Thai rice noodle salad
An easy Thai beef built around vermicelli rice noodles, bean sprouts and fish sauce — roughly 95 minutes start to finish, and rated involved to make. Scroll down for the ingredient checklist, a serving scaler and unit converter, and the method broken into 12 steps.
You'll mainly reach for frying pan / skillet and pan. At involved difficulty across 12 steps, it's worth setting aside proper time for.
What you'll need
Shopping list (8)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
Diet: contains meat, based on every ingredient listed below.
Contains: Fish Shellfish Sesame
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Food-safety and allergen information is general, not medical advice. Follow current guidance from your local food-safety authority, verify product labels, and seek qualified advice for allergies or health conditions.
How to make it
- Place the noodles and beansprouts in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 4 mins, or until the noodles are tender. Drain, then cool under cold running water and drain again. Return to the bowl.
- Stir together the lime zest and juice, fish or soy sauce and sugar. Stir into the noodles with the red onion and lettuce.
- To make with mince, heat a little oil in a non-stick frying pan and stir-fry 500g minced pork, a small knob of grated ginger and pinch cayenne pepper or chilli powder for 10 mins, until the mince is browned and cooked through.
- Mix into the noodles, divide between four bowls and serve warm.
- To make with steak, make the rice noodle salad.
- Heat 1 tsp sunflower oil in a frying pan.
- Tip 2 tbsp sesame seeds onto a plate.
- Rub 1 tsp oil into 4 x 175g sirloin steaks and press into sesame seeds.
- Fry for 5 mins for medium rare, turning halfway.
- Leave to rest for 5 mins, then thinly slice.
- Toss 1 deseeded and shredded red chilli, and a handful mint leaves into noodles.
- Top with steak to serve.
You'll use: Frying pan / skillet · Pan · Saucepan
Ingredient substitutions
- Lime
- lemon
- Fish Sauce
- soy sauce + a pinch of salt
What to serve with Thai rice noodle salad
- Pad See Ew Chicken
- Thai Green Curry Chicken
- Pad Thai Seafood
- Panang chicken curry (kaeng panang gai) Chicken
Tips & common questions
How long does Thai rice noodle salad take to make?
About 95 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 12 steps and 15 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of lime?
Try lemon. See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
How should I store leftovers?
Cool leftovers quickly, refrigerate in an airtight container, and eat within 3 days. Reheat until piping hot throughout.
Related recipes
Structured source recipe — not yet independently kitchen-tested by Consomee. How we source, test & correct recipes.
Recipe data for Thai rice noodle salad via TheMealDB (open database). Original source. Consomee adds the scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure — how we source recipes.