There's really nothing better than a chopped salad. Especially when someone is doing all the chopping for you. So if you're in a giving mood, and want to make this Mango Cucumber Chopped Salad for your friends and family, you'll truly be a hero!
Table of Contents
Why I Love This Recipe
9 times out of 10, if there's a chopped salad on a menu while I'm dining out, like the McCarthy Chopped Salad, I'm ordering it. All those knife skills have to be admired and as someone who cooks for a living, I'm always appreciative of someone else doing all that work. But... seeing as how we don't dine out every single day, and sometimes you're just craving a chop chop at home, this one needs to be on your agenda.
This Mango Cucumber Chop Salad is loaded with chopped spinach, cabbage, mango, cucumbers, bell peppers and tons of herbs. It's topped with a peanut, lime and soy dressing that you'll want to keep on hand for many other uses. It's the brain child of my new friend Yvette who joined us while cruising the Galapagos last year. And she eloquently explained why chopped salads are better than all other salad and why chopping spinach is a necessity. I was hesitant but obviously I was curious. Fast forward... I've been making it non-stop since returning home and that was a YEAR ago.
Side note: I gave it to Poppy last night (as is, no modifications) and she devoured it. I was a little hesitant about the chopped raw veggies, but she was obsessed. I mixed in a ¼ cup of cooked rice and it's the perfect meal for a toddler. Borrowing from the avocado shrimp spring rolls, this will go great with some rice noodles too. Between this and my cucumber salad, the girl is DEEP into her salad era!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Spinach
- Red Cabbage
- Persian Cucumbers
- Mangos
- Red Bell Pepper
- Cilantro
- Mint
- Scallions
- Rice Wine Vinegar
- Soy Sauce
- Lime
- Smooth Peanut Butter almond butter, sunflower butter or tahini are great substitutes if you have a peanut allergy
- Garlic Cloves
*For a full list of ingredients and instructions please see recipe card below.
How to Make Mango Cucumber Chopped Salad
Step 1: Start by chopping all of the fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Place them in a large bowl and set aside.
Step 2: Whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl.
Step 3: Drizzle the dressing on top of the chopped fruits and vegetables and toss to combine. Adjust salt and pepper if needed or add an extra squeeze of lime juice.
How to Store Mango Cucumber Chopped Salad
Refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
If prepping this salad ahead of time, chop the salad ingredients and make the dressing, but wait to combine until right before serving.
Tips & Tricks
- Feel free to get creative here - if you want to swap some veggies for whatever is in your fridge.... please be my guest.
- The dressing is delightful on any number of salads, so if you want to make a double batch, you have my full support. It lasts for about 5-7 days in the fridge.
FAQs
What is chopped salad made of?
CHOPPED veggies. The beauty of a chopped salad is in the knife skills. Doesn't really matter what kind of veggies you put in it - pretty much anything goes. Same goes for fruit - you're more than welcome to add some crunchy apples, some chopped peaches etc.
What is the difference between salad and chopped salad?
Again, it's just in the knife skills. Finely chopped veggies, fruits, proteins or dairy is what qualifies a chopped as a chopped!
Similar Recipes
If you tried this recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting today!
Mango Cucumber Chopped Salad
Ingredients
- 2-3 cups spinach chopped into about ⅓ inch pieces
- 1 cup red cabbage chopped into about ⅓ inch pieces
- 3 persian cucumbers chopped into about ⅓ inch pieces
- 1-2 mangos chopped into about ⅓ inch pieces
- 1 red bell pepper chopped into about ⅓ inch pieces
- ⅓ cup cilantro roughly chopped
- ¼ cup mint chopped into about ⅓ inch pieces
- ¼ cup scallions chopped
Thai Peanut Dressing
- ⅓ cup rice wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 lime juiced
- ½ cup smooth peanut butter (almond butter, sunflower butter or tahini are great substitutes if you have a peanut allergy)
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
Instructions
- Combine all chopped fruits and vegetables in a bowl.
- Whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing. Drizzle on top of the chopped fruits and vegetables and toss to combine. Adjust salt and pepper if needed or add an extra squeeze of lime juice. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- If prepping this Mango Cucumber Chopped Salad ahead of time, chop the salad ingredients and make the dressing, but wait to combine until right before serving.
Delicious! Next time I’ll cut back on the dressing…or add more of the other fruit and veggie ingredients!
I made this tonight and it was delicious!!! Plus it was so fun to have a salad that is so freaking colorful. It will definitely be a regular for me this summer.
I followed what one of the other reviewers said and used less peanut butter. I probably ended up putting in about three tablespoons, and had a really nice dressing consistency with that.
I also substituted basil for the cilantro, since I’m not a huge cilantro fan 🙂 Amazing recipe, as always!
Why is my dressing not “drizzly”?
This was delicious! Added an avocado and served it with seared tuna! So yummy.
Loved this!! I branded it as "Rainbow Salad" for my 16MO and 4 YO and they were very into it. I also used far less peanut butter - probably ~2 Tbls., maybe 3 (but I always like my dressings about 50/50 acid/fat, so the original is probably about right for most).
Served with grilled chicken thighs and it was perfect. Thanks!
Made this for dinner tonight. So good!!!
Delicious! Made this for dinner tonight, and it was a hit. We had some leftover grilled pork loin that we diced and added to it for some protein.
This salad was so delicious! I will say I had to make the dressing twice bc a half a cup of peanut butter was wayyyy too much. I followed more of the serving size used in her Instagram video (1-2 heaping tablespoons) and the dressing turned out great
This was amazing! It will be in the regular rotation all summer!
Not a mango fan...substitutions? Thank you!
PEACHES
Sounds delish! Would tahini work as a substitute for peanut butter?
yes or almond butter
Looks great ! Could I do it for meal prep and just not dress it??
YES!
Hello..looks so yummy..but I have a peanut intolerance,what can I substitute peanut butter with. Thank you
almond butter!
Yay Yvette! Can’t wait to try this! Do you think if we use kale instead of spinach it might keep a little longer?
YES!
The perfect warm weather salad!
Looks so delicious! How long does the dressing keep? recommend storage in fridge?
Thanks Gaby!!
about a week!