Thai Crab Avocado Salad with Grapefruit Vinaigrette

Name: Thai Crab Avocado Salad with Grapefruit Vinaigrette
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 1 large grapefruit; 8 ounces crab meat; 1 cup cucumber (chopped); 2 large avocados (either chopped and tossed into the salad or halved to serve the Thai crab salad inside the avocado. ); 2 cups arugula ((rocket) or a mixture of julienned sliced cabbage and carrots is extra delicious.); 2 tablespoons cilantro ((coriander) roughly chopped); 2 cloves garlic (peeled and finely minced.); 2 Thai bird chili ((or to taste) seeds removed and finely chopped or any chili pepper you wish. Hold for a mild dressing.); 2 tablespoons grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed from the reserved grapefruit peel and pith. ); 2 tablespoons lime juice (freshly squeezed or juice from 1 lime); 2 tablespoons fish sauce; 1 tablespoon olive oil (or light flavored oil); 1.5 tablespoons honey (or maple syrup to taste); salt and pepper (to taste); 1/3 cup sunflower seeds (toasted or other crunchy nuts and seeds of choice.)

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When it’s too hot to cook, turn to this easy Thai Crab Avocado Salad for a light and healthy meal solution. Simply made with gluten-free imitation crab, creamy avocado, fresh veggies, and a zesty grapefruit dressing. You can serve this refreshing crab salad tossed or spooned inside an avocado boat. The choice is yours.

Thai Crab avocado salad in a big wooden bowl garnished with grapefruit vinaigrette.

Unlike our Kani Salad which has a creamy mayonnaise-based dressing, our Thai crab salad has a light fish sauce, citrus and aromatics infused vinaigrette. Just like all Thai Cuisine dishes, this grapefruit dressing celebrates the balance of savory, sweet, spicy, and sour flavors. So, let’s get to it!

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Ingredients
How to Make Thai Crab Salad?
Recipe Tips
Side Dishes to Serve with Crab Salad
Substitutes for Crab in a Seafood Salad
Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ's)
More Crab Recipes
Thai Crab Avocado Salad with Grapefruit Vinaigrette

Ingredients

Imitation Crab Meat (also known as crab sticks, krab or surimi) – or better yet, you can use canned or freshly cooked crab meat. It adds a delicious sweetness to the salad. If fresh crab meat did not cost $$$$, of course that would be our first option. Canned is also nice. We chose a gluten-free imitation crab meat as from a budget perspective, that worked best for us.

Avocado – Medium sized works best for this recipe. You can either add chopped avocado directly to the Thai crab salad or you can put the crab salad on top of an avocado boat.

Grapefruit – We used a pink grapefruit to keep it easy for those living outside of Asia. If you have access to an Asian Market, try adding a pomelo fruit to give you the feel of a Yum Som O (pomelo Salad)

Veggies of Choice – We added cucumbers and a bit of rocket (arugula). Thinly sliced cabbage, napa cabbage and julienned carrots would be nice in here as well. It adds that addictive crunch factor.

Aromatics – Thai chili peppers for a kick of heat, garlic (but of course!), and cilantro (if you wish). You can substitute with other fresh chilis of choice like jalapeno, serrano’s or even Fresno chili peppers that we use to make our Asian chili garlic sauce.

Dressing Ingredients – Fish sauce, grapefruit juice, lime juice, honey, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. If you have an allergy to seafood, substitute regular fish sauce with a vegan fish sauce – just to be on the safe side.

Crunchy Nuts – Optional but so good in this salad. We added toasted sunflower seeds because that is what we had on hand. However, roasted crushed peanuts, toasted desiccated coconut, crispy baked rice or even fried shallots would be delicious too.

How to Make Thai Crab Salad?

Peel and section the grapefruit (or pomelo fruit).

chopping a cucumber and the prepared grapefruit vinaigrette in a white bowl.

Slice and prep Vegetables
Make the grapefruit vinaigrette, Mix the fish sauce, grapefruit juice, lime juice, garlic, chili peppers, honey, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Fruits and vegetables to make the Asian salad in sections and then all tossed together.

Add to a big salad bowl the chopped imitation crab meat, avocado and vegetables of choice.
Drizzle the grapefruit dressing over the Thai crab salad.
Top with toasted sunflower seeds or crunchies of choice.

Recipe Tips

Remove the grapefruit peel and then just slice instead of segmenting them – if this is an easier option for you.
Don’t add the salad dressing to the Thai crab avocado salad until you are ready to serve. Otherwise, it will get soggy.
If you wish to make avocado boats to serve the salad in, cut off the bottom so they sit flat on a plate like we did with our Vietnamese pickled shrimp.
To make this imitation crab recipe in advance, make the Thai grapefruit vinaigrette and toss together all the salad ingredients, except the avocado. When ready to serve, slice the avocado and drizzle on the salad dressing.

Tossed crab meat and avocado salad garnished with grapefruit segments.

Side Dishes to Serve with Crab Salad

Don’t forget dessert! Try our quick and easy banana spring rolls or time saving mango sticky rice as a sweet ending to your meal.

Substitutes for Crab in a Seafood Salad

Try adding poached or grilled shrimp, tuna fish, seared scallops or even lobster as a substitute for crab in a seafood salad. For those with a seafood allergy, you may like to try our authentic Thai fish salad. Be sure to substitute the fish sauce in the dressing with vegan fish sauce – just to be on the safe side.

If you want to keep this recipe vegan, prepare king mushrooms like a seared scallops, and add to the “krab” salad.

Fun Recipe Adaptations: Try our Thai Crab salad with a pomelo fruit instead of grapefruit or serve it up in an avocado half!

Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ's)

How to prevent avocados from browning?

Oxidation or browning of avocados occurs once the avocado flesh is exposed to air. The best way to keep avocados from browning is not to cut them until you are ready to eat. In addition, sprinkle with a little lime or lemon juice to halt the oxidation process.

What can you substitute for Thai Bird Chilis?

Thai Bird chilis can be found in Asian Markets. However, sometimes they can be very difficult to source. They are very high on the Scoville scale for heat index. Alternatively you can exchange with a jalapeño, or other hotter pepper of choice, a little bit of Sriracha sauce or even a few dashes of dried red pepper flakes in our Thai crab salad.

More Crab Recipes

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