Gado-Gado (Mixed Salad With Peanut Sauce)
This gado-gado from Yang Liu and Katharina Pinczolits’ cookbook Vegan Asian Street Food is an Indonesian mixed salad with tofu, tempeh, vegetables, peanut sauce, and lontong.
- 200 g tofu (sliced and pan-fried)
- 150 g tempeh (sliced and pan-fried)
- 100 g green beans (cooked and cut into 3 cm (1¼ in) lengths)
- 200 g potatoes (peeled, cooked and diced)
- 100 g bean sprouts
- 100 g lettuce (thinly sliced)
- 100 g tomatoes (cut into wedges)
- 100 g carrots (julienned)
- 100 g cucumber (sliced)
- 2 tablespoons crisp fried shallots or fried onion
- 10 emping or other vegan chips (optional)
- 200 g Lontong cut into pieces and reheated
- 3 tablespoons canola (rapeseed oil, plus extra for frying)
- 200 g roasted and salted peanuts
- 5 garlic cloves
- 3 birdseye chilies (destemmed)
- 2 tablespoons coconut (palm sugar)
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 tablespoon tamarind sauce
- Salt (to taste)
- To make the peanut sauce, heat a saucepan over low–medium heat. Add the extra oil (for frying) and peanuts, and stir until the peanuts are slightly brown. Remove from the pan and transfer to a small food processor.
- Add garlic, chilli, oil and 300 ml (10 fl oz) of water to the food processor and blend on high speed to form a smooth paste. Alternatively, you can pound peanuts, garlic and chilli using a mortar and pestle until they are finely crushed, then add the oil
- and 300 ml (10 fl oz) of water, and keep pounding until it turns into a paste.
- Return the paste to the pan over low–medium heat. Add the coconut sugar, lime juice, tamarind sauce and salt to taste. Cook, stirring for a few minutes, until the paste darkens and thickens. Remove from heat.
- Assemble all the salad ingredients except the fried shallots, emping and lontong on a serving plate. Pour over the peanut sauce and sprinkle with the shallots. Mix everything well, garnish with emping (if using) and serve with the lontong.
The name means “mix-mix,” which fits the way the dish brings cooked and raw ingredients together on one plate. Green beans, potatoes, bean sprouts, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, and cucumber give it plenty of color.
The peanut sauce makes the dish. Roasted peanuts blend with garlic, chilies, oil, and water, then cook with coconut sugar, lime juice, tamarind sauce, and salt.
The sauce thickens in the pan and coats the tofu, tempeh, vegetables, and rice cakes when you mix everything together. Serve this gado-gado for lunch or dinner when you want a salad that eats like a full meal.
Tofu and tempeh add plant protein, while potatoes and lontong make it more filling. Fried shallots add a crisp topping, and emping or other vegan chips can add extra crunch.
This recipe is republished by Vegan Asian Street Food: Over 80 Plant-based Recipes for Every Occasion by Yang Liu and Katharina Pinczolits £24, hardback, Hardie Grant Books, published 22 January 2026. Photography © Katharina Pinczolits
How to make gado-gado
- 200 g tofu sliced and pan-fried
- 150 g tempeh sliced and pan-fried - 100 g green beans cooked and cut into 3 cm (1¼ in) lengths
- 200 g potatoes peeled, cooked and diced - 100 g lettuce thinly sliced
- 100 g tomatoes cut into wedges - 100 g carrots julienned - 2 tablespoons crisp fried shallots or fried onion
- 10 emping or other vegan chips optional - 200 g Lontong cut into pieces and reheated
PEANUT SAUCE
- 3 tablespoons canola rapeseed oil, plus extra for frying
- 200 g roasted and salted peanuts - 3 birdseye chilies destemmed
- 2 tablespoons coconut palm sugar - 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 tablespoon tamarind sauce - To make the peanut sauce, heat a saucepan over low–medium heat.
Add the extra oil (for frying) and peanuts, and stir until the peanuts are slightly brown. Remove from the pan and transfer to a small food processor.
- Add garlic, chilli, oil and 300 ml (10 fl oz) of water to the food processor and blend on high speed to form a smooth paste. Alternatively, you can pound peanuts, garlic and chilli using a mortar and pestle until they are finely crushed, then add the oil - and 300 ml (10 fl oz) of water, and keep pounding until it turns into a paste.
- Return the paste to the pan over low–medium heat. Add the coconut sugar, lime juice, tamarind sauce and salt to taste. Cook, stirring for a few minutes, until the paste darkens and thickens.
- Assemble all the salad ingredients except the fried shallots, emping and lontong on a serving plate. Pour over the peanut sauce and sprinkle with the shallots. Mix everything well, garnish with emping (if using) and serve with the lontong.
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