If crispy, crunchy salads are calling your name, then look no further than the crispiest, crunchiest salad that your taste buds will love! This is my Crispy Rice Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing, and it’s made from a combination of crunchy cucumbers, perfectly crispy rice, and a thick and creamy lemon tahini dressing that ties it all together. It’s perfect as-is for a satisfying lunch, or add your favorite protein to it for the ultimate dinner!
Friends, let me introduce you to one of my favorite discoveries of 2024: crispy grains. From crunchy quinoa to crispy couscous, I have discovered the life-changing magic of making grains nice and crispy before adding them to your favorite salads. Okay, well, maybe I didn’t *discover* crispy grains. But, after trying them for myself, I have become obsessed. Especially, when they’re added to delicious salads.
This salad is full of CRUNCH, thanks to the crispy rice, the crunchy cucumbers, and the salty peanuts. In addition to being obsessed with crunchy grains, I’ve also been obsessed with cucumber salads, thanks to Logan on TikTok. If you haven’t seen his videos, he has become the king of cucumber salads and has made the entire internet obsessed with them. It’s reignited my love of cucumbers salads, and helped inspired this one!
The combination of cucumbers and crispy rice is truly the perfect combination. And, to top it all off, this salad comes together with a creamy lemon tahini dressing that is so good, you could drink it with a spoon. I mean truly, what could be better than that? I love to whip up this salad as a quick and easy lunch, or as the perfect side dish alongside my Easy Teriyaki Salmon!
What You Need to Make This Crispy Rice Salad
- 🍚 Rice: Of course, it wouldn’t be a crispy rice salad without the rice! Pick your favorite rice and use it in this recipe – I use jasmine rice!
- Soy Sauce: If you want to keep this recipe gluten-free, you can opt to use a gluten-free soy sauce, like Coconut Aminos or Tamari!
- 🌶️ Chili Crisp: The crispy rice gets a kick thanks to the chili crunch – you can buy it pre-made from Trader Joe’s, or make your own with my easy recipe!
- Sesame Oil: A little bit of sesame oil helps the rice crisp up nicely and adds a delicious, toasty flavor.
- 🥒 Persian Cucumbers: Petite, Persian cucumbers are perfect for this salad. They are small and crunchy, which means that they won’t get soggy in this salad. If you don’t have Persian cucumbers, you can also opt to use an English cucumber instead.
- 🫛 Edamame: Edamame is packed with protein and adds a delicious texture to this salad! I like using frozen, pre-shelled edamame to make this salad even simpler.
- Green Onion: Fresh green onions add a delicious flavor to this recipe. I like to use only the greens of the green onions, since the whites tend to be spicier in flavor.
- Fresh Mint: The fresh mint packs a punch to this salad recipe and tastes absolutely delicious. Don’t skip it!
- 🥑 Avocados: Avocados are fully of healthy fats and add a delicious creamy element to this salad!
- Salted Peanuts: Salted peanuts add the perfect finishing touch to this salad! They’re crunchy, salty, and pair perfectly with the thick tahini dressing.
- 🫒 Olive Oil: Olive oil is full of healthy fats and is the perfect base for this dressing.
- Lemon Juice: You’ll need the juice of 1-2 lemons in order to make this recipe.
- Tahini: If you’re new here, then you may not know that tahini is one of my favorite ingredients! It’s a salty Middle Eastern paste made from ground sesame seeds and is absolutely delicious in this dressing.
- Maple Syrup: Maple syrup adds the perfect touch of sweetness to this dressing. Don’t skip this!
- 🧄 Garlic: Fresh garlic cloves add the best flavor to this dressing. I highly recommend it!
- Seasonings: To season the Lemon Tahini Dressing, you’ll need cumin, kosher salt, and ground black pepper. Yum!
How to Make This Perfectly-Crispy Cucumber Salad
To make this salad, start by preparing the crispy rice. Preheat your oven to 400 F. Next, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside. Next, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
Cook the rice according to your preferred method and allow it to cool fully. Then, add it to the baking sheet. Toss the cooled rice with the soy sauce, chili crisp, and sesame oil. Then, transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake the rice for 30-40 minutes, or until it’s nice and crispy. Toss it halfway through, to ensure that it cooks evenly.
Once the rice is done, remove it from the oven and set it aside. Next, wash and chop all of the salad ingredients – the Persian cucumbers, edamame, green onions, fresh mint, avocado, and salted peanuts – and add them to a large bowl. Then, prepare the dressing by whisking together the olive oil, lemon juice, tahini, maple syrup, garlic, cumin, kosher salt, and ground black pepper. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed, then pour it over the salad.
Toss the salad until all of the ingredients are fully coated in the dressing. Finally, add in the crispy rice and toss one more time, until the rice is fully combined with the salad. Serve and enjoy!
🎯 Tips for Making the Perfect Crispy Rice Salad
While this Crispy Rice Salad is super easy to make, there are a few ways to truly take it to the next level! I love using these simple and easy tips to ensure that the salad turns out perfectly, every single time.
- Use pre-cooked or leftover rice: The key to making the rice nice and crispy is to use cooled rice. I like to use leftover rice to make the process simple and easy!
- Slice the cucumber thin: I love to use a mandolin to slice the cucumber extra thin, so the dressing soaks into every bite and makes this salad extra juicy!
