Meow Recipes: Cashew Crunch Salad with Sesame Dressing

Cashew Crunch Salad in a bowl with a spoon.

What’s it called when you want something that tastes really, really good… but is also basically a high pile of fresh, vibrant, feel-good-in-your-body vegetables? You call it Cashew Crunch Salad, that’s what you call it.

This Salad Is Checking All The Boxes

Lunch rolls around and my internal conversation goes like this:

I’m hungry.
What would taste awesome right now?
No, wait, what would be super healthy right now? Because…mocha peanut butter pie?
No, but what would actually fill me up?
WAIT WAIT WAIT what about that salad with the sesame dressing that is awesome-tasting AND healthy AND keeps me full because it’s full of so many friendly fats and good stuff?
Yes! I love salad!
I love vegetables!
I love life!

That’s an actual transcript of my internal dialogue. These are the terms I think in: tastes amazing, mostly healthy, still fills me up.

Let’s Discuss This Sesame Dressing

The dressing might be my favorite part of this mix-up.

It’s an oil-and-vinegar dressing that you can shake up in a jar, sweetened up with a little sugar, seasoned with a little sesame oil, and… if you are me… creamified with a dollop of Greek yogurt or mayo. I don’t know, for me, a vinaigrette-drenched salad just isn’t going to keep me full. I need a little more creaminess happening in my salads, so I just took my favorite retro dressing (shout out to Kim Harcey of my old First Baptist Church cookbook ♡) and creamied it up a teensy bit.

Pouring dressing on Cashew Crunch Salad.

Make This Salad Your Way

For the vegans – leave out the creamy stuff!

For the gluten-free-ers – leave out the crunchy chow mein noodles!

For the protein-lovers – add some grilled chicken! Or shrimp! Or… I don’t know, tofu?! This quickly becomes a dinner entree salad with juicy grilled chicken sliced across the top.

Cashew crunch salad in a bowl with a spoon and a bowl of cashews in the background.

I would not be sad if this was my lunch for the rest of the summer.

Gooooo team vegetables!

Prefer To Watch Instead Of Read?

Cashew Crunch Salad: FAQs

This looks great! Can I prep any of this salad ahead of time?

Yes! If you are making this ahead, you can definitely chop and prep all the veggies in advance and even mix them together. I would just hold off on mixing in the chow mein, cashews, and dressing until just before serving.

What kind of edamame should I buy for this?

I buy edamame frozen, already shelled, and just boil them for a few minutes like you would boil peas.

I’m going to add some protein to this. Any suggestions for how to prepare it?

If you want to grill some chicken or shrimp to go on top (yummy), I recommend marinating it in soy sauce, honey, and garlic for a bit to give even more flavor.

Cashew Crunch Salad with Sesame Dressing

4.9 from 53 reviews

Author: Lindsay
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 6-8 servings

Print Recipe

Description

This Cashew Crunch Salad is loaded up with crunchy veg, chow mein noodles, edamame, and roasted cashews and it’ll make you ACTUALLY WANT TO EAT A SALAD. And the sesame dressing – OMG!

Ingredients

Units

For the Salad:

1/2 head of green cabbage, finely shredded
1/2 head of purple cabbage, finely shredded
2 cups carrots, matchstick-cut or shredded
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup sliced green onion
2 cups cooked edamame (see FAQs)
1–2 cup roasted cashews (see notes)
2 cups crunchy chow mein noodles (optional)
chicken, shrimp, or any other protein you like

Dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil (you can use any other oil as well)
3 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons sesame oil – very important for flavor!
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
a few shakes of garlic powder
optional: 1/4 cup Greek yogurt or mayo (more or less to taste – this changes it from a vinaigrette to more of a creamy dressing)

Instructions

Video

Shake the dressing ingredients up in a jar until smooth. Add the Greek yogurt or mayo (if using) and shake again until smooth. YUM.
Toss all the salad ingredients together. Drizzle with dressing and serve!

Notes

Cashews: I like this salad with regular roasted cashews – I also love it with those hot, flavor-loaded Thai-spiced cashews from ALDI!

Dressing: You can easily omit the Greek yogurt or mayo to keep this a vegan / dairy free salad! The dressing will be a little less thick (more like a vinaigrette), but it’s still totally delicious. For a creamy dairy-free alternative, you could try miso! To make this gluten free, leave out the chow mein noodles.

Category: Dinner
Method: Chop
Cuisine: Asian-Inspired