Sweet and Sour Salad Recipe
Sometimes garbage salads are the best. They’re the salads I make when I have a produce drawer full of stuff and I throw it all together. And sometimes all that stuff works so amazingly well together. That was this sweet and sour zucchini salad. It’s naturally vegan, gluten-free, light, fresh, and healthy. Perfect summer food and helps with the abundance of zucchini many people have now. Not me, I have to buy mine. It reminds me of salsa, but I’m calling it salad so there’s no shame in shoveling it down by the fork-full. Although every few bites, I piled it on tortilla chips because everything tastes better on crunchy corn chips. It would also make a great bruschetta topper. There’s so much flavor, texture, and crunch in every bite and I couldn’t get enough of it. Sweet-and-tangy, hot-and-sour, juicy, fresh, healthy. Loved it.
Sweet and Sour Zucchini Salad Ingredients
The salad makes use of just about anything you’d have in your produce drawer. Customize it with your favorites. I used juicy pineapple and mango, which add a sweet element, lime juice adds sour, zucchini and corn add crunch, edamame adds chewiness and protein, cilantro adds extra flavor, and a jalapeño pepper and hot pepper jelly add heat. There’s plenty of sneak-up-on you heat from the jalapeño pepper and hot pepper (homemade here or here). When mixed with lime juice, the hot pepper jelly and lime turn into a great vinaigrette and gives the salad it’s bold, zippy flavor and sweet heat. It tasted better the second day after the flavors married!
How to Make Sweet and Sour Zucchini Salad
This is such a quick and easy salad to prepare! It’s almost like an Asian chopped salad, but there’s no lettuce involved. Here’s an overview of how this texture-packed salad is made:
Make-Ahead Instructions
This is actually a wonderful salad to prepare in advance! The fruits and vegetables will release their juices and salad will be juicier, the flavors will have married, and overall the salad will taste even better on second day! I recommend eating the Asian-inspired zucchini salad within 48 hours, but it will last up to 4 days in the fridge.
What to Serve with Sweet and Sour Zucchini Salad
We love eating this salad as is, but we often wind up scooping it up with homemade baked tortilla chips. Because the salad is vegan, it pairs well with lots of Asian-inspired entrees, such as:
Homemade Hunan Beef Chicken Egg Roll Bowls Honey Soy Chicken Thighs Copycat P.F. Chang’s Mongolian Beef Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps Fresh Spring Rolls
More Zucchini Recipes:
ALL OF MY ZUCCHINI RECIPES! Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes! Summer Ravioli Salad — Crisp-tender zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, and chickpeas over spinach with cheesy ravioli and a dijon vinaigrette!! A HEALTHY summer pasta salad that takes advantage of fresh produce!! Creamy Corn and Zucchini Salad — A healthy EASY salad that’s ready in 15 minutes and so flavorful!! Corn, zucchini, cilantro, queso fresco and more are tossed in a DELISH creamy lime sauce!! Mexican Zucchini, Corn, and Peppers (Calabacitas) — An EASY Mexican-inspired recipe ready in 15 minutes with zucchini, corn, bell peppers, tomatoes, and green chiles! HEALTHY, vegan, and naturally gluten-free! When there’s an abundance of summer produce, this recipe is PERFECT! Air Fryer Zucchini Fritters — Lightly crisped on the outside, tender on the inside, and makes use of summer’s most abundant vegetable! And air frying the zucchini fritters keeps them healthier than actual frying without sacrificing taste or texture! Perfect as an appetizer, side dish, or healthy main course. Oven baking instructions also provided. Grilled Steak Kabobs — Juicy steak with sweet bell peppers, onions, zucchini, and pineapple for the PERFECT sweet-and-savory kabob!! You’ll want to fire up your grill for these! Fast, EASY, zero cleanup, and DELISH!! Chicken Enchilada Stuffed Zucchini Boats — Skip enchilada wraps and use zucchini instead!! Easy, healthier and there’s so much FLAVOR between juicy chicken drenched in enchilada sauce, corn, peppers, and CHEESE!! Summer Sheet Pan Chicken and Veggies — Fast, EASY, HEALTHY, and perfect for your seasonal summer zucchini, squash and tomatoes!! A DELISH one-pan meal with zero cleanup that’s great for lazy summer days or busy weeknights!!
