When Abra and I used to work in person together every day we would usually make giant chopped salads for lunch. They were honestly one of our favorite things to make because they’re easy to throw together and such a great way to get your veggies in.
Plus, who doesn’t love a good homemade dressing?
This chopped Thai-inspired chickpea salad takes about 15 minutes to make and involves a lip-smacking good peanut butter dressing that’s infused with curry and turmeric. It’s earthy, nutty, and makes me wanna do a backflip right into the bowl. Ready for some lunch magic? Good.
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Ingredients in this Thai-inspired chickpea salad
I mean, look how gorgeous all of those colors are! We’re chopping up tons of fresh veggies and tossing them together with protein-packed chickpeas and an addicting curry peanut dressing. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Produce: this salad has red bell pepper, shredded carrot, red cabbage, jalapeño, green onion, and fresh cilantro.
- Chickpeas: get tons of delicious protein and fiber from a can of chickpeas!
- For the dressing: this creamy curry peanut dressing is made with peanut butter, fresh ginger, garlic, lime juice, soy sauce, yellow curry powder, turmeric, and cayenne pepper for a kick of heat.
- To garnish: I like to top the salad with extra chopped cilantro, green onion, and cashews or peanuts.
Customize this salad
This easy Thai-inspired chickpea salad is great for mixing and matching with your fav salad ingredients. Here’s what I can recommend:
- Choose your veggies: feel free to use whatever you have on hand! Finely chopped broccoli, brussels sprouts, or greens like leafy kale would be great.
- Try a new dressing: the curry peanut dressing is absolutely delicious, but this salad would also be perfect with this Sesame Ginger Dressing.
- More ways to enjoy: try wrapping this salad up in a large tortilla to enjoy it as a wrap, or add cooked ramen or rice noodles for wonderful texture!
More ways to add protein
If you’re feeling like you want this salad to be more filling and hearty, here are a few options I suggest adding:
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- Cooked shrimp or chicken (this Grilled Sesame Chicken would be perfect!)
- Another can of chickpeas
- Sautéed or grilled tofu
The perfect meal prep salad
I love throwing it in a mason jar for a lunch on the go, or packing as a travel meal when on days you have to the airport and don’t want to eat those nasty soggy sandwiches covered in plastic and stuffed with some funky lookin’ deli meat (been there before). Feel free to chop your veggies 1-2 days ahead of time, and make & store the dressing in the fridge so you can easily throw the salad together!
Storing tips
Store any leftover salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. The veggies will hold up nicely and marinate in the dressing over time!
More salad recipes you’ll love
- Famous Crunchy Cashew Thai-Inspired Quinoa Salad
- Herby Olive Italian Orzo Salad
- Spicy Ranch Chopped Chicken Cabbage Salad
- The Easiest Chopped Greek Chickpea Salad
- Spicy Cashew Chickpea Broccoli Salad with Ginger Peanut Dressing
Get all of my salad recipes here!
I hope you LOVE this Thai-inspired chickpea salad recipe as much as we did. Leave me know if you make it by leaving a comment below, or snapping a photo and tagging #ambitiouskitchen on Instagram. xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Chopped Thai-Inspired Chickpea Salad with Curry Peanut Dressing
Ingredients
- For the salad:
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup shredded carrots (from the bag)
- 1/2 small head of red cabbage, chopped (about 2-3cups shredded cabbage)
- 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup finely chopped green onion
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and diced
- For the curry peanut butter dressing:
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon lime juice or or rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1-2 teaspoons yellow curry powder
- ¼ teaspoon red cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 3-4 tablespoons warm water, to thin dressing
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- To garnish:
- Extra cilantro
- Sliced green onion
- 1/4 cup roasted cashews or peanuts
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add red bell pepper, carrot, cabbage, chickpeas, cilantro, green onion and jalapeño.
- In a small bowl, mix together the dressing ingredients: peanut butter, ginger, garlic, lime juice or vinegar, soy sauce or coconut aminos, curry powder, cayenne pepper, and turmeric. Mix to combine. Add water to thin to make a dressing like consistency that’s easily pourable. Taste and add salt and pepper, as necessary.
- Pour dressing over salad and mix well to combine. Garnish with roasted cashews and cilantro. Serves 4.
Recipe Notes
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on August 16th, 2018, and republished on May 7th, 2023.
How much is a serving exactly?
I come back to this salad all the time. The amount of nutrients in here with the incredible crunch is just the best. And it’s so flavorful the next day too! Love all of her recipes!
One of my all-time favs, too 🙂 Glad you love it!
Thank you for this recipe. It’s really delicious. I did some changes as i didn’t have chickpeas and instead i used red kidney beans. I also used peanuts instead of cashew nuts and added chopped halloumi cheese. My husband and myself really enjoyed this salad and i will make it again for sure.
This one’s great for customizing! Glad you both enjoyed!
Lots of chopping, but easy to assemble. But – this baby has some heat! You may want to scale back on either the cayenne or the jalapenos, or both if your family have inexperienced pallets!
Yes, feel free to omit either if you’re sensitive to spice! I find that de-seeding the jalapeño helps, but sometimes you get an extra spicy pepper.
