This crispy rice salad recipe is stuffed with crunchy textures and brilliant, daring flavors! It stars contemporary veggies, herbs, peanuts, and a sesame ginger dressing.

This crispy rice salad recipe is rapidly turning into my favourite summer time lunch. It begins with a base of veggies—marinated cucumbers, edamame, scallions, avocado, and contemporary 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 time. Verify again with me in just a few weeks—I’ve a sense I’ll have made it at the least 3 instances extra.
Why You’ll Love This Crispy Rice Salad
- It’s brilliant and refreshing. I marinate the cucumbers in rice vinegar with a bit of sugar and salt to offer them a tangy pop. Along with the scallions and mint, they make this salad the proper brilliant, contemporary meal for a sizzling summer time 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 predominant or a aspect dish. This crispy rice salad recipe matches proper in at any meal. The edamame, rice, and avocado make it filling sufficient to move as a predominant. Or get pleasure from it as a aspect dish with sesame tofu, purple 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 just a few years in the past. Theirs was a model of nam khao, a Lao salad made with purple curry crispy rice, a great deal of contemporary herbs, peanuts, and a brilliant lime dressing. It typically comprises 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 purple curry and leaning into the nutty taste of toasted sesame oil and tangy rice vinegar as a substitute. Listed here are the important thing elements:
- 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 offer them a pickle-y pop. Skinny-skinned English cucumber would work nicely right here too; simply slice it into half-moons as a substitute of rounds. If common cucumbers are all you will have, peel and seed them earlier than including them to the salad.
- Extra contemporary greens and herbs – Together with the cucumbers, avocado, scallions, edamame, and mint pack this salad with a veggie punch. If in case you have extra herbs available, be at liberty to load them on. Cilantro and basil would each be unbelievable!
- 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.
Find out 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 by in order that it cooks evenly. Discover extra ideas for making it in my crispy rice put up.
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 elements 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. Should you’re serving this salad as a predominant 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.
- Aspect dish possibility: 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.
Should you’re meal prepping this salad, you possibly can prep the parts prematurely 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
Should you love this recipe, attempt considered one of 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
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Make the crispy rice: Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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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 an additional 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.
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Prep the salad: In a big bowl, toss the cucumbers with the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Put aside for quarter-hour to marinate.
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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.
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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.

