Thai Pasta Salad With Spicy Peanut Sauce

Flavorful vegan Thai pasta salad recipe, kid friendly recipe

Thai Pasta Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce is a sample recipe from 'Cooking Vegan' by vegan dietitian Vesanto Melina, and vegan chef Joseph Forest.

While flavorful, this vegan Thai recipe is not so spicy that you can't serve it to children, making it a great dish for the whole family. It was a big hit with our recipe tasters, including the kids!

Thai Pasta Salad will keep for 4 to 5 days in the fridge, stored in a sealed container.

Total prep & cook time: 30 min

Yield: Salad: 8 One Cup Servings. Sauce: 1 3/4 Cups

Nutrition Data 196 cal, 30g carb, 6g fat, 355mg sodium, 3g fiber, 7g protein

Pasta Salad Ingredients:

• 2 quarts water
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 1/2 cups uncooked whole wheat pasta spirals
• 3/4 cup spicy peanut sauce (recipe below)
• 1 cup diced cucumber
• 1 cup sliced green beans
• 1 cup trimmed and sliced snow peas
• 1 cup diced tomatoes

• 1/2 cup roasted peanuts (optional)
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion
• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped cilantro or parsley
• 2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice

Spicy Peanut Sauce Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup salt-free peanut butter
• 1/4 cup peeled and chopped fresh ginger
• 1/4 cup tamari
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp. chili paste
• 2 garlic cloves peeled and chopped

Spicy Peanut Sauce Directions:

1. Put all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and process for 1 minute, or until smooth
2. Stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator, spicy Peanut Sauce will keep for 2 weeks
3. If the sauce thickens after refrigeration, simply stir in a bit of warm water until the desired consistency is achieved

Thai Pasta Salad Directions:

1. Put the water and salt in a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in the pasta and cook until tender yet firm, 9 to 10 minutes
2. Fill a large bowl with cold water. Drain the pasta and plunge it into the cold water. Drain well and transfer to a large bowl
3. Add the sauce, cucumber, green beans, snow peas, tomatoes, optional peanuts, green onion, cilantro, and lime juice. Stir until thoroughly combined

Savvy Veg Recipe Tips:

Avoid the problem of soggy peanuts in refrigerated salad by adding peanuts as a garnish to individual servings rather than mixing them into the salad

Gluten avoiders can substitute brown rice pasta. Tinkyada is one of our favorite brands because it cooks up firm and doesn't fall to bits.

For the Spicy Peanut Sauce: Either half the recipe when making it to go with Thai Pasta Salad, or follow Joseph Forest's advice and save the extra to eat as a dip or as a sauce for stir-fry veggies, rice or noodles.