Thai Noodle Salad

Cold Thai noodle salad is a good choice on hot days when you want to do as little cooking as possible. It’s exactly what you need when you have leftover cooked chicken and is heavy on vegetables. This Thai noodle salad recipe is based on a Westernized version of pad thai and uses spaghetti instead of rice noodles, along with a peanut, lime, sugar and soy sauce blend for dressing.

The pad thai you find in Thailand uses rice noodles, similar to fettuccine in width, and the protein is often shrimp, although chicken is common, too. The sauce is very different, too. Pad Thai combines tamarind concentrate or paste, fish sauce and palm sugar. Some recipes include ingredients like Thai sweet or black soy sauces. And while the dish is usually garnished with chopped peanuts, you likely won’t find peanut butter in the sauce.

If you don’t have the ingredients for pad thai in your pantry, see if you have the ingredients to make this Thai noodle salad instead. Other than the time it takes to cook the noodles and chop up the vegetables, this is one of those recipes where all you have to do is dump ingredients into bowls and stir. It’s as easy as can be and makes a sizable salad for meal prepping or a small get-together.

Thai Noodle Salad Ingredients

• Whole wheat spaghetti: Spaghetti is one of those ingredients that people are likely to have already in their pantry. Whole wheat is preferable because of the extra nutrition.
• Carrots: Carrots add a little crunch, flavor and color. These carrots are julienned and briefly cooked so that they’re not as stiff.
• Creamy peanut butter: This isn’t a typical pad thai ingredient, but you’ll use it in this recipe to make a creamy dressing that complements the chopped peanut garnish. If you want to keep it healthy, choose reduced-fat peanut butter.
• Lime juice: Lime juice is a typical substitute for tamarind, which is found in most pad thai recipes. It adds acidity to the dressing.
• Molasses: Molasses is the sweetener in the sauce and adds a little color compared to plain white or light brown sugar.
• Soy sauce: Soy sauce adds that satisfying umami taste to the dressing. Use reduced sodium to keep any salty taste to a minimum.
• Minced garlic: Garlic lends more flavor to the dressing.
• Rice vinegar: The rice vinegar combines with the lime juice to mimic the tartness of tamarind (this assumes that you’re unable to find tamarind paste or concentrate that easily.)
• Sesame oil: This slightly counters the acidity of the lime juice. It also helps the dressing cling better to the vegetables, noodles and chicken.
• Crushed red pepper flakes: Give the sauce a little kick with dried red pepper flakes. A little goes a long way, so don’t exceed the amount in the instructions. Even if you like spice, that could throw off the balanced taste of the dressing.
• Shredded Chinese or napa cabbage: Cabbage, with the noodles, forms the bulk of the recipe. It also adds fiber and other nutrients.
• Shredded cooked chicken breast: Your protein for this recipe is chicken. Shred the chicken breast instead of cubing or slicing it.
• Minced fresh cilantro: Cilantro adds a fresh note to the salad (at least for those who like cilantro).
• Dry roasted peanuts: Chopped peanuts give the recipe a satisfying, crunchy bite. This recipe calls for unsalted peanuts.

Directions

Step 1: Cook the spaghetti

Cook the spaghetti in a Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot, following the directions on the package. When there are only about two minutes to go, add the carrots.

Step 2: Mix the dressing

While the spaghetti and carrots cook, mix the peanut butter, water, lime juice, molasses, soy sauce, garlic, rice vinegar, sesame oil and red pepper flakes in a bowl and whisk together until blended.

Step 3: Combine everything in a large bowl

Drain the spaghetti and carrots, and place them in a large bowl. Add the cabbage, chicken and then the dressing.  Toss everything to combine.

Step 4: Add a garnish

Sprinkle the cilantro and chopped peanuts on top of the salad. Serve immediately, or refrigerate the salad until you’re ready to eat it.

Thai Noodle Salad Variations

• Use other noodles: This Thai Noodle Salad recipe uses spaghetti because many people already have it in their kitchen. But if you have rice noodles, go right ahead and use those, especially if they’re slightly thicker than vermicelli-type noodles. Remember to soak the rice noodles first according to package directions. You could also use linguine (also spelled “linguini”) and fettuccine or even soba or udon noodles as possible substitutes.
•  Make it vegetarian: If you don’t want chicken and want to make this recipe vegetarian, use cubed extra-firm tofu or pressed tofu. Just ensure it has been expelled of as much water as possible. Tofu soaks up sauces, so give the cubes a few minutes to absorb flavors before serving.

How to Store Thai Noodle Salad

Refrigerate any leftovers within two hours of making the salad. Store in an airtight container so odors from the salad don’t fill your refrigerator. Eat the rest of the salad within two to three days if the chicken was freshly cooked, for every day that the chicken was already cooked and waiting to be used, subtract a day of storage for the leftover salad. For example, if the chicken has already been cooked and sitting in the refrigerator for two days, either eat all of the salad the day you make it, or store it for no more than one day.

Can you freeze cold Thai noodle salad?

This recipe doesn’t freeze well. We don’t mean that it won’t technically freeze, but rather that the texture of the salad once it thaws will change for the worse. The spaghetti may be mushy, the cabbage would look wilted because its cells would have burst after thawing, and trying to safely reheat the chicken would mean the rest of the salad would have to be overcooked.

Thai Noodle Salad Tips

Does the spaghetti have to be whole wheat?

If you’re sticking with spaghetti instead of using one of the noodle substitutes mentioned before, you can use regular spaghetti. Whole wheat spaghetti is denser and chewier than regular spaghetti, so the way the salad feels when you chew will change. But if you don’t have whole wheat spaghetti or don’t like it for whatever reason, use what you have.

Can this be eaten warm?

If you’ve just cooked the spaghetti, carrots and chicken and are eating the salad right away, you can certainly have it while those ingredients are still warm. You don’t need to let everything cool until it’s cold. Reheating isn’t the best option if you’ve stored the salad in the refrigerator for a while. The cabbage is meant to be eaten cold and will change in texture once warmed.

Can you leave out the cilantro?

If you’re one of those people who thinks cilantro tastes like soap, yes, leave it out. The finished salad may seem like it’s lacking something in the flavor, but it’s better to miss that extra bit of flavor than make the salad taste soapy.