This was a wonderful recipe! I had some Tuscan kale so added that and I had some crispy baked tofu that I used in lieu of the garbanzo beans. The dressing recipe is fantastic….and I didn’t have regular peanut butter so used rehydrated powdered peanut butter instead. The flavors were just great. It was a huge hit at the dinner table and I’m looking forward to taking leftovers with me for lunch tomorrow. This recipe will definitely go into rotation. Thanks for your great work, delicious recipes, and beautiful photography.
Perfect! So glad you loved it!
It would be super helpful if you put the number of servings near the nutrition facts instead of in the directions.
I found the sauce super intense, but the salad itself kind of mediocre. Not sure what could’ve been better as all the classic flavors are represented. I have added some sweetness to my sauce for the next batch. Overall, a really beautiful salad.
Hi! The number of servings is also listed right above the ingredients. Sorry to hear that you didn’t love this one – a little extra sweetness sounds great!
Easy and delicious
Made this for dinner. Added tofu (pan browned). Used lime juice, low sodium soy sauce. Very helpful to use bagged up shredded carrots and red cabbage. Preparation was very easy. Tasted great! Will try as a chicken salad next time.
Perfect! Sounds delicious!
Wow, this salad is so freaking delicious! I am NOT a fan of cabbage, and this salad had me wanting thirds – it’s that good. The dressing is what makes it so golly darn yummy; it’s incredible (the garbanzos and toasted cashews are super tasty too). Excellent recipe! I’m actually excited to eat more cabbage thanks to this one!
Amazing!! Glad you gave this one a try!
I made this recipe exactly as written and it was phenomenal. Both my husband and I loved it. Used my food processor for the carrots and cabbage, which saved me some time but made for a very fresh salad. Thank you SO much for sharing your healthy and delicious recipes, especially meal prep ideas options this one. I have some in my lunch box to enjoy later today. Really appreciate all you do! 🙂
Perfect! So glad you both enjoyed!
Delicious! We really enjoyed it. Can you tell me more about what makes it “Thai inspired” other than the peanut butter? I’m curious to learn more about the origins of the inspiration.
So glad you enjoyed it! I took inspiration from one of my favorite Thai yellow curry dishes by making a dressing with spices like yellow curry powder, ginger, turmeric, cayenne pepper, etc. 🙂 plus those fresh herb toppings!
Please add a “Jump to Recipe” Button! I will only try and rate, if you have a button to make it easier to get to the recipe. I know how to cook, I don’t need all the detailed instructions and pictures!!!
Hi! We have one at the top of the post right under the square photo 🙂
So delicious and fresh! I didn’t have any ginger on hand, but the dressing was still good without it. Added some kale to mine too. Can’t wait to eat it for my lunches this week!
The perfect meal prep lunch! Great idea to add some green with kale.
This was Very Good. Thank you!
It looked like there was honey in the peanut butter curry sauce in your video, but I don’t see it on this recipe. What makes it sweet?
Hi! Hmmm there’s no honey – it’s a pretty savory dressing! You may have seen some vinegar go in in the video? Curry powder also has a mild sweetness 🙂
My New Year’s resolution is to be one of those people who eats yummy salads and this was the first one I tried. What a freaking gem! I will eat this all week (because apparently it keeps, amazing). Thanks.
Amazing! So glad you loved it!
I meal prepped this as lunch and it looked fantastic. The next day the weather was so cold that a cold salad didn’t sound good for lunch. I decided to try cooking it up as a stir fry and it was amazing! My husband ate his cold and loved it too. Definitely a great recipe!
Oo great idea to make it into a stir fry! Glad you both enjoyed!
This salad is incredible! I love it so much and make it all the time. I add golden raisins and toast the raw cashews – highly recommend!
I made this yesterday for a large gathering and received many compliments. It is super tasty. I used a little apple cider vinegar in the dressing as my limes were not very juicy. I would definitely make this again.
To serve as a main course just add chicken or prawns .
Great tip to make up for the acidity with some ACV! Glad it was a hit 🙂
I loved this recipe!! So colorful, yummy and healthy!!
Yess! All the things, glad you’re loving this recipe!
This looks both satisfying and healthy. It also seems very easy to prepare and perfect for meal prepping! I think I’ll make it today, maybe with a couple of substitutions. Thank you! 🙂
Yes and yes! Hope you enjoy!
Both myself and my husband loved this salad
Though my husband thought it could be sweeter.
I loved it as is. But i added just a tablespoon of honey. And he was happy.
Thank you!
Hi! I made this salad as meal prep for a dinner this week, with your Grilled Sesame Chicken as well, and I personally loved this 😋 I was looking for a fresh Asian-inspired alternative for dinner, and this was totally up for the part! Delicious 🤩
Sounds amazing! I am so glad you loved this salad and it turns out great for you, Dora!
Made this twice in one week it was SO. GOOD. I left out the jalapeno since I didn’t have one but it was plenty spicy with the cayenne in the dressing and the whole thing was just addictingly good. Shared the recipe with so many friends already and such a wonderful way to have a veggie full, plant based meal!
Ahh yay! I am so glad you found this recipe and it is a hit ❤️