Summer came on with a bang. Our weather went from pleasantly warm to blazingly hot. Every year, I relearn what 100 degree weather feels like. It’s shocking, isn’t it? At least in Kansas City, it cools down a bit at night, so Cookie and I can go on our long walks as the sun sets.
Now that summer heat is here, I find myself craving more light, fresh and green meals. Enter this salad with Thai flavors, which satisfies all three at once. I basically took my Thai mango cabbage wraps as inspiration, and reimagined them as a salad.
The salad features butter lettuce (feel free to substitute your favorite green instead), sweet diced mango, red bell pepper, and jalapeño. Then I tossed all of it in an addictive, spicy peanut dressing. This salad would make a great side salad for any of my other Thai recipes, or could pass as a light dinner. For more substance, just add some crispy baked tofu.
Once again, I used Adobe’s new fun (and free!) iPhone app called Spark Post to make the text overlays on my photos. Have you tried it yet? They offer so many templates and design tools that make creating beautiful text overlays on photos a snap. Every time I use it, I find a new built-in feature to appreciate. It’s really handy to be able to make cute graphics right from my phone, and I imagine they would make great party invitations, Facebook profile pictures, and more!
Thai Mango Salad with Peanut Dressing
- Author:
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 side salads 1x
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: Thai
This green salad is bursting with fresh Thai flavors and bright colors. It’s great on its own, or as an accompaniment to Thai main dishes. Recipe yields 2 large salads or 4 side salads.
Ingredients
Thai mango salad
- One head (about 7 ounces) butter leaf lettuce or your greens of choice, chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced and then sliced across to make 1″ long pieces
- 3 ripe champagne mangos, diced
- ½ cup thinly sliced green onion (both green and white parts)
- ⅓ cup chopped roasted peanuts
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 medium jalapeño, seeds and membranes removed, finely chopped
Peanut dressing
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- ¼ cup lime juice (about 2 to 3 limes)
- 1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- Pinch of red pepper flakes (if you like spice)
Instructions
- To assemble the salad, simply combine all of the salad ingredients in a large serving bowl.
- To prepare the dressing, combine all of the ingredients in a liquid measuring cup or bowl, and whisk until combined.
- When you’re ready to serve, drizzle the dressing over the salad, and toss to combine. Serve immediately.
▸ Nutrition Information
This post was created in partnership with Adobe Spark Post and I received compensation for my participation. Opinions are my own, always. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who support C+K!
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Deborah @ The Harvest Kitchen
Beautiful salad!! Love the combo of sweet and spicy flavors!!!
Kate
Thanks, Deborah! Me, too. :)
Susan
This salad sounds great. The Thai people make a green mango salad – it uses green mangoes which have essentially been spiralized into spaghetti. I remember it being spicy, but unfortunately don’t remember anything else about it. But then again, I’m certain that we would not be able to get the right kind of mangoes here, for making that salad.
Kate
That sounds great! I’d really like to go to Thailand someday. I actually tried spiralizing ripe mango the other day, and it was a hilarious fail. Just turned into mush! Maybe I could find green mangoes at the Asian market.
Susan
Thailand is a wonderful country. I spent a couple of months in Bangkok and have visited Phuket, an island, several times. I think the salad I was thinking of might be green papaya (rather than mango). Here’s a link to an authentic recipe: https://www.eatingthaifood.com/thai-green-papaya-salad-recipe – just in case you’re feeling brave and want to try it. The guy who posted this recipe is married to a Thai woman and lives in Thailand.
Bridgett Irving
I would like to eat a mango salad , In
California they had great salads there.
But of course I live in Texas, people only
Go to chic-fu’la to get a salad. Thanks
BI
Marcia
This salad is gorgeous and looks absolutely perfect for a beach potluck coming up, something our little foursome of longtime girlfriends are trying to do every couple of weeks throughout the summer to really celebrate the season. All the beautiful produce right now is center stage for our feasting (and trying to eat healthy at the same time) so keep your ideas coming! Not sure if I’ll do the salad, the wraps, or maybe both? Why not, right?
Thanks for your inspiration, Kate, yet again. And hope you and Cookie stay cool! (I grew up with triple-digit summers so I know what you’re dealing with… my heart goes out to you!)
Kate
Thank you, Marcia! Your beach potluck sounds lovely. I have at least a few salads up my sleeve for this month. I’m about to head to a pool party, and it’s not too hot (eighty in OKC). Yay!
Jessica
I just made this for lunch, and it was delicious!
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks, Jessica! Happy to hear it!
