Thai Ground Beef Salads
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This fresh Thai salad is made with sweet, tart, and spicy ground beef, pickled vegetables, and a homemade Ginger Carrot Dressing.
I made a lot of entrees salads in our house, especially in the summer. We enjoy salads with a protein on them so that we can call it our dinner.
For the most part I have a standard base that I use then I just switch up the toppings. The Copycat Olive Garden Salad is a great base or a a delicious side salad option that we often use. We don’t have an Olive Garden near us so it’s nice to be able to make this salad at home.
The entree salad I most often made is a Steakhouse Salad with fries and Homemade Ranch Dressing. My husband’s favorite entree salad is a Classic Cobb Salad. Then we enjoy this Strawberry Pecan Salad with chicken or shrimp on top.
On thing I haven’t made a lot of are Asian salads. I’ve had a few and I really like them but they aren’t something I make on the regular because I have so many other Asian food recipes that we like to eat.
This recipe is for a Thai ground beef salad. It sounds simple but the combination of flavors is just crazy. There are so many parts to this salad but don’t be put off by that as you can make the dressing, sauce, and pickled vegetables in advance.
What flavors make up Thai food?
Thai food is usually made up of a combination of five distinct flavors. The flavors are sweet, sour, salty, spicy, and umami. Most Thai dishes blend multiple flavors to create depth and complexity in the dish.
There are several different parts to this Thai Beef Salad but don’t be put off by that. The salad base of the ground beef and sauce take less than 20 minutes to prepare.
It took me a bit longer to make this because I had to make my own Prik Nam Pla sauce. I had never heard of this sauce before and they didn’t have it at any of my grocery stores but I did have all the ingredients I needed to make my own.
What is Prik Nam Pla?
Prik Nam Pla is a classic Thai condiment made from fish sauce, chopped Thai chilies, lime juice, and sugar. I didn’t have Thai chilies so I just used a dried chili that I had on hand and it turned out to be delicious. This sauce is traditionally used as a table condiment to add a salty, spicy, tangy kick to dishes like rice, noodles, and stir-fries.
The Prik Nam Pla sauce is used to make the pickled carrots and cucumbers that go over top of the lettuce in this salad. If you don’t have this sauce and can’t make it you can just make a quick pickled carrot and cucumber for the top.
While you can use whatever dressing you would like on top of this salad I chose to make my own Carrot Ginger Dressing which paired so well with this salad. I know the dressing is Japanese but it still worked with all the Thai flavors in this salad.
ingredients:
- prik nam pla sauce
- carrots
- cucumbers (baby cucumbers are preferred)
- red onions
- ground beef (90/10 or 85/15 is preferred in this recipe)
- fresh ginger (or a ginger paste-do not use dried ginger)
- garlic cloves
- garlic chili sauce
- honey (or you can use brown sugar)
- fish sauce
- oyster sauce
- limes
- lettuce (romaine or iceberg is preferred)
- cilantro
To make the pickled vegetables peel the carrots and the cucumbers and use a vegetable peeler to cut them into thin ribbons. Thinly slice the red onions. Drizzle with half of the prik nam pla sauce, toss to combine, and set aside.
To make the ground beef heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the oil, ginger, garlic, and garlic chili sauce. Saute for 1-2 minutes. Add in the ground beef and cook for 5-7 minutes or until it is no longer pink. Add in the honey, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and water and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and drizzle with fresh lime juice.
Divide the lettuce onto four plates. Chop the cilantro and add to the lettuce. Divide the beef on top of the salads. Top with the pickled vegetables. Serve with your favorite Asian dressing.
Can I use a different protein in this salad?
Yes! You can use diced chicken breast or ground chicken in this recipe. Shrimp would be good as well. A firm tofu would work and would make a nice vegetarian salad option.
This salad is simply delicious. The base is very simple but it works with all the other ingredients on top of it.
The beef is flavorful and has a lot of bold flavors that pair well together. Then the pickled vegetables on top of the salad add a fresh note on top.
Depending on what type of dressing you use the flavor of your salad will change. The carrot ginger dressing gave the salad a nice, earthy flavor on top which just worked well.
If you’ve tried my Thai Ground Beef Salad or any other recipe on Hezzi-D’s Recipe Box please take a minute to rate the recipe and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. I love hearing from you! You can FOLLOW ME on:
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Carrot Salad:
- 1/4 cup Prik nam pla sauce
- 2 medium carrots peeled and cut into thin ribbons with a vegetable peeler
- 2 mini cucumbers peeled and cut into thin ribbons with a vegetable peeler
- 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
For the ground beef:
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 1/3 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 inch ginger minced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 teaspoons garlic chili sauce or Sriracha
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 1 Tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 Tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 Tablespoons lime juice
For the salad:
- 8 cups iceberg or romaine lettuce
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
- 1 cup crunchy Asian noodles
- Dressing of your choice
Instructions
- To make the salads divide the lettuce between four plates. Divide the cilantro and sprinkle over top of the lettuce. Set plates aside.
- To make the carrot salad create thin ribbons of carrots and cucumbers with vegetable peeler. Place in a bowl. Add in the red onion slices.
- Drizzle the vegetables with prik nam pla sauce, salt, and pepper. Mix well to combine. Set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in the ginger, garlic, and garlic chili sauce and saute for 1 minute.
- Add the ground beef and cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until it is no longer pink.
- Add in the honey, fish sauce, oyster sauce, water, and lime juice. Stir well to combine and cook for 3 minutes.
- Divide the ground beef on top of the plates of lettuce.
- Divide the carrot salad and place on top of the ground beef.
- Top with crunchy noodles and choice of dressing or make Homemade Carrot Ginger dressing.
Notes