This super healthy and delicious Thai broccoli salad is loaded with colorful veggies and a mouthwatering spicy peanut butter dressing. This healthy broccoli salad is gluten-free, vegan and makes the perfect side dish or main dish any night of the week!
This post is sponsored by the National Peanut Board. I received compensation, but all opinions and content are my own.
This post is for all of the peanut butter lovers! The die hard fans, the “peanut butter is life kind of people”.
Is that you? Cool, I thought so.
There is a very simple formula to making life better it’s called, put some peanut butter on it.
Cookies = good
Peanut butter cookies = amazing
Chocolate pie = good
Peanut butter chocolate pie = OH MY GOOD GRACIOUS! Yes!
Banana smoothie = good
Peanut butter banana smoothie = My preferred breakfast every single day.
You see where I’m going with this.
This week I made a life changing discovery, it goes like this:
Broccoli = good
Broccoli coated in a spicy peanut dressing = Cue the band, drop the mic, life has changed.
Are you with me? Peanut butter and broccoli have met my friends, and something magical has happened.
Peanut butter has been a constant companion in my life, a true friend, always there when I need a little pick me up. In my early days as a nutritionist, I played around with other nut butters, to only quickly come back to peanut butter over and over again.
There is always at least one jar of peanut butter in my pantry, currently there are 3, and now after creating this recipe, I will have to stock 4. Peanut butter all day e’ryday. Ya feel me?
How to Make Thai Broccoli Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing
Begin by making the dressing, whisk together peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, sriracha, ginger, garlic, and lime juice. Set aside and try not to keep eating the dressing by the spoonful.
Prep your veggies by shredding cabbage, chopping scallions and cilantro, and blanching your broccoli.
Blanching basically means to immerse your veggies in boiling water for a few minutes and then plunge into ice water. It preserves the color of the vegetable and in the case of broccoli removes bitterness and that unpleasant totally raw flavor.
Then you will simply combine your veggies and dressing, top with additional salted peanuts (optional) and additional sliced chilis, also optional but I love that extra kick of spice.
Is Peanut Butter the Most Versatile Nutritious Ingredient?
Here’s the thing, I have a spreadsheet of recipe ideas for this blog which is currently 187 recipes deep. When the National Peanut Board reached out to me about partnering together to create a delicious peanut butter centric recipe I was PSYCHED! I jumped over to my recipe idea spreadsheet and do you know how many peanut butter recipes I had?
36.
36 peanut butter recipe ideas. That my friends is peanut butter dedication. It also got me thinking, how versatile is peanut butter? From breakfast to a quick snack, a nutritious lunch (like in this peanut zucchini noodles) to a nourishing crave-able dinner like a spicy peanut chicken curry, to the best desserts every created. There is good reason to have peanut butter as a staple ingredient in your pantry!
And yes, I will get to work on those other 35 peanut butter recipes right away!
Is Peanut Butter Good For You?
Technically peanuts belong to the legume family (beans, lentils, etc.), but they are a legume that behave like a nut – why hasn’t someone put that on a t-shirt yet?!
Peanut butter is a well-balanced food containing all 3 macronutrients; protein, carbohydrates, and fat with half of their weight coming from fat, and by now you should know how much I love my fat!
A 2-tablespoon serving of peanut butter contains:
- 188 calories
- 16 grams of fat, but more than half of that is monounsaturated fat.
- 6 grams of total carbohydrates
- 2 grams of dietary fiber
- 8 grams of protein
You also get quite a nutrition punch in those two tablespoons. Peanut butter is rich in Vitamin B3 (niacin) and manganese. Plus, it’s a good source of Vitamin E, magnesium and phosphorus.
Woohoo peanuts!
Spicy Thai Broccoli Salad with Peanut Butter Dressing Thoughts
Now that we have established two very important facts:
- Peanut butter is my life
- Peanut butter is good for you
We just have to agree that you will make this broccoli salad and share it with all of your friends, or don’t share, eat it all, that’s cool too 🙂
Bring this salad to your next summer bbq, serve as a side dish with some simple protein, add to soba noodles or spaghetti for an extra special treat, or just make for yourself and eat it as lunchtime meal prep all week long.
For more delicious peanut butter recipes for every occasion, head here.
Spicy Thai Broccoli Salad with Peanut Dressing
Ingredients
- 6 cups broccoli florets
- 3 cups red cabbage, shredded
- 3 scallions, sliced
- 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 3 small Thai red chilis, sliced (or jalapeno)
- 1/4 cup salted peanuts
Spicy Peanut Dressing
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp Sriracha sauce
- 2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 2 tsp sugar
- 3 tbsp water
Instructions
Spicy Peanut Dressing
- Whisk together all ingredients and set aside.
Broccoli Salad
- Prepare the broccoli by boiling for 3 minutes until bright green. Remove from boiling water and add to an ice water bath to stop cooking. Remove from water bath and add to a large bowl with shredded cabbage, scallions, cilantro, and sliced chilis.
- Pour peanut dressing over salad – NOTE – you may not need all the dressing. Try the salad using 1/2 the dressing, and then add more as needed.
- Toss the salad well and top with salted peanuts and additional chilis.
- Serve immediately. Leftovers can be stored in refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Add soba noodles or spaghetti to leftovers and toss with additional peanut dressing – YUM!
- If you have additional dressing leftover use it for roasted veggies, a grain salad, or zucchini noodles.
