Vietnamese Zucchini and Carrot Salad with Peanuts

This Vietnamese Zucchini and Carrot Salad with Peanuts is incredibly light, refreshing, and flavorful.

Tossed in a bright simple dressing, this crunchy and colorful salad is easy to make and so refreshing to eat. 

This salad is made with spiralized zucchini, or "zoodles," shredded carrots, and thinly sliced red onions, all tossed together with a dressing of lime juice, fish sauce, and a bit of sugar. 

Tools You'll Need to Make this Salad:

Spiralizer: 

I resisted the urge to buy a spiralizer gadget, mostly because I pretty much have run out of room for any more kitchen tools, but I finally broke down and bought a tiny one to use the first time I made this salad. 

It worked great with the zucchini, creating long uniform "zoodles." However, it was also pretty tedious to use and does not work well on firmer vegetables such as potatoes or sweet potatoes. 

You can also find manual, hand crank spiralizers that are larger and can make fast work of veggies, but when I decided to upgrade, I purchased the KitchenAid attachment that works with my mixer. It's a game changer if you like to make a lot of spiralized veggies. 

Julienne Peeler:

You could also use julienne peeler for both the zucchini and carrots. I used it for the carrots and it made fast work of shredding them. 

If you don't have either tools, you could also use a sharp knife. While a little more tedious to use, you will still end up with a delicious salad. 

I used both of these tools to make a delicious zucchini slaw too! 

How to Make Vietnamese Zoodle and Carrot Salad:

First prepare the vegetables. Spiralize the zucchini, shred the carrots, and thinly slice a red onion. 

Next, roughly chop or tear some fresh cilantro, basil, and mint, about 1/4 cup each. 

After that, whisk together some fish sauce, sugar, and lime juice at the bottom of a large bowl and toss in the all of the vegetables. Toss the salad ingredients together and taste to see if you need to add any salt. For me, the fish sauce added enough saltiness on its own. 

To serve the salad, top it with chopped roasted peanuts and a bottle of Sriracha sauce on the side (if you like a little spiciness). I sprinkled my salad with a few dashes of Sriracha sauce. So good! 

This salad made the perfect lunch. The peanuts added the right amount of salty crunch, and the red onions, mint, basil, and cilantro added to the freshness of the salad. I loved it. A lot!

While this salad is best the day that it is made, leftovers are good for at least three days. Just know that the zucchini will shed some moisture in the refrigerator. Even still, the veggies will remain firm. 

Just be sure to save adding the peanuts until you are ready to serve. 

For the basil, I used sweet basil that we have growing in a pot in our herb garden. The leaves are a little sturdier and we've been able to keep it alive for quite some time! 

This Vietnamese zucchini and carrot salad would also be wonderful as a starter, or even an appetizer in tiny individual dishes and tiny forks (I love mini dishes and utensils!) served with a dry sparkling wine.

Regarding fish sauce: 

Please give it a chance. Yes, it may not have a pleasant aroma in the bottle, but when combined with other ingredients, it adds so much umami to your dish. In fact, if you like Worchestershire sauce, you're in the neighborhood. 

If you go to an Asian grocery store, you might be confronted with hundreds of varieties of fish sauce. My favorite brand is Red Boat. It's made in Vietnam and only of fermented anchovies. I'm beginning to see it in my local Ralph's, which is pretty cool. 

Another great brand is Megachef, but it is often harder to find unless you shop online. 

More Vietnamese-Style Recipes:

Vietnamese-Style Chicken and Rice Soup

Vietnamese-Style Meatballs with Rice Noodles

Vietnamese Beef Stew

Pork and Shrimp Spring Rolls

Vietnamese Style Pan Fried Halibut

Vietnamese-Style Shrimp Cocktail

Caramel Shrimp Banh Mi

Spicy Carrot and Broccoli Salad

This week, the From Our Dinner Table Group is sharing recipes where carrots are the star. 

Carrot Recipes

• Candied Carrots from Devour Dinner
• Carrot and Pecan Salad from Palatable Pastime
• Carrot Cake Loaf from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
• Carrot Cake Waffles from The Spiffy Cookie
• Carrot Granola Muffins from That Recipe
• Carrot Kumquat Muffins from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Carrots Au Gratin from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Carrots from Cheese Curd In Paradise
• Spicy Vegan Carrot Dip from Magical Ingredients
• Vietnamese Zucchini and Carrot Salad with Peanuts from Karen's Kitchen Stories

We share Recipes From Our Dinner Table! Join our group and share your recipes, too! While you're at it, join our Pinterest board, too!

This recipe was originally posted in September, 2016 and updated with new photos, instructions, and a printable recipe card in April, 2022. 

Plus, I got to enjoy this salad again! 

Vietnamese Zucchini and Carrot Salad with Peanuts

Yield: 4 servings

Author: Karen's Kitchen Stories

Prep time: 20 MinTotal time: 20 Min

This Vietnamese Zucchini and Carrot Salad with Peanuts is incredibly light, refreshing, and flavorful.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce (I recommend Red Boat)
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 pound spiralized zucchini
• 5 ounces peeled and shredded carrots
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1/4 cup packed torn fresh basil
• 1/4 cup packed torn fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup packed torn fresh mint
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped dry roasted salted peanuts
• Sriracha sauce

Instructions

1. Place the lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar in a large bowl and whisk.
2. Add the zucchini, carrots, red onion, and herbs into the bowl and toss to combine.
3. Transfer to serving plates, top with the peanuts, and serve with Sriracha on the side.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

161.96

Fat (grams)

9.47

Sat. Fat (grams)

1.51

Carbs (grams)

15.65

Fiber (grams)

4.25

Net carbs

11.4

Sugar (grams)

8.3

Protein (grams)

7.38

Sodium (milligrams)

468.5

Cholesterol (grams)

0

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2016/09/vietnamese-zucchini-and-carrot-salad.html

Karen's Kitchen Stories

salad, zucchini, carrots

Salads

Vietnamese

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Recipe adapted from Fine Cooking, August/September 2016