This Rainbow Pad Thai Zucchini Noodles Salad is my go-to recipe in the summer! It’s a no-cook recipe where the zucchini is spiralized and added to the salad raw. It’s a great way to use up lots of zucchini, and if you’ve never had it raw before, you’re in for a treat. You can add your choice of protein to make this a full meal. It’s also naturally vegan, gluten-free, paleo, and dairy free making it a great recipe for most diets.
Can you ever get enough of Pad Thai? I’m thinking not, as it hasn’t happened to me yet! Today’s version of Pad Thai is far from the classic but stick with me because Pad Thai is delicious in all its forms.
I’ll admit to being of the school of thinking ‘Why mess with a good thing’, but over the years I’ve begun to branch out with my recipes. And today’s salad version of Pad Thai is just such a recipe. With the warmer weather of summer coming, I wanted to create all the same comforting flavors, but in the refreshing form of a salad.
So I pulled together a rainbow of veggies along with zucchini noodles and topped them with a flavorful Pad Thai dressing. And despite it being a departure from the classic, it’s been a huge hit. So if you love Pad Thai, but want something bright and refreshing for the summer months, I’ve got you covered!
I kept the recipe 100% vegan which makes it great to take to any potluck because it fits so many different diet restrictions, (paleo, clean eating, gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegetarian to name a few). Sometimes though I do add a bit of fish sauce to the dressing, and top it with grilled chicken/shrimp for protein. With a bit of added protein, it makes a substantial meal, with no need to turn the stove on – which is a big bonus in my book!
Traditional Pad Thai sauce never has peanut butter/cashew butter in it. But I feel this super creamy sauce with the touch of cashew butter really makes this salad!
After you’ve blended up the dressing, it’s on to the spiralized zucchini and cucumber noodles. I used the 6mm blade on the Paderno 3-blade spiralizer because it creates a thicker noodle that I love in this salad.
Finally, you chop up all the veggies along with fresh mango. I love using the Champagne/Ataulfo variety of mango, (recognizable by its yellow/orange skin) because it’s extra sweet with a silky smooth texture.
Finally, a sprinkling of chopped cashews, and a little fresh cilantro is the perfect finish. If you want to pack some of this for lunch the next day, keep the cashews and dressing separately. The salad without the mango and avocado will keep up to 4 days. But the mango and avocado do tend to brown after 24 hours, so be sure and add it in fresh.
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Rainbow Pad Thai Zucchini Noodle Salad
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Ingredients
Pad Thai Dressing:
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 Tablespoon minced ginger
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 Teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos
- 1 Teaspoon tamarind paste
- 1 Teaspoon maple syrup
- 1/3 cup avocado oil
- 1/4 cup cashew butter, (or almond/sunflower seed/peanut butter)
Salad Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 pounds zucchini, spiralized into noodles, 7 cups
- 1 – 8 ounce cucumber spiralized, 3 cups
- 1 cup grated carrot
- 2 cups shredded purple cabbage
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion
- 1 1/2 cups cubed mango, 10 ounces, from 1-2
- 2 cups thinly sliced red bell pepper, 8 ounces, from 1
- 1 ripe avocado, cubed
Garnishes:
- 1/2 cup toasted chopped cashews
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients for the dressing into a blender, and blend until smooth. Refrigerate the dressing until you’re ready to serve, or up to 4 days.
- Spiralize the zucchini and cucumber into noodles using the spiralizer of your choice. I used the Paderno 3-blade spiralizer with the 6 mm blade for a slightly thicker noodle.
- Then place the spiralized noodles along with all the chopped veggies and mango into a serving bowl, or pile them onto a larger serving platter.
- Garnish the salad by sprinkling the cashews and cilantro over the top. Then serve the salad with the dressing on the side.
- If you’d like to keep the salad for more than 24 hours, keep the dressing and cashews separate, and add the mango and avocado fresh when you’re ready to eat it. I often pack this salad into meal prep containers, with small containers of dressing alongside. Then I add the mango and avocado fresh so they don’t brown.
Notes
The dressing makes about 1 1/2 cups. You may have leftovers which are great on regular leafy green salads as well.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
This isn’t raw. Looks delicious though.
It’s categorized under ‘mostly raw’ hopefully that helps, the bulk of this salad is raw with just a couple of ingredients that aren’t and can easily be modified to be completely raw if you desire!
What can I use in place of Tamarinf paste. It is hard to find?
Thanks
You can use a bit of fresh lime juice to taste in place of the tamarind paste. I order mine from Amazon because it’s not something I can find locally. Let me know how it goes and what you end up trying!
Love this!!! This is a weekly item on my vegetarian diet!
So glad to hear you’ve been enjoying this one, I love all the fresh flavors!
Hi Kari,
I’m looking for the pictures of the salad making with the spiralizer through google.
I found your repice looks soooo good.
May I put one of your images besides our spiralizer on our new website?
If you like, you can put your mark on it.
Really appreciated, if you promit us to use.
Thank you.
Hi Carol, thanks so much for asking and you can use an image if you’d like, but I just ask that you link back to the recipe that’s in the photo.
I love that you use cashew butter in your dressing! The colors of this dish are just incredible.
Thanks so much, I’m a bit of a cashew butter fanatic!
Love how colorful and flavorful this recipe is. Thanks for sharing !
Thanks so much!
This is so gorgeous! What a beautiful feast with all of those veggies. I bet this Pad Thai tastes amazing!
Thanks so much!
I don’t see anything wrong with “messing” with Pad Thai when you’re using zucchini noodles! And, it’s always great to have a versatile, multi-diet recipe for potlucks.
I don’t mind messing around with classics either! 🙂