Indonesian gado gado salad is a healthy medley of lightly cooked vegetables topped with boiled eggs and a delicious peanut satay sauce. Gluten free, dairy free and so easy!
Every time I eat Indonesian food, one of my staple orders is gado gado. It’s a warm, filling salad traditionally made with boiled vegetables and topped with hard boiled eggs and a delicious peanut sauce. My mum is Indonesian and eating things like this remind me of her (which is bittersweet for me at the moment as she is halfway across the world!) I’m grateful to her for introducing me to this delicious, easy dish.
For my version of gado gado, I have specified certain vegetables below, but honestly you can throw this together using whatever vegetables laying around. Top it with some eggs and the peanut sauce and you’re good to go. I also recommend making a large batch of the sauce when you do, and saving it for other meals. It will keep in the fridge for a few days and is a delicious satay style sauce to serve with meat, fish and/or tempeh.
p.s. I should also note that gado gado usually comes with prawn crackers, but I’ve gone the healthy tasty option of toasted coconut chips on my version!
Indonesian Gado Gado Salad
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 250-300 grams potato or sweet potato
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- 1 cup green beans
- 1-2 carrots
- 1 cup cabbage leaves, roughly shredded
- 4-6 lettuce leaves
- 1/4 cup coconut flakes
- 2 tsp chilli flakes - OPTIONAL, to garnish
Peanut Satay Salad Dressing
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1-2 cloves garlic (adjust quantity depending on size)
- 1 and 1/2 tbsp peanut butter - I prefer crunchy
- 2 tsp tamari
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 1 lime
- 1/4 cup coconut water or just plain water
Instructions
- Set a large saucepan of water on to the stove and bring to the boil, and preheat your oven to 180 C.
- Prepare all your vegetables: (i) Scrub potatoes/sweet potatoes and cut into chunks (about 1 inch square chunks is nice); (ii) Trim carrots and cut into batons; (iii) Wash and trim the the green beans; (iv) Cut broccoli into small florets if not prepared already and (v) Shred cabbage leaves if not prepared already; (vi) Rinse lettuce leaves.
- Boil vegetables and eggs. You can do this all in one saucepan if you time it right. Start by putting in the potato chunks and the eggs. The potatoes will take the longest, 10-15 minutes depending on size and texture. Remove the eggs after 8-10 minutes and set aside. Add the carrot batons, beans, broccoli and cabbage for 2-3 minutes after you take the eggs out, and boil enough just to lightly cook them. Then, drain everything and set aside to cool a little.
- Toast the coconut chips. Spread them out on a baking tray and pop in the oven for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and set aside.
- Make the sauce. Crush or finely chop the garlic and add to a small frypan with the coconut oil. Fry on a moderate heat just for 1-2 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant and slightly browned. Turn off the heat. Add the peanut butter, tamari and coconut milk to the warm pan and whisk together with a fork until well combined. Cut the lime in half and add the juice from half the lime, then whisk again. Then, whisk in as much of the 1/4 cup of coconut water/water to the dressing as necessary until it's thinned to your liking.
- Arrange the salad. Place a few lettuce leaves on two plates, then divide the cooked vegetables evenly between them. Peel the eggs and cut into quarters and add to the plates. Pour over the dressing. Scatter coconut chips, salad cress/sprouts and chilli flakes over the top. Serve the salad warm/at room temperature, with a wedge of the leftover lime used in the peanut sauce.
We tried this for lunch today and it was such a pleasant surprise. I couldn’t imagine how it would all come together, but that peanut sauce made it sooooo tasty! So tasty in fact, were having it again tomorrow!
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Roseann – thank you so much! That’s such a lovely thing to hear and I am especially glad you like this recipe, it’s an old family favourite of mine and I’ve always loved it. I hope you continue to enjoy it x