Keshia White
I love how flavorful and fresh this sounds. It’s also great that it’s easy to make! No one wants to slave over the hot stove in this heat! lol
Elissa
Woah.
I am very seriously concerned I may gain 10lbs over the summer because of all the delicous-ness taking place on the blog.
You say, “Why Elissa, this is pretty healthy!”
Yes…
When eaten in moderation.
Kate
Haha! I’ll take that as a compliment. Fill up on green salads like this and I don’t think you will have any problems. :)
Cassie
YUM! I also have been craving SOOOOOO much fruit, especially plums and strawberries! Breakfast fruit salads are the best :) anyways, I love Thai flavors so this is wonderful! Definitely going to make the peanut sauce for my next Asian savory recipe!
Kate
Thanks, Cassie! I haven’t had fruit salad for breakfast in ages. I’ll have to do that soon. I also haven’t had a plum yet this year, but my friends made jam with plums that have fallen from the giant plum tree in their front yard. So good!
Kjersten
This is super good. I made it last night, used shredded cabbage instead of lettuce, added edamame, quinoa and matchstick carrots. I doubled the dressing.
★★★★★
Kecia
As usual your recipes never fail me! I am getting back to eating healthy after a small (in my eyes) break. I had to modify the recipe because I did not find any good mangoes. So I used pears and it still came out great! As always, thank you for the deliciousness!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you very much, Kecia! Great idea to sub pears. Yay!
Tori//Gringalicious
All I can say is YUM! Absolutely anything thai peanut is right up my alley so this salad is like made for me!
Kate
Thanks, Tori! Hope you get a chance to make it soon!
Mark Hartung
Made this last night for the family holiday get together and it was a huge hit !!!!
Kate
I’m so glad! Thank you for letting me know, Mark!
Janine
Wonderful creation! My hubby would love this recipes because he loves Peanuts so so much. Already printed it out for the next days. Sometimes your Website is not that fast. Just to let you know. xoxo Janine
Kate
I hope you both enjoy the salad! I’m sorry you have trouble with my site sometimes. I’m not sure why it would be running slow for you. You might try clearing your browser’s cache when that happens. I hope that does the trick!
Anne@ASaladForAllSeasons
What a gorgeous salad! Love those mangoes and peppers. I am such a sucker for peanut dressing, I just love it so much. What a way to jazz up butter lettuce! :)
Kate
Thank you, Anne!
Rebekah Patin
The minute this appeared in my inbox I knew I had to make this. I love Thai food, I love mango’s, I love Cookie and Kate! I made it this evening and it was a huge hit. Me and my husband enjoyed it so much. I made it exactly as the recipe read and it was perfection.
Kate
Thank you so much, Rebekah! Your comment brightened my day. Glad you both enjoyed this one.
Marie Fritzberg
I just made your Thai Mango Salad tonight. So delicious!!! And it’s high time that I tell you how much I love your recipes, photos & comments. I have probably made over 20 recipes over the past year. Thank you, thank you for helping make food easy to prepare, healthy and most of all, delicious! Cookbook soon?
Kate
Thank you very much, Marie! That’s fantastic to hear. The cookbook comes out next spring. I don’t have an exact date yet, but I can’t wait for you to see it!
Tina Davis
I had a mango in the fridge when I saw this post, so I made it the same day and it really hit the spot. I only had arugala and I didn’t have a jalapeño, but it was still good. Next time I’ll try it as written. I think the butter lettuce would be really good.
★★★★★
Kate
Perfect! I’m glad you enjoyed it, Tina. It’s so nice to whip something up without a trip to the store.
nicolas
Hey Kate, love the recipe I’ve done it myself I do a something similar recipe couple additions. I use white soy sauce instead, to give a brighter color, I love using confit garlic to kill the bitterness. Do you just add the red pepper flakes for color in the dressing? Would you sub out that with the seeds you pulled out of the jalapeño to get the same effect as the red pepper flakes minus the color?
★★★★★
Kate
Hey Nicolas! I have never used white soy sauce or garlic confit. I try to use basic ingredients in my recipes, but your version sounds intriguing! I used red pepper flakes for color and some spice. You could use fresh jalapeño seeds for a fresher spicy flavor. I like the way dried chilis taste, but I’m struggling to find words to describe them.
Giselle
These Adobe product callouts are getting annoying.
Kate
I’m sorry you feel that way. Please keep in mind that there’s a hard-working single lady supporting herself with this blog, and sometimes that includes promoting products that I legitimately love. Adobe’s software is one of them.
