All the flavors of pad thai in salad form, this Kale and Cabbage Pad Thai Salad is my take on the Sweet and Spicy Kale Pad Thai from Whole Foods.
Whenever we’re shopping at Whole Foods I’m always tempted to grab something from the salad bar for my next meal. One day while in the general salad bar vicinity, I noticed an advertisement for something called “Value Meals” in the prepared foods section. The meals include one entrée and two side items from the prepared food case. There are usually three options featuring one entrée — vegetarian for $6, seafood for $8 and meat for $10. I quickly realized that going with the veggie entrée and two sides is significantly cheaper than stuffing my salad container to the brim and paying by weight. I guess that’s the reason it’s called a value meal!
Anyhow, by getting the value meal quite a few times I’ve been able to try almost all the Health Starts Here salads for my side items and I found one that I absolutely LOVE. It’s the Sweet and Spicy Kale Pad Thai. It has all the flavor of pad thai and an awesome crunch, but no noodles. After ordering the salad too many times to count, I decided I should probably make my own version at home, which I’ve done with many of my favorite Whole Foods items including the Garlicky Kale and Crackling Cauliflower.
So here’s my version of the kale pad thai salad. I haven’t done a side by side taste test to see if the flavor is spot on but I do know that the homemade version is delicious.
I also like how bright and colorful it is. Filling your plate with colorful foods is not only healthful, but it can also boost your mood! Win, win.
All of the veggies included in the salad are tasty on their own, but what really makes this salad is the dressing. It has all the flavors you’d expect from a Thai dressing but I used Bragg’s liquid aminos in place of soy sauce and skipped the fish sauce, which is a usual suspect in Thai sauces.
Yum! Isaac and I have been eating it as a side with lunch and dinner over the past couple days and absolutely love it. Hope you guys do too!
Kale & Cabbage Pad Thai Salad
Ingredients
- 1/2 small head of green cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1 bunch of kale, thinly sliced
- 1 cup red onion, chopped
- 1 cup red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 Tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
Light Pad Thai Dressing
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- juice of 2 limes (about 4 Tablespoons)
- 2 Tablespoons Bragg's Liquid Aminos (or low-sodium Tamari)
- 2 Tablespoons water
- 1/2 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon sriracha (or more depending on your tastes)
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon garlic
Instructions
- Combine all dressing ingredients into a jar and stir or shake until smooth. It might be hard to stir the peanut butter at first, which is why shaking might be your best bet.
- Make sure all your veggies are chopped into bite-size pieces and toss into a large bowl to combine. Toss in chickpeas and top with dressing. Mix until all ingredients are well coated, serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
I’ve received quite a few requests lately to start including nutritional information for my recipes so I decided to calculate the calories, fat, protein, carbs and sugar for this recipe. Let me know if this is helpful for you. In case anyone is curious, I use the recipe feature in myfitnesspal.com for the calculations.
This looks yummy! What is the red veggie I see in the pictures, but not in the ingredients? I assume red bell pepper? Or tomato? Or maybe I’m mistaken? Thanks for the healthy recipes! 🙂
Oops the red pepper got deleted from the ingredient list. Thanks for noticing. It’s updated now. 🙂
Holy Yum! So deliciously creative 🙂
This looks so amazing!! Definitely going to try it as I’ve decided I want to focus on a more vegetarian way of eating 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
looks wonderful!!
Thanks ladies!
Thank you Thank you! I have been looking for more kale salad recipes for my lately cravings of kale!
wait, I’m obsessed with this recipe. all the flavors of pad thai but in a healthy salad?! genius. I think anything would be amazing with that dressing though… yum! can’t wait to try this one 🙂
Yes, please!!!! This looks awesome, must have.
I have a serious obsession with Pad Thai! I make it at least once every week. This would be a great option for times when I want something a little lighter!
I am so excited– I bought this salad a couple of weeks ago from the food bar and loved it!!
This looks wonderful, great seasoning combination!
Oooh, this is right up my alley! I have been searching for new salad creations. I can’t wait to try this!
as i sit here eating the very whole foods salad you’ve recreated, i can’t tell you how excited i am to try this recipe. the WF version is dangerously delicious, and i plan on making my own version next week!
This looks fantastic. I may have been late to the kale party, but I am definitely a fan now. I will be trying this recipe tonight.
i had a bag of trader joe’s new cruciferous slaw sitting in my fridge and this was the perfect way to dress it up. the dressing is super yum! great idea :).
Healthy and delicious!
I made this last night for my hubby and I (with a back up plan for the hubs in case he didn’t like). He went for 2nds of this salad and didn’t even want the left over Chinese Food…GREAT salad! thanks for sharing!!
Fantastic! I made it for dinner tonight and we loved it. That dressing is killer. Thank you!
It looks nice, but the name is extremely misleading. Not Thai by any stretch of the imagination.
This is the most delicious salad ever devised! I added the fish sauce back in though. I love the crunchy vegetables and the fact that the dressing is the protein…
Recently visited my friend who lives next to the Oso slide in Wash state. While it was hard not to look out her window to the devastation across the river, she served us this lovely salad for lunch. at that point, all we could talk about was how good the salad was. Took our mind off of the slide for a while. thrilled she sent me your link so I could make it too.
I bought it from Whole Foods today and it was delicious. Now that I have the recipe, I’ll be making it at home and eating a larger serving 🙂
Yay! Enjoy. 🙂
YESSSS !
The calories, fat, protein and carbohydrate content is important ! Thanks
This really is delicious. Thank you Brittany! I made it for the 2nd time last night, though the red onion was very strong. Next time I think I’ll soak the onion pieces in ice water for ~15 mins. to mellow them out.
So glad you liked it, Tricia. Sometimes red onion can be a little intense. I haven’t tried soaking it in red onion before but I’ve seen others do it. Hopefully it will help!
I made this today and adapted it to what I had on hand in my kitchen. I subbed soy sauce for Tamari/Liquid Aminos, subbed green onion for red onion, didn’t have any chick peas but the added protein would have been appreciated, and subbed honey for maple syrup. It was delicious, husband and toddler both loved it.
Thank you for this recipe. I made a full recipe yesterday. My husband who doesn’t fuss kale loved it. He had some for supper last night and brought some for his lunch today. My teenage son ate half of the recipe to himself. I finished what was left for supper tonight. I had some kale and cabbage left, therefore, I made another batch tonight (for tomorrow) minus the chickpeas as I didn’t have any…. maybe I’ll stop by the store tomorrow. Instead of sriracha sauce, I put Frank’s hot sauce. Thank you.
Hi Brittany ! I am big fan of your personality and your recipes. This recipe looks so healthy and delicious. Surely I will this recpie for dinner tonight. Thanks for sharing and making cooking so easy for us.
Hello! Brittany, I love your post because it is looking very nice. This recipe is commonly used in our home. I am very happy to see this recipe. Thanks for sharing it.