thanks, Kelli! Definitely is!
This looks good, can u post the nutritional info for the recipe?
Thx
This looks like a delicious and super-easy vegetarian recipe – I love peanut sauce on anything! I recently made an eggplant with spicy peanut sauce dish: http://www.actuallytasty.com/index.php/2019/01/01/spicy-peanut-eggplant/
quinoa is a good food to ingest because it’s great for men looking to naturally raise testosterone levels. Peanuts are also great to because they contain natural oil and healthy fat. But I never thought of quinoa crunch salad with peanut dressing. That’s quite creative for people on a strict diet looking to lose weight and stay on track by doing the transformation work. I made double back to this post later down the road or a few years from now after I lose a few more pounds just to see if I can put this meal together myself. Thank you for this thought-provoking and creative healthy dish, Lindsay. 🙂
I just gotta say I really love you and your recipes! I love the way you write! I love every recipe I have ever made from your posts! Thank you for being a bright spot!
Thanks so much for the comment, Mary!
Wow I am definitely digging that dressing. The salty, sweet and spicy….love it! (:
Looks great…except for the mango…going to go with pineapple instead…don’t understand how people can eat a fruit that tastes like the smell of Pine Sol.
You’re hilarious!! And your food is amazing, too. I kind of want to be friends IRL. Creepy much…? Lol
Hi! I Tried this “quinoa crunch salad with peanut dressing” and its quite good. thanks for the recipe and please email me some more delicious recipes.
This looks amazing! If you Had to, I don’t want to, but if you had to use something more accessible than mango, what would it be? I live in a rural area and can’t always find mango.
I forgot to use the mango entirely, and it was still so good! Just topped with bell peppers, cabbage, cucumbers, cashews, red onion and the dressing. Didn’t miss the mango, though I’m sure it would be delicious too.
I’m literally eating those chili lime cashews as I find this recipe! XD
My Aldi used to have edamame in the freezer section but they don’t anymore. Can’t seem to find edamame anywhere, any suggestions?
Kroger carries mukimame which is their name for shelled edammame.
Looks really good. Do you think the peanut dressing would work for a stir fry?
Hi I’m new to your site and have just made and eaten your Quinoa crunch salad which looked and tasted wonderful.. and now just put the spiced apple cake in the oven and can’t wait to try that. Being in the UK I have had to find out what some of your other ingredients are called here but having become vegetarian 2 years ago after developing an aversion to meat I have found it hard to find inspiration but now your site has changed all that, thank you so much.
Hey Lindsay! I’m also curious about the type of vinegar used and if your “knob” of ginger was small or large. Those things are so wonky looking, any additional info on size would be great! Excited to make tonight!
Aldi, PLEASE come to Colorado Springs!!!!
I have made this twice and LOVE it!!! So does my husband!
Glad to hear it, Kelly!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic!! I left out the honey and it was plenty sweet without it. This is going into regular rotation.
Lindsay – My daughter is begging for me to make this salad but she is highly allergic to peanuts. Could you offer an alternative to the peanut dressing that we might try? I’ve recently gone Vegan (about ten weeks ago) for health reasons, and your recipes have been a huge help in my new lifestyle. Thank you so much!
Almond butter might be the best swap! 🙂
It looks so colorful! I love this salad recipe! It has few ingredients which means that i won’t run around a lot. And It’s also easy to think that quinoa is a boring food to eat. I have been experimenting cooking quinoa in a rice cooker lately and this quinoa salad recipe makes it perfect for my quinoa leftover.
Thanks again for a great recipe!
This was absolutely delicious. I made it almost exactly as written. My only change was using toasted, slivered almonds in place of cashews. YUM!
This was fantastic. Took it for lunch today and was super proud of myself for the healthy deliciousness that I had.
I,im from israel,love your recipes.
We dint have mango all year long.
Sonathing insted?
Tnx