Debncharlie
Used half a head of cabbage for the greens shredded through a Cuisinart so a coleslaw type of result. Needed a bit more intensity of flavor. Will try miso for the salty component next time.
Bridgett Irving
That really sound wonderful using cabbage as the the greens, but I wonder
If it can be cooked cabbage with mango?
Thank you BI /Texas
Kate
That’s a really good idea. I usually go with stronger dressings for slaw, so I think miso would be a great addition next time.
Teresa Walker
Hi Kate
I just made this salad & like all your other recipes which I’ve tried, it was a hit! I substituted parsley for the cilantro & tossed in some tofu which I coated with siracha & then pan-fried in a wee bit of olive oil. The next time I make the recipe, I may also add an avocado. Many thanks!!
Kate
Thank you very much, Teresa! So glad my recipes are turning out well for you. Your version sounds great to me. Hooray!
Nadia
NEED to try this. that dressing!!!
Kate
Hope you love it, Nadia!
Madeline
Made this (with pineapple, because it’s what I had), and it was so perfect! Light and crunchy and spicy and wonderful. I can’t wait for your cookbook to come out! I’ll be ordering copies for myself and various and sundry family members and friends.
★★★★★
Kate
Oh, great idea! I love pineapple even more than mango. Thank you so much for your support; means a whole lot to me! <3
Lilly
Oh my goodness this was DELICIOUS! Kind of confused adding those ingredients in the dressing together, but it was awesome. Love your salad/bowl recipes!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Lilly! Glad you trusted the dressing. I could put it on all kinds of things.
Matt
Loving the vibrant colours in these photos. We’re definitely going to try this dish.
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks, Matt! I hope you love it.
Nell
Good Morning! Anything with “peanut dressing” in the title always catches my eye & this sounds really yummy, light & easy. I’m a big fan of the champagne mangos – so sweet & juicy. Thanks for the recipe. Nell
Kate
Hi Nell! Thank you. Those champagne mangos are the best, aren’t they?
Kat
I got two days of really satisfying lunches for myself and my husband out of this recipe. The veggies held up nicely in the fridge and we poured on the dressing as we had each serving. I also added thinly sliced grilled chicken since we’re not veg, but think the crispy tofu would be awesome if I was making this as a dinner salad and didn’t need the protein to be ready to go out of the fridge.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Kat! I’m glad you made this recipe work for you. Thanks for letting me know!
Ann Biddison
Another great recipe! Just the right amount of sweet,heat,and crunch! We live in Cape Coral FL and have been looking for some new mango recipes. The trees are full of ripe mangoes now. Thanks for the recipe!
Kate
Thank you, Ann! So glad you enjoyed the salad! I’m jealous of your mango trees. :)
Joanne Wilson
Hi Kate –
I made your crispy tofu with your peanut sauce. Heaven on a plate!!
Thank you very much. I look forward to your recipes.
Kate
Thank you, Joanne! That’s really nice to hear. Have a great weekend!
Elle
This looks and sounds amazing! I love fruit in salads and this is a fab combo with peanuts and cilantro. Perfect for summer. Thanks for the inspiration. Really love all your amazing pictures!
Greetings from Germany. :)
Elle
★★★★
Kate
Thank you very much, Elle!
Sneha
Kate, I’ve really loved trying out your recipes this summer! The salads and light dinners have been perfect for my quest to be healthy but not miserable. Thanks so much for your blog and your recipes – always my go-to for new ideas and inspiration!!!!
★★★★★
Kate
Woohoo! That’s fantastic to hear. Thank you, Sneha!
Evelyn
Ugh, 100 degrees Fahrenheit sounds quite hellish. I made this salad when we had 30 degrees Celsius weather (that’s like 85 Fahrenheit or so?) and had dinner with friends, barbecuing in the back yard. They were loading up on meat and I made your peanut salad, your spring panzanella with fennel and peas, and you were right about it being a light dinner, I didn’t need anything else! Well, apart from needing to hide my bowl from the greedy carnivores who discovered these salads were actually maybe even better than their hamburgers and sausages… which I already knew, of course
I loved the freshness and the sweetness of the mango compared to the crispiness of the vegetables, and the peanut butter dressing was lovely and really made it a quite substantial salad. Thank you for this summery recipe, and I hope the weather’s less super hot at yours (or that you’re used to it by now…)
Kate
I wish I could have been there to get in on those salads! Thank you so much for your note, Evelyn.
Paula
The only thing that disappoints is that we do not have leftovers (even with a full batch of crispy tofu and just two of us we devoured it!). Love anything topped with your recipes for peanut sauce :-)
★★★★★
Kyle
Do you think sesame dressing would be a good substitute for the peanut dressing? Looking forward to try this one out!
