One of my favourite summer salads! This Vietnamese Noodle Salad with Shrimp/Prawns is everything you know and love about Vietnamese food. Fresh, healthy, great textures and full of flavour!
A great, fresh Vietnamese noodle recipe
Winter in Sydney swings from being warm enough to run around in shorts and play with your dog at the beach, and cold enough to wear ugg boots and maybe, just maybe, turn on the heater.
So the food I make ranges from hearty winter stews to fresh summer salads. I grill outdoors all year round, I make soups in summer and salads in winter.
I love it! It keeps me on my toes! 🙂
I actually made this because my mother asked me for a recipe. She rarely does, normally it’s the other way around, with me constantly asking her how to make all the delicious Japanese dishes she cooked for us when we were growing up.
So when she asked me for my Vietnamese noodle salad recipe, I hopped right to it. After all, even when you’re 30-something, you still do as you’re told, right?
I have a chicken version but she was specifically after a prawn (shrimp) version so that’s the one I’m sharing with you today. If you prefer to use chicken, feel free to do so.
This salad is a mash up of classic Vietnamese salads like Goi Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Salad with Cabbage) and Vietnamese Noodle Bowls (seriously, if you haven’t tried this before, it’s a must!). I use a salad dressing recipe by Bill Granger who is a great Australian chef. It’s the one he uses for his Vietnamese Chicken Salad which is on the menu of one of his restaurants.
I really like serving up salads like this laid out with each of the components separately so people can help themselves and with the dressing on the side. But you can toss it all together if you want. Might be safer if you have a shrimp-pig at the table. 😉
– Nagi
Get your Vietnamese fix!
-
Lemongrass Chicken – one of my favourite things to grill!
-
Vietnamese Caramel Pork – another iconic Vietnamese food! Also see the Chicken version.
-
Vietnamese Caramelised Pork Bowls – the super quick version of the above
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Vietnamese Garlic Shrimp (Prawn) Noodle Salad
Ingredients
Garlic Shrimp (Prawns)
- 12 - 15 medium shrimp (prawns), shelled and deveined (about 5 - 7 oz / 150 - 200g, excluding shells)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- Pinch of salt and pepper
Dressing
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 large garlic clove , very finely chopped
- 1 tsp very finely chopped red chili , adjust to taste (I use birds eye which is spicy)
Salad
- 2.5 oz / 75g dried rice vermicelli noodles (Note 1)
- 3 cups iceberg lettuce , shredded
- 1 cup carrot , cut into fine matchsticks
- 1 1/2 cups cucumber , cut into matchsticks
- 1 1/2 cups beansprouts
- 1/4 cup coriander leaves , lightly packed
- 1/4 cup mint leaves (ordinary or Vietnamese), lightly packed
Instructions
- Combine the Garlic Shrimp ingredients in a small bowl and set aside for 10 minutes.
- Combine the Dressing ingredients in a small jar, give it a shake then set aside for 10 minutes.
- Heat a skillet / fry pan over high heat. Add the shrimp, scraping in the olive oil and garlic from the sides of the bowl. Cook for 2 minutes, or until browned and the shrimp is just cooked through. (Note 2)
- Remove the prawns from the skillet onto a plate.
- Prepare the vermicelli noodles according to the packet directions. I like to just soak them in hot tap water for a few minutes, this ensures they don't overcook. Then drain the noodles.
- Arrange the noodles and remaining Salad ingredients on a large plate (like the photo) or toss together in a bowl. Top with prawns (warm or at room temperature). Drizzle over the Dressing (or toss through), or you can serve the Dressing on the side.
- Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes:
I’ve made this twice this week – once with prawns and another time to have with the lime chicken. So fresh, zingy and delicious. In fact, my mouth is watering at the memory as I’m typing.
Yep! This is a winner! Made this for lunch. My husband was saying while eating, “this is perfect. Just perfect.” And then after lunch he kept saying, “that lunch was really good.”
I was craving fresh spring rolls but couldn’t find the wraps so I opted for this salad. Just as good!! I I didn’t have a spicy chili pepper so used a little bit of garlic chili sauce and some finely diced red sweet pepper. Added a few radish and sprinkled chopped roasted peanuts on top. Amazing. Thanks!!
I started out going to make soup on a rainy night. I pulled a box of rice noodles and went to your site. I found this recipe, and Nagi, it is delicious!!!! I did make some changes – used fresh lump crabmeat instead of shrimp, and, because I live in a small town in the middle of the desert, I couldn’t get fresh chilis. I used Tuong Ot Toi Viet-Nam Chili Garlic Sauce instead. That also was enhanced by the garlic. I am a happy, happy girl! Thank you!
