Asian Broccoli Salad

Asian Broccoli Salad has broccoli, mint, and peanuts with a spicy dressing, and this is a low-carb salad that’s loaded with flavor. And this broccoli salad with Asian flavors is oil-free and pretty low in net carbs.

PIN Asian Broccoli Salad to make it later!

When I made Thai Cabbage Salad with my nephew Jake, we loved the spicy Thai flavors in the dressing. So I started thinking about what else might taste good with that dressing combination of lime, fish sauce, sweetener, and red pepper flakes, and next time Jake showed up to cook I proposed trying it on a broccoli salad.

For our first try we blanched the broccoli, which was definitely not a winner for us. But we persevered and ended up with this Asian Broccoli Salad that turned out to be really good. If you’re wondering about mint and broccoli together, so did we, but the whole combination really worked.

If you like raw broccoli and dressing with slightly-spicy Thai flavors, you really should try this salad. And although broccoli does have some carbs, if you check the nutritional information this salad is pretty low in net carbs!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

• bite-sized broccoli florets
• red onion
• chopped mint leaves
• chopped peanuts
• fresh-squeezed lime juice, I used my fresh-frozen lime juice
• Red Boat Fish Sauce (affiliate link), or other fish sauce, see notes below for Vegetarian Fish Sauce
• Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) or other sweetener
• hot red pepper flakes

What gives this Asian Broccoli Salad salad the Thai flavors?

Thai food is known for recipes that combine sweet, sour, salty, and spicy flavors, often with umami flavor notes from an ingredient like fish sauce. This broccoli salad recipe has sweetener, lime juice, red pepper flakes, and fish sauce to give all those flavors.

Is the Asian Broccoli Salad Vegetarian?

If you’re a strict vegetarian you might not want the Red Boat Fish Sauce (affiliate link) we used in this dressing. You can use Vegetarian Fish Sauce (affiliate link) if you want it to be a vegetarian recipe, or just replace the fish sauce with soy sauce for another vegetarian option.

Other variations for Asian Broccoli Salad:

• Use thinly-sliced green onion instead of red onion.
• Use slivered almonds or cashews instead of peanuts.
• Add chopped red bell pepper to replace some of the broccoli.
• Use chopped basil or Thai basil instead of mint.
• One commenter suggested making the salad with broccoli slaw mix, which I think is a great idea!

How to make Asian Broccoli Salad:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. We trimmed 6 cups of chopped broccoli into bite-sized pieces.
2. If the broccoli isn’t perfect crisp I’d soak in ice cold water for a few minutes and then spin in the salad spinner (affiliate link) or dry with paper towels if you don’t have a salad spinner.
3. We used Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) for the dressing, but use any granulated sweetener you prefer.
4. Mix fresh lime juice, fish sauce or vegetarian fish sauce, sweetener, and a generous pinch of hot pepper flakes to make the spicy dressing
5. You’ll also need thinly sliced red onion, chopped mint leaves, and finely chopped peanuts
6. Toss the crisp broccoli with the dressing, making sure all the broccoli is well-coated with dressing
7. Then mix in the red onion, mint, and peanuts, toss again a few times and serve
8. This salad doesn’t keep well, so if this makes more than you’ll eat at one time I’d cut the recipe in half. Or you can cut up ingredients and mix the dressing, but just toss together the amount you will be eating at that meal and store the rest in the fridge.

More Tasty Salads with Broccoli:

• Broccoli Salad with Feta and Almonds
• Sweet and Sour Broccoli Salad
• Blue Cheese Broccoli Radish Salad
• Broccoli Cauliflower Radish Salad
• Broccoli Cauliflower Salad with Feta

Continue to Content

Print

Yield: 6 servings

Asian Broccoli Salad

Prep Time 25 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

This extra easy Asian Broccoli Salad was an experiment that turned out to be a happy success and if you like broccoli and spicy Thai flavors you'll love this salad..

Ingredients

Salad Ingredients

• 6 cups bite-sized broccoli flowerets
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 3/4 cup chopped mint leaves
• 3/4 cup chopped peanuts

Dressing Ingredients

• 1/4 C fresh-squeezed lime juice
• 2 T Red Boat Fish Sauce or Vegetarian fish sauce
• 3 T Golden Monkfruit Sweetener
• 3/4 tsp. hot pepper flakes (more or less to taste)

Instructions

1. Trim broccoli stems and cut broccoli into bite-sized flowerets.  (To cut broccoli without making a mess, cut through the stem and then pull apart the broccoli flower.  This avoids getting little crumbs of broccoli all over the place as you do when you cut clear through it.)
2. If the broccoli isn’t really crisp, give it a dunk in ice-cold water and then spin dry with a salad spinner (affiliate link) or dry with paper towels.
3. Mix together the lime juice, fish sauce, sweetener, and hot pepper flakes to make the dressing.
4. Thinly slice the red onion, chop the mint, and chop the peanuts.
5. Toss the dried broccoli with the dressing, making sure that all the broccoli flowerets are well-coated with dressing.
6. Add the sliced red onion, chopped mint, and chopped peanuts, toss again, and serve.
7. This salad doesn't keep especially well, so if this is more than you'll eat in one sitting I would cut the recipe in half. Or you can cut up all the ingredients and mix the dressing, but only toss together the amount you'll be eating and store the rest in the fridge for another day.

Notes

We used Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) but use any sweetener you prefer.

Recipe inspired by Thai Cabbage Slaw.

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 145Total Fat 7gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 0mgSodium 597mgCarbohydrates 18gFiber 7gSugar 4gProtein 8g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Did you make this recipe?

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Asian Broccoli Salad would be a great choice for any low-carb diet or any phase of the original South Beach Diet, as long as the dressing is made with an approved sweetener. And it’s also gluten-free, dairy-free, and can be vegetarian if you use Vegetarian Fish Sauce (affiliate link).

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Salad Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This broccoli salad with Asian flavors was first posted in 2012. It was updated with new photos in 2023 and last updated with more information in 2024.

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