This crispy rice salad recipe is full of crunchy textures and shiny, daring flavors! It stars recent veggies, herbs, peanuts, and a sesame ginger dressing.
This crispy rice salad recipe is shortly turning into my favourite summer season lunch. It begins with a base of veggies—marinated cucumbers, edamame, scallions, avocado, and recent mint—that I prime with crunchy roasted peanuts, sheet pan crispy rice, and sesame ginger dressing. It’s so good that I’ve already made it 3 instances this summer season. Verify again with me in a couple of weeks—I’ve a sense I’ll have made it not less than 3 instances extra.
Why You’ll Love This Crispy Rice Salad
- It’s shiny and refreshing. I marinate the cucumbers in rice vinegar with a little bit sugar and salt to present them a tangy pop. Along with the scallions and mint, they make this salad the proper shiny, recent meal for a scorching summer season day.
- The combo of textures is scrumptious. This salad has a great deal of crunch, because of the crispy rice, cucumbers, and peanuts. I add in chunks of avocado and use my tahini-based sesame ginger dressing for creamy distinction.
- It may be a primary or a aspect dish. This crispy rice salad recipe suits proper in at any meal. The edamame, rice, and avocado make it filling sufficient to move as a primary. Or take pleasure in it as a aspect dish with sesame tofu, crimson curry, or banh mi!
Crispy Rice Salad Components
I bought hooked on the idea of crispy rice salads after consuming a tremendous one at Hai Hai in Minneapolis a couple of years in the past. Theirs was a model of nam khao, a Lao salad made with crimson curry crispy rice, a great deal of recent herbs, peanuts, and a shiny lime dressing. It typically accommodates pork, although the one I had was meat-free.
This recipe takes inspiration from that dish, nevertheless it isn’t conventional by any means, skipping the crimson curry and leaning into the nutty taste of toasted sesame oil and tangy rice vinegar as a substitute. Listed below are the important thing substances:
- Crispy rice – My recipe is simple to make within the oven. It makes use of day-old rice, plus tamari, sesame oil, and salt to season the rice and assist it crisp up because it bakes.
- Marinated cucumbers – I toss sliced Persian cucumbers with rice vinegar, sugar, and salt to present them a pickle-y pop. Skinny-skinned English cucumber would work properly right here too; simply slice it into half-moons as a substitute of rounds. If common cucumbers are all you may have, peel and seed them earlier than including them to the salad.
- Extra recent greens and herbs – Together with the cucumbers, avocado, scallions, edamame, and mint pack this salad with a veggie punch. You probably have extra herbs available, be at liberty to load them on. Cilantro and basil would each be improbable!
- Sesame ginger dressing – This flippantly creamy, nutty dressing consists of tahini, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, tamari, honey, and ginger.
Spicy chili crisp and crunchy roasted peanuts take this salad excessive.
Discover the entire recipe with measurements beneath.
Tips on how to Make Crispy Rice Salad
This crispy rice salad recipe has 4 easy steps:
1. Begin by making the crispy rice. It crisps up in a 400°F oven in about 25 minutes. Toss midway via in order that it cooks evenly. Discover extra ideas for making it in my crispy rice publish.
2. Marinate the cucumbers. Toss them with the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt and set them apart for quarter-hour.
3. In the meantime, make the dressing. Whisk the substances collectively in a small bowl. You need the dressing to have a creamy, drizzleable consistency. If it’s too thick, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to loosen it.
4. Assemble the salad. In case you’re serving this salad as a primary dish, divide the cucumbers into 4 bowls, leaving any extra water behind. High with the avocado, scallions, and peanuts and drizzle with some dressing, then pile on the crispy rice and mint. Drizzle with chili crisp, season to style, and serve with extra dressing on the aspect.
- Facet dish choice: Assemble the salad on a big serving platter as a substitute!
Make-Forward and Storage Ideas
This salad is finest proper after it’s assembled as a result of the avocado browns and the crispy rice and peanuts lose their crunch as they sit. Retailer leftovers in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 1 day.
In case you’re meal prepping this salad, you may prep the parts upfront and retailer them individually. The crispy rice retains within the fridge for as much as 2 days and the marinated cucumbers and dressing will final for as much as 4. Assemble proper earlier than serving.
Extra Salad Recipes to Strive
In case you love this recipe, strive one in all these scrumptious salads subsequent:
Crispy Rice Salad
Serves 4
Crispy Rice
- 3 cups cooked and cooled rice, leftover rice is finest
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
For the Salad
- 6 to eight Persian cucumbers, 1 pound, sliced
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon cane sugar
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup frozen shelled edamame, thawed
- 2 avocados, diced
- 3 scallions, chopped
- ½ cup roasted peanuts
- Recent mint leaves, for garnish
- Chili crisp, for drizzling
Stop your display screen from going darkish
-
Make the crispy rice: Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
-
Place the rice on the baking sheet. Drizzle with the sesame oil and tamari, toss to coat, and unfold evenly on the baking sheet. Roast for 10 minutes, then toss. Roast for one more 12 to 16 minutes, or till the rice is flippantly crisp and golden brown. Toss with the salt and put aside. The rice will proceed to crisp up because it cools.
-
Prep the salad: In a big bowl, toss the cucumbers with the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Put aside for quarter-hour to marinate.
-
In the meantime, make the sesame ginger dressing: In a small bowl, whisk collectively the tahini, sesame oil, rice vinegar, tamari, ginger, and maple syrup. The dressing ought to have a creamy, drizzleable consistency. If it’s too thick, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to loosen it.
-
Divide the cucumbers amongst 4 serving bowls, leaving any extra water behind. Divide the edamame, avocado, scallions, and peanuts among the many bowls and drizzle with a number of the dressing. High with the crispy rice and garnish with mint. Drizzle with chili crisp, season to style, and serve with the remaining dressing on the aspect.