★★★★★
Adelaide
Very very very good !!!!!
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks, Adelaide!
Adelaide
Great great great salad Kate!!!
I have post it to many friends.
Adelaide Verona Italy
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing this, Adelaide!
BreAnn
Delicious! I added some slivered snow peas along with some shredded carrots. Loved the peanut dressing…so comforting and satisfying! Definitely making this one again.
★★★★★
Kate
Yum! Snow peas sound delicious with this, BreAnn. Thanks for the comment!
Mansi
Hey Kate. Can’t wait to try this salad. Can you suggest an alternative to green onions??
Thanks.
Kate
Hi, Mansi! I’d say leeks or chives would be a good alternative to green onions. They have a milder taste, but are in that onion family of flavors.
Erika
My husband made this for me for Mother’s Day and it was soooo good and super refreshing! We just got your cookbook and I already have so many recipes marked to try!
★★★★★
Kate
Wonderful! I’m so glad you enjoyed this and I hope you love the book, Erika.
Nicole
Made this for my lunches for the week, and I just add fresh mango each day. I also added edamame and tempeh for some more protein, and changed the peanuts to cashews because of personal preference. So tasty- I especially love this dressing, and will be making this recipe again!
★★★★★
Kate
Yum! Your version sounds delicious, Nicole.
Dhenuka
Love this recipe! I made this today. We are done with summer and heading into the monsoon season here in India, which is a great time to buy those yummy rich Alphonso mangoes, which grow during the summers, at throwaway prices. I used Romaine and Lollo Rosso because they were the only kinds of lettuce I could find here at a reasonable price. I found the dressing to be a lot, quantity wise. I must’ve goofed up at some stage. But I loved it so much that I bottled the excess for tomorrow! Thanks for this yummy recipe!
Kate
Ooh, that sounds delicious, Dhenuka! I hope that dressing can brighten up monsoon season for you a bit. :)
Jeanine
This is my favorite salad! I love everything about it. It’s sweet, salty & spicy all rolled into one. Not only is it delicious but it makes a wonderful presentation. It always gets rave reviews. Thanks for another awesome recipe!!
Kate
This is such a kind comment, Jeanine! Thank you for reading and sharing this with your friends.
Zanele
Hi Katie..? I hope all is well with you… I must say I love your vegetarian recipes, they are awesome… Im an african woman from South Africa and been vegetarian for 5 yrs,,,,, Thank you so much for such an amazing recipes,,,,, My family and friends love them too,,, Peace from Newcastle South Africa
Kate
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment, Zanele! I’m happy to hear you enjoy my recipes all the way in South Africa. Hello from Kansas City!
Todd Squires
Slowly working through all your August recipes. Made this last night and decided to add buckwheat noodles which made it a perfect hearty entree for my hungry eaters!
★★★★★
Kate
Excellent! Soba noodles sound delicious with this, Todd. Thanks for commenting.
Cristy
My vegetarian son loved this.
★★★★★
Kate
Great! Thanks, Cristy.
Elizabeth
Thanks for all your great recipes!
We love Thai food and have tried cooking it at home without any success so I’d love to try your recipe. I’m allergic to soy. Is there a way to adapt the recipe to leave out the tamari/soy sauce? Please let me know.
joyce burton
We love the salad dressing. Thank you
★★★★★
Kate
You are welcome! Thank you, Joyce for your review.
Catherine
I made this salad and it’s amazing! I think the dressing probably needed a little more lime juice and a touch more honey. Other than that, so excellent.
★★★★★
Kate
Great ways to make it more your taste, Catherine! Thanks for the comment.
Kris Romstad
My family loves this recipe! So many great fresh flavors and the perfect salad for spring and summer. The only change I made was I only used 2 mangoes as they were large and the proportions seemed right. Delicious!
★★★★★
Kate
Sounds like a great change. Thanks, Kris for your comment and review.
Mae
I had this recipe saved for a while and I finally made it tonight (with some baked tofu tossed in!). This recipe is a keeper! The flavors are just perfect together, not too sweet, not too salty, just a great balance! My boyfriend (who had been resistant to having a salad for dinner) commented “Please make this all the time!”
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you finally made it, Mae! Thank you so much for your star review.
JOHN KANE
Very good! Made it for my wife and me after we tired of Thanksgiving leftovers. Used red leaf lettuce, and baked the tofu. Definitely a salad we will enjoy again.
Kate
Thank you for sharing, John!
Bob
Awesome.