Made this for my wife’s birthday and it was a big hit. I didnt do the sprouts and cucumber but served with papaya salad, and added calamari into the mix. Great recipe, thanks for sharing.
I loved in Saigon for 4 years. Nagi you have nailed that dressing. I have just been busted by husband drinking it out of the jar!
🤣🤣 You are my kind of person!! N x
Delicious salad! Refreshing and perfect for our lockdown picnics. Next time, I think I will make half as much dressing. Thank you Nagi 🙂
Nagi, please add 5* to my comment I just sent…thanks
D
Nagi, oh my, I am so please to find your site with all these wonderful Vietnamese recipes. I just made your Pork Bowls for supper. I am trying desperately not to eat it all before supper time comes…ha ha. It is mighty delicious. My Garry will love it!
Thanks for sharing Nagi.
Darlene
Nova Scotia
This turned out sooo delicious. Will definitely be making it again! Thanks!
I love your recipes. I always go to your recipes first because they are always great.
Me too! I literally love my meal every time I make one of her recipes. Nagi you’re the best!
Hi Nagi!
Any substitution for the red chiles?
Made this for lunch today. (Summer here in Canada.) This was so good! I didn’t have mint, but still the flavours were really what I was hoping for. Perfect for summer.
Thanks for this!! 🤗
Definitely making this again…and again!!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Sandra, thanks for letting me know! N x
I’ve been cooking a lot and for a very long time, I love trying new things especially healthier recipes. This one is the best dish I’ve ever made! Thank you!
Woah what a compliment, thanks so much Or!
Nagi!! You are my favorite Blogger of ALL TIME!! I’m 1/2 Sicilian (mom’s full blooded) and 1/2 MUTT (that’s dad😆) and I’d rather eat Asian food on a daily basis than Italian. I’m in my early 50’s and disabled and mom only makes Sauce every now and then, a long stretch from our every Sunday meal after Mass, but it’s always welcomed. Going out for Italian is taboo 😉! ! But I LOVE LOVE LOVE Asian food and would eat it everyday if I could! I used to make a Chinese meal twice a month for my parents and myself but due to my disability it can take 2-4hrs to prepare and cook even a simple meal for me. But I love your recipes so much I try really hard to make them!
I have a question about lemongrass. It’s difficult for me to go to the store to get Lemongrass but a Thai market I order from online sells Lemongrass Powder. Can I use that as a substitute??? If so what should my ratio be, say like for your Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken? Oh yum yum yum!!
Thanks for giving me something to be excited about! I wish I could go to Australia and Italy before I die, but getting to see everything is difficult when you’re stuck in a wheelchair or using crutches, I can’t walk very far with my crutches so I end up in a wheelchair and so many historical places aren’t conducive to wheelchairs. 😔
Anyway, thank you for always making me smile!!!
Hi Lisa! My husband has a Chinese grocery shop and sells frozen lemongrass all chopped up – which I use all the time! Hope this helps.
Hi Lisa, I’m so glad you love my recipes & are committed to trying them!! I haven’t tried recipes with powder (you can get jarred lemongrass paste here which is just as good) so you can either omit it or use a bit of lime zest in its place!
I’ve used powdered lemongrass in your Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Bowl. It turned out delicious! All exchanges I’ve seen online say 1 tsp powder for 1 stalk of fresh, so that’s what I’ve been using.
I made this and I wish I could post a picture because I made it really well! My boyfriend loved it. The noodles don’t seem much when dry at 75 g but it grows a lot. And if I were to make it again I would use 1/8 cup of fish sauce and lime juice and all others be half also because I didn’t need that much and was afraid of the salt content. It was enough sauce. Thanks!
That’s great to hear Mai! Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed this! N x
Made this tonight, yum! Great feedback from the other half, thanks again Nagi (and Dozer) x
I’m pleased to hear you enjoyed it Victoria, thanks for letting me know! N xx
I waѕ recommended this blog Ƅy mу cousin. I’m no lⲟnger
sure whethewr this post is ᴡritten viaa һim ass no one eⅼse understand such
precise approximateⅼy my difficulty. Υou arе
amazing! Thank you!
That’s so sweet, thanks!! N x
The salad looks wonderful. But I’m a bit concerned about the high sodium content. Is there a way to cut back on that?
Hi Michelle! The nutrition calculator assumes you consume all the dressing which you won’t. I make that much dressing because you need it to pour over everything, but I’d guess around 1/4 of the dressing ends up pooled on the plate or not used. I’ve updated the nutrition notes for this 🙂
I made it. I love it. Thank you very much.
So glad you loved it Jose!! Thank you for letting me know!! N x
OMGosh! This looks so absolutely delicious! That dressing has got me drooling over this dish 😉 YUM! Thanks for sharing, Nagi!
Aw, thanks for the kind words!! 🙂