- Pack in the protein: While this salad tastes absolutely delicious on its own, I also love pairing it alongside some extra protein for a more well-rounded meal. Salmon, chicken, or even tofu are all delicious options!
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a review and rating below! To see more recipes and behind the scenes, follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube! I’m also now on Pinterest, so stop by and take a look at what’s new.
** Photography by Tanya Pilgrim
Ingredients
For the Crispy Rice:
- 2 Cups Cooked Rice, cooled – I use jasmine rice, but any rice should work well
- 2 Teaspoons Soy Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil
Chili Crisp (2 Tablespoons) you can buy it at Trader Joe's or make your own!
- ¼ Cup Dried Onion
- ¼ Cup Dried Garlic
- 1 Tablespoon Smoked Paprika
- ½ Teaspoons Sea Salt
- 1.5 Tablespoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- ½ Teaspoons Chili Powder
- ¾ Cup Olive Oil
For the Salad:
- 5 Persian Cucumbers, thinly sliced – you can also substitute one large English cucumber
- 1 Cup Edamame, shelled
- 1 Bunch Green Onions, thinly sliced – this is approximately 3/4 cup
- 1 Bunch Fresh Mint, finely chopped – this is approximately 1/2 cup
- 2 Avocados, chopped
- 1 Cup Salted Peanuts, finely chopped
For the Lemon Tahini Dressing:
- ½ Cup Olive Oil
- ⅓ Cup Lemon Juice, this is approximately 1-2 lemons
- 3 Tablespoons Tahini
- 1 ½ Tablespoons Maple Syrup
- 2 Cloves Garlic, mashed
- 1 Teaspoon Cumin
- ½ Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ¾ Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
Instructions
- To make this salad, start by preparing the crispy rice. Preheat your oven to 400 F.
- Next, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
- Cook the rice according to your preferred method and allow it to cool fully. Then, add it to the baking sheet.
- Toss the cooled rice with the soy sauce, chili crisp, and sesame oil.
- Then, transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake the rice for 30-40 minutes, or until it's nice and crispy. Toss it halfway through, to ensure that it cooks evenly.
- Once the rice is done, remove it from the oven and set it aside.
- Next, wash and chop all of the salad ingredients – the Persian cucumbers, edamame, green onions, fresh mint, avocado, and salted peanuts – and add them to a large bowl.
- Then, prepare the dressing by whisking together the olive oil, lemon juice, tahini, maple syrup, garlic, cumin, kosher salt, and ground black pepper. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed, then pour it over the salad.
- Toss the salad until all of the ingredients are fully coated in the dressing.
- Finally, add in the crispy rice and toss one more time, until the rice is fully combined with the salad. Serve and enjoy!
Rate & review
SELECT A RATING and tell me what you think!
What others are saying
Absolutely delicious! This is going to be a new regular for me!
Texturely this is great. Flavor is lacking. I followed this to a T. I will try a kewpie mayo dressing next time with more of a soy flavor.
Oh my god.. this initially was awful but that would be on me not you, Nicole, since I had to make some modifications. I can’t have sugar (maple syrup) and I hate cumin so I had to leave those out from the dressing and I can’t have peanuts. All of this could have altered the flavour in a huge way. Plus.. I over-crisped the rice but I didn’t mind that. What I did, though, was add cherry tomatoes and pumpkin seeds and then it was not bad. I am sure that the recipe as written would be amazing, though. Oh.. and I made your chili crunch recipe. It was so easy to make and is so good. Thank you, Nicole, for all your amazing recipes!
Hi Marnie, I’m sorry to hear your experience with this recipe! Those substitutes would change the recipe greatly, unfortunately.
Lovely, tasty and crispy wholesome salad. Served it to my book club friends and they all loved it.
I am so happy that you enjoyed it, Sandra! Thank you so much for making this recipe and for leaving a kind review!
Delicious…with a few swaps. I made a more Asian style dressing swapping lemon with lime, olive oil with sesame oil, water, soy sauce, sriracha, and rice vinegar. Left out mint but would swap for cilantro. Thank you for the recipe.
That sounds delicious, Nancy! If you want a more Asian-style crispy rice salad, you may like this one!
Awesome. Eat it day one – the rice gets soft day 2+ (still good, just not quite as delicious!).
So good! Great idea to bake the rice. I halved the recipe and subed black eyed peas for the edamame. Thank you!
Yum! I am so happy that you enjoyed it, Marry!
I. Am. Obsessed. I’ve made this twice in four days now. I omitted the mint (just preference) and added some shredded carrots! I have shared this recipe with no less than 20 people in the last 20 minutes after posting a delicious picture to my snap story. 😂12/10!
I’m so thrilled that you found a version of this recipe that works for you, Lizzie! Thank you so much for making this recipe and for your review!
This worked exactly as written, thanks!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you, Maddy!
Thank you! I enjoyed this! I just added a few things… when I was using my herb scissors for the green onion and mint, I went ahead and added some basil and parsley with it. I used some mixed greens as kind of a “base” for the salad and added an egg on my bowl for protein. Thank you for the recipe!
Help! I can’t tell if I under baked the rice or if I left it in too long. Rice is hard to chew, not crispy just tough.
What did I do wrong?
We loved it! I may have made the rice a little too crispy but this was otherwise a hit