You just sold yourself a cookbook.
★★★★★
Holly
Is it supposed to be toasted sesame oil?
Kate
Hi Holly, yes that will work as well.
Heather Orellana
I’ve made this twice now. The first time was just for myself and today I made it to share with my husband. It’s so good though that I wanted it all to myself and eyed his portion jealously!
★★★★★
Kate
That’s too funny! Thanks for your review.
Aliya
wow it was really really v yummy
thnx dear for sharing this mouth wtering delicious recepie
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Aliya!
Loretta Merry
This is an incredible recipe and we have it often during he summer months! Will sometimes add chicken that has been sauteed and then sauteed a little longer the last few minutes with some of the peanut sauce dressing. A winner and our choice of lettuce is the butter leaf.
★★★★★
Kate
Great to hear, Loretta!
Liz Merker
Delicious! I always feel I’ve done my body good when I prepare and eat one of your recipes! Thanks Kate!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Liz!
món ngon mỗi ngày
I really like Thai style food, especially this mango recipe.
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks for sharing!
GardenBar
Wow this recipe is amazing. Just loved it. Its clearly given step by step with pictures.
★★★★★
Joe Hubbard
This is one of my go-to summer salads. I swap the soy sauce with fish sauce. Love it!
★★★★
Bahia tazi
Hello, and thank you so much for the recipe. It’s was really good, just one question. The dressing was a bit heavy. How can I make it lighter please?
Thank you
Kate
Hi there! Glad you enjoyed it. You can thin the dressing with water, one tablespoon at a time.
Starla Sage
Flavorful Summer Salad
Made this last night, It was so good! I had run out of lettuce so i used
cabbage (coleslaw package). I was worried it might taste to peanut buttery, but it was so delightful. I used extra red pepper as i didn’t have jalapeños. I put some chopped pork tenderloin leftovers, making for a main course. Thanks for such a refreshing delightful salad experience..
★★★★★
Nina
Are the roasted nuts meant to be salted or unsalted. Thanks
★★★★★
Katie M
Like all your recipies, this was amazing. What else can I use that Peanut sauce for???? Would it work for peanut noodles?
Kate
Peanut noodles sound delicious! I love it as a dipping sauce for tofu. Or try my spring rolls, I have a variation of it there.
Matt
Great summer recipients when it is super hot out. I actually made some cold ramen noodles and added it to this salad
★★★★
Carmen
Hi I made the Thai Mango salad. The dressing is super delicious. I had it with Thai chicken curry. Heavenly taste. Thank you very much.
Carmen
★★★★★
Caroline
One of the best salad recipes I’ve found in ages. I just love this. So fresh and the balance of the flavors is perfect. I made it all summer. Pairs amazing with pad Thai or coconut shrimp! I love your blog, Kate! Thank you for creating easy to follow, delicious, healthy, vegetarian-friendly recipes.
★★★★★
Ambika Agarwal
Kathryne, an out of season mango dropped from my mango tree. I searched out and loved the ingredients of your recipe. Fortunately found most of them in my kitchen. The salad came out awesome (yummm as I would like to say it). Waiting to try the dressing again with raw papaya. Thank you!!!
From another dog lover.
Ambika
★★★★★
Sonya S
Yes, Yummmo….this salad was a huge hit in Melbourne Australia over summer…. we kept some of the salad dressing for our next salad
Elisa
This salad was so delicious! The dressing was packed with flavor and the salad wasn’t too spicy which I enjoyed. I made this on Sunday and enjoyed 4 salads at work. It only lasted 4 days through!
★★★★★
Kaitlin
So delicious! I had recently bought a case of mangoes and they were all ripening at the same time. Came to your site and searched “mango” because I knew that you would a recipe to help me out. And I was ABSOLUTELY right! Amazing salad… my husband and 2 young kiddos also loved it. Thanks for always being a guarantee… I have tried so many of your recipes and I have never once been disappointed! Cheers!
Kate
I love that! Thank you for your review, Kaitlin.
Elaine
I’ve made the dressing twice now with an Asian style salad, once with seared tuna and once with coconut shrimp. The dressing is incredible, I mean truly game changing delicious! I used the chopped peanuts which gives it crunch. Try it!
★★★★★
Kathryn
Totally yummy.
I am a new vegan and always on the lookout for new recipes. I try to avoid using oil but I did use a touch of sesame oil. I didn’t use the full amount and it was still delicious!
I will definitely serve this to my omnivore friends – – – when we are allowed to gather again.
★★★★★
Kate
That’s great to hear, Kathryn! Thank you for your review.