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Healthy Vegan Vietnamese Noodle Salad with Grapefruit

Healthy Vietnamese Noodle Salad with Grapefruit

This Vegan Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad is healthy, gluten-free and refreshing thanks to a zingy grapefruit dressing. 

Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian, vietnamese
Keyword healthy rice noodle salad, salad with grapefruit, Vietnamese noodle salad
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 2 servings
Calories 450 kcal
Author Kiki Johnson

Ingredients

  • 1 big red onion
  • 1 large carrot
  • 1/2 cucumber
  • 1 grapefruit
  • 200 ml refined coconut oil for frying or avocado oil
  • 100 g rice noodles gluten-free and vegan
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 red chili
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tsp coconut sugar or maple syrup
  • 1 lime a big one, no key lime
  • 1 tbsp avocado oil or half and half avocado and sesame oil
  • 1/2 bunch cilantro
  • 20 g roasted peanuts 2 tbsps
  • salt

Instructions

  1. Slice the onion. Peel the carrot and cut into slices.  Wash cucumber and cut into strips. Alternatively, you can spiralize carrot and cucumber using a vegetable spiralizer.  Supreme the grapefruit and squeeze out the grapefruit core over the filets to not waste the juice.

  2. Heat the refined coconut oil in a pan on medium-high heat until it reaches about 170 C (338 F) and fry the onion rings in 2 portions to not crowd the pan. Fry until crispy, then place on a kitchen paper-lined plate. 

  3. Bring about 1 l of water to a boil and prepare the noodles by soaking them in hot water as described in the post. As soon as they are cooked, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process and toss with some sesame oil. 

  4. Peel and mince garlic. Halve chili and deseed. Mince the chili finely. Add both to a small bowl and add soy sauce, a pinch of salt and 2 tsp of coconut sugar or maple syrup. Halve the lime and add the juice to the bow along with the avocado oil. If using coconut sugar, stir well until the coconut sugar has dissolved. 

  5. Chop the cilantro and peanuts and add to the noodles along with all other ingredients. Add grapefruit filets WITH all the juice. Toss and serve topped with fried onions.

Recipe Notes

  • Even with a bit of sesame oil, the rice noodles still tend to clump up after you drain them. They will loosen again once you toss the noodles with the grapefruit dressing.
  • I use a mix of avocado oil and sesame oil in this rice noodle salad recipe because I don't want the sesame flavor to overpower the grapefruit. 
  • Coconut sugar is my sugar of choice here but maple syrup works fine plus is dissolves more easily. You can use honey, but then it's not vegan anymore.
  • If I have guests over, I double the dressing recipe and serve some dressing on the side. Some like a lot of dressing on their noodle salad and if you don't serve it right away, you might need to toss with some more dressing.